Slipknot recently announced their new record The End, So Far, which of course made fans question whether this was the end of the band. Vocalist Corey Taylor immediately cleared things up saying it was simply the end of an era for Slipknot, but not the end of the band. Though that poses another question – what is the next era of Slipknot?

In an interview with Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Taylor said the new album marks the end of a grieving period for the band. This is likely about a few things – their 2014 album .5: The Gray Chapter being the first after the deaths of both bassist Paul Grey and drummer Joey Jordison, as well as the departure of longtime percussionist Chris Fehn in 2019.

“I [believe an era can end with a change in lineup], but at the same time, you can still have the end of one era and the beginning of another with the same bandmembers. So, to me, it can be a reflection of the fact that you have different members or you’re just moving in a different direction. For me, it’s more about just letting the fans know that we will be back and to remind them that you just never know what you’re gonna get with us.”

“I mean, every album has always felt different; it’s always sounded different. And to me, I feel like this era is more about us dealing with the grief that we’ve had to deal with and now kind of getting to the point where we can now move on comfortably into the future, and it’s not about that. It’s a part of our history now; it’s not our narrative.

“And now we can kind of move on and kind of see what the future holds for Slipknot, musically where we can go now. Because of the way we’ve done things, we’ve set it up so we can go in any direction we want, and as long as it comes from the heart, it doesn’t matter. So that’s kind of the era, I think, that’s being set up now. The next era will definitely be more of like a ‘gloves off, let’s just see what happens and go for it.'”

Slipknot will release The End, So Far on September 30. Pre-orders are available here.