Let's be real here - Slipknot wouldn't be Slipknot if they didn't look the way they do. A group of nine dudes smashing things and bouncing on enormous drum risers onstage would probably look more psychotic than they already do if they weren't in some sort of costume. Thankfully, Corey Taylor has ruled out the possibility of the band ever getting rid of their masks.

"No, it’s such a part of our art," the frontman told Ireland's Overdrive. "It’s also part of the reason why we change the masks with every album. Unlike KISS, they have always used the same makeup and it never evolved. For us, we’ve changed with every album and not only the masks but also the outfits."

The Knot first revealed this album cycle's masks in May when they released the video for the first single, "Unsainted." Their masks and jumpsuits have already evolved quite a bit since then, like their recent switch from black to white outfits and Taylor's newly-added mask stitching.

"You can totally tell every album by the uniform. I think things like that have kept Slipknot relevant, it’s kept the music vibrant, it’s kept the live shows different and it’s kept us from stagnating," Taylor continues. "So, no I could never see us loosing the masks. If we ever got the notion to do Slipknot unmasked, I think I’d be like, 'Well…. eh no.'"

"We are all in our forties now and we still very much have a love/hate relationship with what we do, but every time we step onstage, we’re absolutely prepared to give it everything we’ve got. So, for me personally, when that feeling stops, when we start trying to cut corners and try to make things easier, just so we can 'get on with it,' that’s when it’s gonna be time to call it a day."

Though the vocalist admits life "was a lot quieter" when Slipknot started, before the world knew the identities of each member in the group, he wasn't entirely bothered when people discovered who they were. "People also have to remember, it wasn’t really about the anonymity for us. It was about immersing ourselves in the actual art itself," says the singer.

We Are Not Your Kind comes out tomorrow (Aug. 9). Grab tickets to Knotfest Roadshow here.

The Evolution of Slipknot's Terrifying Masks Throughout the Years

The Evolution of Slipknot's Masks

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