Just in time for Halloween, SLIPKNOT is selling face masks worn by the band’s nine members via the group’s official webstore.
SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor was asked in an interview with a Canadian radio station whether he thought the band would ever perform without its signature headgear. Taylor replied: “I think in a way we could, but I don’t think we’d want to. I mean, I always think back to when KISS took the makeup off back in the ’80s, and I know why they did it, because they kind of hit a wall and it was time to evolve for them. But for us, the masks always evolve, for the most part, and our look always evolves, and I think because we’re constantly changing, we don’t feel that pressure to take them off, because we allow ourselves to roll with the times and to change with the albums.”
Taylor added: “It’s not just about the masks, it’s not just about the outfits and coveralls, it’s not just about the insanity; you have to have all of those parts included with the music and the art and everything, and that is what SLIPKNOT is about.”
The band last year introduced new versions of its masks and Taylor told The Pulse Of Radio what inspired his. “I based the face off of the really great character actor, Richard Lynch,” he said. “Basically I stole his face, so Richard, I’m sorry, I probably owe you a few bucks. But I thought it was cool. He’s one of my favorite — ‘cause he was in a lot of great horror movies and like sci-fi/fantasy movies and whatnot, and he just had a great, gnarly look.”
Taylor said that when he first joined the band, he wasn’t sure what the masks represented, but now he says: “The mask for me represents the person inside who may or may not have a voice, or you may or may not have the courage to give that person a voice, because it may be controversial, it may be a little too dark, it may be a little too harsh, but if you don’t give that person a voice… it gets held back and then all of a sudden it overcompensates and takes over for the rest of you.”
SLIPKNOT’s latest album, “.5: The Gray Chapter”, sold 132,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Source: Blabbermouth