Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor shares fan's moving story about new mask

Last month, Slipknot revealed the new masks for their We Are Not Your Kind era. The unveiling was met with a polarising reaction from fans.

Frontman Corey Taylor revealed that he developed his mask “to fuck with people.” In an interview with Kerrang he explained “My vision [for the mask] was about trying to create something uncomfortable — not only for me to wear, but for people to look at. I wanted it to feel like it was something that was created in someone’s basement.”

For one Slipknot fan, Taylor’s new mask resonated with him on a deeply personal level. In a Reddit thread, user “CplUrbz”, shared a story about a transparent facial orthosis mask that he had to wear after suffering burns in a house fire as a youth. One that he felt identified with Taylor’s new mask.

“I personally love it for reasons I have not noticed pointed out by others yet. Corey’s mask is a REALLY close comparison to a mask I had to wear for almost 2 years called a TFO, a transparent facial orthosis,” he explained in the post.

“When I was 5 I was in a house fire. I suffered 3rd-degree burns to my head and face that required substantial skin grafts. well when you suffer massive burns to the face, you might be fitted with a transparent facial mask that is meant to compress the graft to prevent swelling and minimize scar tissue. That coupled together that my mom would coat the inside with aloe vera to prevent sticking and promote healing. Needless to say, I was not a pleasant thing to look at and boy did it make me all sorts of “popular” at school at that age.

“The straps would dig into my head, it was uncomfortable around my nose, and it just generally hurt most of the time along with the compression shirts I had to wear for my shoulders, back and chest that was burned as well. I had 4 of the shirts. each one with the face of a ninja turtle badge on the front. It made it hurt less.

But I had to deal with it all if I hoped to be less ugly by the time I healed than without it, all the while having to deal with the massive amounts of shit I got for looking how I did with it on to the kids around the neighbourhood. When the unsainted video came out and I saw Corey’s new mask. It wasn’t terrifying but it was a massive “right in the feels” moment for me.”

He then explained that whilst Corey Taylor’s mask may have not resonated strongly with the masses, for him it represented a change in character and reformation.

“The breaking of a person and the steps required to be better. It’s not scary but that mask, my mask, made me into a stronger self bulletproof person than what I may have turned out to be before I had to put it on.”

The remarkable story clearly resonated with Taylor, who shared the Reddit post on his personal Twitter. “I’m humbled by that story, and so glad that it could explain something I was trying to describe,” Taylor explained. “This album is indeed about rising above the pain and being reborn. And the mask is also a reflection of it all.”

Wow. I’m humbled by that story, and so glad that it could explain something I was trying to describe. This album is indeed about rising above the pain and being reborn. And the mask is also a reflection of it all. https://t.co/wGjti5lStP
— fuck your checkmark (@CoreyTaylorRock) June 12, 2019

We Are Not Your Kind is out August 9th. Slipknot will head down under later this year with Metallica for a slew of gigantic shows in support of the WorldWired tour. Ticket information and tour dates below.