Corey Taylor, the legendary frontman of metal juggernauts Slipknot, recently teased about the existence of an upcoming “darker, heavier” new solo album titled CMF2.
In a new interview with NME, Taylor goes into detail about the songs, the recording process, and the inspiration behind this best of a record, which he promises is “going to be the best rock album of this year, and the next.”
When comparing the new record to his first solo album, CMFT, Taylor says: “This album is definitely more of a punch in the face.”
CMF2 will feature new recordings of songs written throughout Taylor’s career. “Some fans will recognize a few from other projects that I’ve done while others were written just before we went into the studio,” he said.
Barely containing his excitement, he says, “I can’t wait for people to hear this album. It chews up that first record and spits it out,” he exclaims. “It’s more dialed-in with everything people expect from me, so it’s got hints of ‘CMFT’ but there are also hints of Slipknot, Stone Sour and all the stuff I’ve done in my acoustic shows. It’s got everything for everybody. People are going to fucking lose it.”
“I was really inspired by my band, but also the reaction that the first solo run had, where people leaned into everything,” he says. “They liked the acoustic stuff, they liked the heavy stuff, they liked the fun stuff. We wanted to make a hybrid thing, but not have it feel chaotic.”
An avid music fan, Taylor speaks about rock music from different decades and how it informed the creation of CMF2. While the ‘80s rock influence from his first solo record is still clear and present, “There’s also ‘90s grunge, ‘70s punk and the hard-hitting shit that I helped create in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. It’s a bit of everything, but it was important for us to make it feel fresh.
“There’s a dark, solemn acoustic song called ‘Sorry Me’ that’s got a very old school vibe to it, ‘Talk-Sick’ still has an ‘80s feel to it, but it’s more of a Guns N’ Roses vibe which was always the stuff that made you want to run through walls and the first single ‘Beyond’ is going to blow people the fuck away.”
He goes on: “The stuff that largely inspires me comes from the stuff I grew up listening to; street hip-hop, punk, metal and all the shit that feels like it came from someplace that I can relate to and identify with.”
Although much of the sound behind CMF2 is rooted in his past, Corey feels that there are new bands today who “you can feel them leaning into the passion.”
“Turnstile are fucking amazing,” he says. “Sleep Token are really starting to do something for me, and Bad Omens are great. There’s a whole new generation of bands that are starting to come up that are carrying the flag for heavy music.”
When asked whether or not he was Sleep Token’s mysterious singer, he joked,
“No,” he replied. “Listen, I’ve got more than enough going on. I don’t need a fourth band.”
Read the full interview here.
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