Slipknot guitarist Jim Root shared a video from the studio confirming that the band is working on their next album. He revealed details about the direction of the upcoming record in a post on Instagram.
In the caption of his post, Root gave fans a glimpse into where he’s currently focused as the band prepares for the new album.
“Closer. This is where I’ll spend the rest of the year,” Root wrote. “With these amps and a few various guitars that I’ll put up later. This will also set a course for the new rack/rig that Brad Clifford will be subjected to! Because as you know by now… We’re about to get real busy.”
A fan responded in the comments, urging Root to push the band toward its heaviest material yet: “Please come up with Slayer/Slipknot evil, scary, disgusting, groove, intros, breakdowns. Let this latest Slipknot be your Black Album. (How?) By not accepting anything but the absolute sickest, grossest, heaviest riffs on this green earth. Let all your years culminate to this point… sharpen it into a weapon… and write the heaviest riffs you’ve ever done.”
Root addressed the fan’s request directly, explaining that avoiding repetition is a priority for the band at this stage.
“Thank you! A very important thing for us at this time is to not ‘repeat’ ourselves,” Root said. “It’s gonna hurt some feelings. We’re really experimenting with different approaches… don’t expect another ‘Iowa’ or ‘self titled’ record. We’ve been there. The vibe feels honest and true to me. It’s uneasy and reminds me of recording in the earlier days. I’m not saying that means it will translate to the type of music we’re creating or the sound/production of it.”
He went on to compare the band’s early and later records, describing the approach being taken this time around.
“The early records had the vibe. You can’t miss that with Ross. But they always sounded ‘LoFi’ to me,” Root continued. “And some of the later records felt/sounded ‘over produced’… like too many layers of guitar etc. We don’t need that. Me and Mick. L and R and then a few 3rd tracks and maybe solos. That’s it. And of the 16 amps I vetted to record with, Matt and I chose the most pissed off sounding one. Not necessarily the ‘best’ sounding one. The most exciting sounding… liveliest etc. We did track on the floor live with Eloy. We hadn’t done that in a long time for various reasons. Everything is analog and played. All the pieces that need to be there are there.”
Root’s comments suggest the next Slipknot record will favor a leaner, more raw approach, with live tracking and fewer guitar layers, rather than revisiting the sound of the band’s earliest albums. Further updates are expected as recording progresses.
