As he hits the UK for a string of headline shows this week, COREY TAYLOR is here to show a different side to himself. Check out our latest Upset cover story.

Words: Ali Shutler.

Corey Taylor's solo project is a very different vibe to anything the metal legend has done before, and later this week, he brings it to the UK for a string of headline shows. "It's such a refreshing anti-show to what everybody's used to from me," the Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman explains. One day, he hopes to start toying with production, but for now, "We just come out and pummel the audience. This is how you do rock and metal when there's nothing holding you back," Corey continues.

Doing things differently has been the driving force behind every album Corey has been involved in. "It's the same reason Slipknot made 'Iowa' when we did. It's the same reason Slipknot made 'Vol. 3' right after. It's the same reason I did Stone Sour," he continues. "It's so boring to hear people ask, 'Why doesn't this sound like what you did before?' and it's because I already did that, you fuckmook."

After a string of acoustic gigs, Corey Taylor's solo project evolved in 2020 when he released his first proper album 'CMFT' under his own name. It opens with the furious party rock anthem 'HWY 666' while the rest of the record takes influence from the likes of Prince, Ice Cube and AC/DC. Towards the end of the album, there's 'CMFT Must Be Stopped', a giddy hip-hop rock track inspired by the Beastie Boys' '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)'. It sees Corey rapping alongside Kid Bookie and Tech N9ne. "People are still so divided on that song, which is funny," says Corey. "They're missing the satire and sarcasm of it. It was never supposed to be this serious song, which was the point of that first album. There was no direction with it. It was just a bunch of songs that didn't fit anywhere else. It really did confuse people," he adds with a grin.

After touring it and seeing how those new solo songs sat alongside choice cuts from across his back catalogue, Corey started seeing a future for the project. "I knew I could take it further and really lean into the things that I wanted to do but couldn't in Stone Sour or Slipknot. I knew I could take people on a journey." With a new sense of ambition, follow-up record 'CMF2' saw Corey and his band focused on creating a record that felt like a complete body of work rather than "throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks."

"I knew I wanted it to be 10 times better than the first album. I knew I wanted it to capture people's imagination," says Corey, who wanted to channel the unbridled excitement he had playing in this project. "I'm so tired of this myth that you must be miserable to make a fucking good album. That is the dumbest shit I've ever heard in my life," he adds with the recording process for 'CMF2' driven by laughter and a giddy sense of experimentation. "I still maintain that there is more to gain from the risk of pushing those boundaries than worrying about what other people will think."

Released back in September, 'CMF2' is a boisterous, swaggering rock record, while the live shows have been joyous and upbeat, featuring tracks from Corey's solo career as well as Slipknot and Stone Sour. "I want to give people everything they could want and maybe some stuff they didn't expect. It's pure satisfaction from top to bottom." He'll even sing his viral take on the Spongebob Squarepants theme tune if someone asks for it. "I've been making music for 25 years, and that's the shit that gets shouted at me every night," he smirks.

Lyrically, though, 'CMF2' explores PTSD, depression, anxiety and trauma with a bone-scratching honesty. Corey explains that putting raw, emotional lyrics alongside celebratory music works because that contrast is an everyday thing for him and countless others. "Depression is something that I live with, and I go to therapy because of traumas that I've experienced, but at the same time, I'm a big, gregarious personality."

"I want people to know that I understand what they're going through. And when I write about it, I've lived it, and I'm still going through it," he continues. "But when I celebrate, I do it with every goddamn fibre of my life because there's no reason you shouldn't. I want people to take the emphasis off of the guilt that comes when they're feeling good. Life has its ups and downs, and I want my music to be a reflection of that," with some fans using it for catharsis and healing, while others use it to soundtrack weddings. "Hearing that my music relates to people is the best feeling on Earth."

"In my head, I don't think I've peaked yet," says Corey. "Maybe that's why I keep pushing things forward." Despite Slipknot releasing their first album almost 25 years ago and Corey turning 50 later this year, he doesn't question his relevance. He does think about it every day, though. "I'm really lucky to be in this position because most dudes my age, and this far into their career, wouldn't have these opportunities. I don't know why I'm still considered modern or current, but maybe it's because I still love what I do," he says. "I've never done anything that hasn't come from my heart."

It comes as heavy music, in general, is having a real moment of inspiration, with bands like Spiritbox, Sleep Token and Bring Me The Horizon achieving both critical and commercial success. "There used to be a stigma that came from listening to heavy music, but people don't hold themselves back from embracing it any longer," says Corey. "I think people have realised how much good comes from heavy music, with it getting people through divorce, depression, suicidal thoughts and high school. Some other genres of music are really good for being happy or partying, and that's needed, but when it comes to the damage, we're there. We've lived it, and that creates this real honesty that can be felt by people of any colour, language or sexual orientation," he continues. "Heavy music sees the broken, recognises it and doesn't push anyone away. It's all about bringing people in."

Taking that message to heart, a new generation of heavy metal fans are also encouraging one another to experience the music however they want. On TikTok, there are plenty of dance routines to mash-ups of Slipknot's bellowing 'Custer' with Aqua's sugary 'Baby Girl', and earlier this year, that #girlypop trend went IRL when Slipknot headlined Download Festival. "Just when I think I've figured out where young people are going to go, they hit me with some crazy shit like that, and I fucking love it," says Corey. "I know it doesn't make a lot of our old-school fans happy, but they're just grumpy pricks. To me, anytime our music makes anybody smile, dance, or let go of the bullshit in their lives, that's what it's all about. I'm not trying to gatekeep anything. Everyone's welcome," continues Corey. "I'm not so old that I don't remember being young."

"Slipknot is actually starting to have rumbles of making music, and I'm fucking stoked for that, that's going to be rad," he continues. "As much as we try and understand youth culture, we're not trying to write music specifically for them. We've always just done what we want. Maybe that's one of the things that people appreciate and cling to because we don't have any thoughts about being hot, famous or rich. We just want to keep making loud noises."

As for his solo work, there's a companion 'CMF2' b-sides album in the pipeline and Corey is already working on album three, '3MFT'. "I demoed ten new tunes last week, then I found this folder of other songs on my computer that are so good, but I have no idea when I wrote them," he says. "It's going to be a hard process to whittle them down and figure it all out, but it's a good problem to have."

After this run of headline shows, he'll be back in Europe for summer festivals, and there are further tours confirmed in North America and Canada. There are also plans in various stages of completion for shows in Southeast Asia, South America and Latin America. "It's all so rad. Every place we get to play is a gift."

"And all of that is on the heels of doing stuff with Slipknot for the 25th anniversary of the self-titled album, which is fucking crazy. It's one of those things where there's so much great shit on our plate that I'm just thrilled to be able to do it."

As for the future of Corey Taylor, the solo artist, he's currently trying to stay in the moment, but as always, he can't help but get carried away. "I don't want to be one of those bargain bin dudes who came up at a certain point in time, and then just tapered out. I want to be mentioned in the same breath as the people who I still look up to," says Corey, namedropping David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. "The people who made longevity the idea, not the quick burn."

"I would love to build this to where Stone Sour was before we went on hiatus," Corey continues. "Obviously, I'm never going to come close to what Slipknot has done, and that's fine. We were lightning in the zeitgeist, and that is something that not a lot of people get, so I'm not chasing that," he says. "I just want to get to a point where I can go into large theatres, maybe arenas with this and have a blast. I want to put on a righteous party for people." ■