Corey Taylor went on BBC Radio 1 ahead of the premiere of “Arsenal” and told listeners the song will make some of them question whether they are hearing Slipknot at all.
Talking to host Jack Saunders before the track aired on Wednesday, the singer described it in physical terms.
“It pummels. I mean it is absolutely a pummeling experience… Like it’s got these great moments of hyperactivity and then complete flex,” he said (as transcribed by theprp).
He added: “It’s like we’ve got everyone by the hair and we’re just going, ‘Go, Go, Go!’ [mimics banging their head].”
On where the song sits against the rest of the catalogue, Taylor said: We’re definitely exploring the realm that we’ve kind of been in for a long time, and bringing in elements that we have never done before… People are gonna be like when they hear it, ‘There’s no way that’s Slipknot. There is no actual way that that is Slipknot.’ I’m here to tell you 100%, you’re damn right it is.”
“Arsenal” arrived without warning on September 9 and marks several changes at once.
It is the first proper studio recording to feature Eloy Casagrande, the Brazilian drummer who left Sepultura and joined Slipknot in 2024. It is also the band’s first new music since two departures: turntablist Craig Jones, who left in 2023, and Sid Wilson, whose exit the band confirmed in August after two and a half decades in the lineup. Slipknot has not given a detailed explanation for that decision.
The current lineup is Taylor, founding percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan, guitarists Mick Thomson and Jim Root, bassist Alessandro Venturella, percussionist Michael Pfaff and Casagrande.
“Arsenal” is the first release through (sic)est Records, an imprint the band has set up in partnership with Roadrunner and Atlantic. The move follows the completion of their long-standing Roadrunner contract, which ended with 2022’s The End, So Far.
The accompanying video, directed by Crahan and featuring actor Jackson White, is credited as a (sic)est Films production in association with (sic)est Records.
Slipknot co-produced the track with Matt Wallace, who also mixed it. Wallace‘s credits include Faith No More‘s The Real Thing and Angel Dust, plus work with Mushroomhead, The Replacements and Maroon 5.
He is also overseeing sessions for the band’s eighth studio album, which are ongoing. Root described the process on the “Ride BYND” podcast, saying the band had built up around fifty arrangements by jamming for hours at a time and letting Crahan shape the results rather than working from finished demos.
The band has not confirmed whether “Arsenal” will appear on that album.
