Former Sepultura and current Slipknot drummer Eloy Casagrande recently opened up about his biggest concern when joining the iconic metal band. He shared his thoughts during an interview with Thomann’s Drum Bash.
Casagrande discussed the challenge of balancing respect for previous drummers while maintaining his own musical identity within the band.
“When I was invited to do the audition for Slipknot, I didn’t know how the guys wanted the drums to sound like, what they were looking for, if they wanted just a replacement for Joey [Jordison], for Jay [Weinberg], or if they wanted a new, a different personality on the drums,” Casagrande said. “So that was my biggest concern at the beginning — how I’m gonna approach the songs. Can I put myself into the music, or I have to respect all the original recordings, the original drummers?”
The drummer explained his cautious approach during the initial audition process.
“When I went to the audition, I knew all the songs, but I knew also things that I could change by myself,” he continued. “But at the beginning, I was trying just to be the most respectful that I could be for the original arrangements. Don’t change the music, don’t change the songs. And then from time, like after a few months, I was able to change a few things. The band liked that. They also wanted to have a different personality on the drums. They wanted to have myself, Eloy, on the drums and not any previous member playing the drums.”
Casagrande reflected on the balance between respecting classic arrangements and expressing his own musical personality.
“Some of the arrangements that I had to play either with Slipknot or with Sepultura, I had to respect the original arrangement. Some of this stuff is very classic; you’re not supposed to change that,” he said. “There are just a few things, small details that I can change, some drum fills, but the structure of the song, the soul, the meaning, you cannot change that. But also if I had to play exactly the same thing, I wanna be able to do that, I was able to do that.”
The drummer emphasized the importance of musical freedom in his career choices.
“But I feel a lot more comfortable if I have my freedom of speech, my freedom of musicality, if I can be myself at least a little bit,” Casagrande explained. “And that’s something that I have always been concerned [about] in my life — to be in a band, to be in a place that I can express myself, that I’m not gonna be just a hired gun, a hired musician playing whatever they want me to play.”
He concluded by expressing gratitude for finding bands that value his individual musical perspective. He contrasted this with earlier experiences as a session musician in Brazil where he had to strictly follow others’ directions.
Casagrande’s concerns about joining Slipknot were well-founded. The Brazilian drummer underwent an intensive audition process to secure his position in the band. His journey to becoming Slipknot’s newest member began in December 2023 when the band’s management approached him following Jay Weinberg’s departure in November 2023.
iHeart Radio reported that the audition process was rigorous and multi-staged. It began with Casagrande recording six songs in a São Paulo studio. Three songs were of his choosing, while the band specifically requested “Eyeless,” “Purity,” and “Gematria” to evaluate his interpretation of their material.
The most challenging phase came when MetalSucks revealed that Casagrande spent 10 days in Palm Springs, California, rehearsing and recording with the full band. During this intensive period, he learned approximately 32 songs. The band presented different setlists each day to test his adaptability and versatility behind the kit.
Blabbermouth noted that the band also evaluated Casagrande’s songwriting abilities by having him write and record new drum parts. This assessed both his compositional skills and studio recording capabilities. This comprehensive evaluation process demonstrated Slipknot’s commitment to finding not just a replacement drummer, but a creative partner who could contribute to the band’s future musical direction.
The audition culminated successfully. Casagrande received confirmation just two days after returning to Brazil that he had been accepted into the band. He officially joined Slipknot on April 30, 2024, and made his debut performance with the band on April 25, 2024. This marked the beginning of a new chapter for both the drummer and the iconic metal group.
