On September 4th, the mighty Slipknot returned for their first show in 18 months, and frontman Corey Taylor had a brand new mask for the occasion.
The Iowa metal heroes took to Rocklahoma Festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, for their first live show since the start of the pandemic. The band were nestled amongst rock greats like Mastodon, Andrew W.K., Rob Zombie, Steel Panther, and more.
Corey Taylor teased that the band would be debuting new masks during an interview with Iowa’s Lazer 103.3.“The mask has been a part of us forever,” he said.
“The mask is king. And for us, especially people like me and Clown and the guys in the band that really allow those masks to evolve, it’s important for it to be a reflection of who we are in that music. And I can tell you that the mask I’m working on is very disturbing.
He continued: “It’s gonna be hard to look at. And it’ll probably be my favourite mask that I’ve ever put together. It’s little bits and pieces of things that have intrigued me, of masks that I’ve had in the past. And it’s gonna have a devil-may-care kind of terror to it, let’s put it that way.”
He wasn’t lying, the mask is deliciously gruesome and totally terrifying. Check it out below.
Corey’s newest mask debuts at Rocklahoma @slipknot pic.twitter.com/aYx4u0GgoB
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— Rocklahoma (@Rocklahoma) September 5, 2021
Rocklahoma marks the first live performance from Corey Taylor since he came down with COVID-19. In August, Taylor, who is fully vaccinated, was forced to cancel a scheduled appearance at the Astronomicon Convention Centre after testing positive for the virus.
In an interview, Taylor shared that he believes he caught COVID from an unvaccinated fan at one of his solo shows. “You try to trust that people are vaccinated or they’re masking up and social distancing and at least testing negative before they go to something like that,” he said.
“And sometimes you just run into those selfish people that don’t care about that. I think that’s what happened to me – somebody came to one of my shows and was in the audience sick and probably got several people sick, man.”
