Slipknot’s new album allowed frontman Corey Taylor to get all the “emotional bile” from his divorce out of his system.
The singer split from Stephanie Luby in 2017 and admits after the “euphoria” of leaving a bad romance behind wore off he found himself in a really unhealthy state – and writing angry songs for We Are Not Your Kind really helped him deal with his issues, and saved him from relapsing into substance abuse.
“When I got out of that relationship, it was euphoria at first because it was hard,” he tells Loudwire. “It was hard stepping away. I had done everything I could to make it work… So, getting away was so freeing and there was a real sense of happiness for a second. And then the repercussions of that relationship came back on me, and I realised that I had a lot of issues that I had to figure out for myself, physically and mentally.
“I had to go back to therapy, I had to reexamine who I was as a person. I had to reexamine what made me happy… It took me at least a year to feel good about myself. It was tough. But I also knew I had a lot to say.
“Honestly, it was almost kismet that we were doing a Slipknot album… To get rid of this emotional bile that I had been choking on for a long time and this sense that I wasn’t good enough for anything, I needed a Slipknot album. It took letting that out to realise that I had been through hell. And maybe that’s why I feel OK now…
“There was a lot that needed to be said. I hope everybody enjoys it, because it was hell to live through.”
Taylor is in a much better place now and became engaged to girlfriend Alicia Dove in April (19). He began dating her after his marriage to Luby fell apart.