When Slipknot released their self-titled debut on Roadrunner Records, precisely on June 29, 1999, singer Corey Taylor, percussionists Shawn “Clown” Crahan and Chris Fehn, drummer Joey Jordison, bassist Paul Gray, turntablist Sid Wilson, sampler/keyboardist Craig Jones, guitarist Mick Thomson, and original guitarist Josh Brainard altered not only the sound but also the very image of heavy metal as it entered the new millennium.

And while breakthrough single Wait and Bleed was pivotal in introducing Slipknot to the masses and opening the floodgates to nu metal, as Thomson said in a 2014 Guitar World interview, it wasn’t quite the musical trajectory the band wanted to follow for the rest of their career.

“For a long time, I resisted anything that had melodic choruses. I was very anti anything like that,” he said.

“I mean, I thought it was great how Wait and Bleed ended up on the radio. It’s a great song. But when we were having success with that on our first record and the label says, ‘Yeah, we need five more Wait and Bleeds, I was like, ‘Go fuck yourself!’”

Thomson went on to clarify why he had that immediate reaction – despite the single’s international success. “‘You want five songs that can be radio singles? Well, we’re really not that band. You sell our records, and we’ll make them, okay?’”

The guitarist even pointed out that the radio edit was significantly different than the album version – the label’s attempt at making Wait and Bleed more “commercial” and palatable for the mainstream.

“The more melodic sing-songy part of the chorus, which is on the radio edit, was different on the album,” he asserted.

“It was a background vocal, made lower, that Corey barked over. But then the fuckin’ label gets a hold of it, and they want a radio single, so they ended up having it remixed so the brutal vocal drops and the melodic vocal is now on top. But that’s not what you get when you see us live.”

As Thomson very aptly described the band’s core ethos – especially at the time – in a 2024 interview, “People didn’t fucking know what to think or do with us early on. But our thing always was, ‘Fuck your labels – just listen to the shit. Do you like it?’ You don’t have to categorize it and this and that. Just ask yourself, ‘Is it cool?’”

Elsewhere in the 25th anniversary retrospective, Thomson revealed why all of his solos were cut from the final record, and gave Guitar World a peek into the chaotic and intense recording sessions that made Slipknot such an iconic album.

NAMM 2026: ESP Guitars has unleashed eight new signature guitar models into the world, promising something for everyone, as late greats and artist debutants are celebrated – while its mid-priced LTD Deluxe 1000 Series guitars are touted as “among our best in history.”

In 2025, the ESP portfolio was dominated by single pickup builds, a theme that Gojira’s Grammy-winning riff monster Joe Duplantier has continued into the new year, but there’s a tentative balance between honoring the past and looking to the future across its wider signature series this time around.

Top of the tree in that respect is the LTD Alexi Laiho Arrowhead and Sawtooth SE models, which mark 20 years since the late Children of Bodom virtuoso – a player still highly revered in the metal guitar scene – started his relationship with ESP.

Looking as sharp as ever, the pointed, subtly uneven V-shaped axe sports a black finish and a choice of white or yellow beveled speed stripes. Its three-piece maple neck-thru-body construction with a Thin U profile, Macassar ebony fingerboard, and scalloped frets from the 19th to the 24th position are in place for lightning-quick playability.

The 25.5” scale electric guitar also has a Floyd Rose trem – it would be criminal to have anything else – Grover tuners and, you guessed it, just one pickup in the form of an HZ F-H2 passive humbucker with Volume control.

Another gone but fondly remembered guitar hero, in Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman, is also remembered via the LTD JH-200 CTM. The Super Strat gets an alder body, a Floyd Rose Special trem with whammy bar, a pair of high-output ESP LH-301 ‘buckers, and red star inlays.

Conversely, Joe Duplantier isnt’t the only Signature Series debutant in 2026, with Slaughter to Prevail’s Jack Simmons also welcomed into the family.

The LTD JS-7 Baritone features a V-shaped body, neck-thru-body construction, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, Hipshot 7 hardtail bridge, and Fishman Open Core Modern pickups. With a 27” scale, the elongated V looks deadly and is tailored for tunings lower than the Mariana Trench.

The series is rounded out by new models from old faithfuls. Slipknot’s Mick Thomson has opted for a streamlined, mahogany-bodied S-type with a Hipshot Hi-Mass hardtail bridge, blue Luminlay side markers, and his signature Fishman Fluence pickup for his LTD MT-I.

Deftones’ Stephen Carpenter has built on a bumper 2025 with the LTD SC-607 Baritone that marries mahogany, maple, and ebony tonewoods, his signature Fishman Fluence pickups in the bridge and middle positions, and TonePros Locking TOM trem.

Meanwhile, ’80s shredder supreme George Lynch gets a stripped-back version of his distinctive 1985 Kamikaze guitar, complete with a “hockey stick” reverse headstock headlines, basswood body, Floyd Rose Special, and ESP-branded HS pickup configuration.

Away from signatures, the LTD 1000 Series is defined by a mission statement of “versatile tones, smooth playability, and complete reliability,” and there's plenty of variety as twin-pickup builds regain dominance.

From the TH-1000 Evertune, which boasts a swamp ash T-style body, Seymour Duncan's new multi-voiced MortalCoil pickups, and an Evertune bridge, to the ARROW-1000, a shark fin-esque V with Fishman Fluence Modern humbuckers and a built-for-speed profile, diversity is vast.

Other choice picks include the LTD Deluxe RS-1000, rocking its X-like Random Star silhouette with the classic EMG 81/85 pickup combo and a Floyd Rose 1000SE, the EC-1000, a Granite Sparkle-finished single cutaway LP with a classic mahogany/maple/ebony tonewood cocktail, and a Fishman pickup and hardtail-laced offset via the LTD Deluxe XJ-2HT Snow White.

ESP’s affordable Epiphone/Squier equivalent brand, LTD, is also celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026.

With models like the LTD Arrow-400, single cutaway LTD EC-400 QM with a quilted maple top, and the simple but effective T-style LTD TH-400, all of which arrive with EMG 81/85s and other tidy specs for sub-$1K prices, it continues to offer plenty of value for money.

See ESP for more.

NAMM 2025: At long last, ESP has released its first Mick Thomson signature guitar, almost two years after the Slipknot electric guitar hero joined the company’s artist roster.

It was one of the biggest moves of 2023: after some not-so-cryptic social media posts made their way online, it was speculated that Thomson had defected to the ranks of ESP, seemingly leaving Jackson in the process.

A month after the theories spiraled, ESP set the record straight and officially announced Mick Thomson as one of its new signature artists. At the time, signature guitars were promised, but no timeframe was put on when we’d eventually see the pair’s first creation.

2024 came and went without so much as a whisper, but now 2025 is well underway, and we finally have it: the LTD MT-I. However, despite the lengthy wait, the final form of the flagship MT-I might surprise a few fans.

Sure, it retains the double-cut Strat-style shape that Thomson favored for some of his Jackson signatures – and, indeed, for some of the custom ESPs he has been playing on the road – but it in turn opts for a rather unexpected spec.

That is namely the pickup configuration. Whereas Thomson’s older Jacksons opted for an HH setup, the MT-I settles on just one bridge pickup – a Fishman Fluence Mick Thomson humbucker, to be precise.

Elsewhere, the switch is a three-way DPDT (smart) system, not a conventional toggle. It accesses Voice 1, Voice 1 with bass shift, and Voice 2, while a push/pull function unlocks Voice 3.

Still, it’s a significant departure from Thomson’s signatures of old. The guitarist has also had signatures with Ibanez and B.C. Rich, all of which have come packing two humbuckers.

It’s probably worth caveating that this could be the first in an entire series of Mick Thomson signatures, and so that familiar pickup configuration could crop up on later models further down the line.

After all, the process of putting together an ESP signature has been a lengthy one, with Thomson previously going on record to say it was “taking longer than expected” because there are “too many possibilities for monster guitars”.

“Admittedly, it’s been a great problem to have,” noted Thomson, whose signature guitar roster, when fully formed, will likely offer some more familiarly spec’d ESP and LTD guitars.

As for this first effort, though, ESP explains: “The LTD MT-I is a highly-specialized design built to Mick's exact specifications for sound and playability.”

It also features 25.5" scale length, mahogany body with white ash top, and three-piece maple neck, which is topped with a Macassar ebony fingerboard and 24 stainless steel frets – you'll note the fretboard is cut away so only the top three strings have access to that very top fret.

Other core components include a Thin U neck contour, a 12" radius and Gotoh locking tuners attached to the reverse headstock.

The Obsidian Metallic MT-I is available to preorder now for $1,599.

Visit ESP for more.

It was 25 years ago that Slipknot dropped their self-titled debut album on Roadrunner Records.

And if the idea of a band made up of nine masked men in red jumpsuits playing a highly combustible and chaotic strain of heavy metal – one that mashed together everything from thrash and death, to punk and hardcore, to hip-hop and sampled sounds, all of it laced with a healthy dose of atmospheric weirdness and straight-up ear-bleeding noise – would not only still be around a quarter-century later, but also be a multi-platinum, arena-dwelling, festival-headlining behemoth sounded, well, crazy? You wouldn’t be the only one to think so.

“Not a fucking chance,” says guitarist Mick Thomson when asked if he thought major success was in the cards for the band. “We were just a bunch of stupid idiot kids.”

Nevertheless, those kids – Thomson, singer Corey Taylor, percussionists Shawn “Clown” Crahan and Chris Fehn, drummer Joey Jordison, bassist Paul Gray, turntablist Sid Wilson, sampler/keyboardist Craig Jones and guitarist Josh Brainard – created something that didn’t just connect with a large audience, but also altered the very sound and look of heavy metal.

In 2024, Slipknot may not be exactly the same unit – the masks and jumpsuits are still there, but the only members remaining from their debut album are Thomson, Crahan, Wilson and Taylor (as well as guitarist Jim Root, who joined late in the process for Slipknot and remains an integral part of the band). But over the course of 25 years and seven studio albums, including their most recent, 2022’s The End, So Far, they’ve built up one of the most impressive and influential catalogs in metal.

And it all began with Slipknot. Powered by two singles – the corrosive-yet-catchy Wait and Bleed and the rap-metal rager Spit It Out – as well as frantic and ferocious album anthems like (sic), Surfacing and No Life, the songs hit with laser-focused precision while also sounding as if they were on the verge of devolving into complete cacophony.

Credit this dichotomy at least in part to the presence of producer Ross Robinson, at the time celebrated for pulling raw, open-wound performances out of acts like Korn and Sepultura, who proved an ideal pairing for the band.

“Ross let us loose in the studio, and we went nuts,” Thomson says of the sessions at Indigo Ranch in Malibu, California. “He kept the intensity up. But, you know, he was just matching our level.”

For some, it was levels previously unheard. “People didn’t fucking know what to think or do with us early on,” Thomson says. “But our thing always was, ‘Fuck your labels – just listen to the shit. Do you like it?’ You don’t have to categorize it and this and that. Just ask yourself, ‘Is it cool?’”

Thomson recently sat down with Guitar World to discuss the making of Slipknot and offer his thoughts on the landmark record 25 years on. He also dove into the streamlined and somewhat surprising gear he used for the sessions, named his favorite song from the album and got honest about how he feels about the lack of guitar solos on the record. “I wasn’t super happy, but, you know, whatever,” he says.

At the end of the day, it all worked out. “Everything had to happen the way it did,” Thomson says. “It all had to be exactly that way. Because that’s what made the record, and that record is what made us.”

Let’s get the obvious question out of the way: does it feel like it’s been 25 years since Slipknot?

“I don’t know, because I don’t know what 25 years should feel like! [Laughs] It’s so weird, because a normal person’s passage of time is this sort of linear thing, but with us, we’ll be on the road, and then we’re off the road, and then we’re on the road, and then we’re off the road… It’s like I have these, like, two different lives that pause each other. So it seems like yesterday, but it seems like forever ago at the same time.”

The Slipknot recording sessions at Indigo Ranch have taken on this mythology of having been really chaotic and intense. How would you describe them?

“I think the way I see it is, it’s not that it was so intense… it’s that it was just us being us. We’re intense, right? So it was us doing our thing. It’s not like a bunch of innocent people were sitting there and some extreme whatever was thrown at ’em. We were extreme. And when we went into the studio we kept that extremeness.

“Instead of just sitting in the studio and playing, we recorded like it was a show. So the intensity in the studio was that we were basically playing our asses off like we were playing a show. We were hitting hard. Joey’s not trying to play perfect on his drums – he’s bashing the shit out of them. Same with me.

“I was literally headbanging while tracking the record, to get the vibe, instead of sitting there like a machine. And I think that translated to a lot of seat-of-your-pants, on-the-edge kinda shit.”

Was Ross Robinson someone you really wanted to work with as a producer?

“It was a dream for us. But also, he wanted to work with us. So it was very mutual. You know, I wasn’t into the stuff he did before, but I appreciated him and his work and his sounds. So it was great to get to work with him. And I’m a totally different person, totally different player, just for having known him.

“It really changed a lot of my priorities and got me to see a lot of stuff about music and the guitar and myself differently. It was just an incredible learning experience. So I love the guy. He’s seriously one of the greatest people on Earth – one of the greatest human beings you could ever meet.”

You say you weren’t really a fan of anything that Ross had produced prior to Slipknot. That being the case, what appealed to you about his work?

“Vibe and tone. You listen to that Sepultura record [1996’s Roots] he did, the thing’s big and organic and raw and real. It’s not processed. There’s a vibe and there’s a sound. And Korn’s early stuff, there’s a guitar sound, there’s a vibe, there’s a feel that’s in it, you know?”

How did you approach your guitar parts in the studio?

“Well, it was funny because I get in there and Ross has a Marshall, I think it was a [JCM]800, that was on the Sepultura record and whatever, and so I’m thinking, ‘Monster tone.’ But I plugged in and it just didn’t feel like I wanted it to feel. So I ended up using my Rocktron Piranha [preamp].

“My Rocktron Piranha with a dbx 31-band graphic EQ in the effects loop, into a [Mesa] Boogie 295 [power amplifier], into my Carvin cabinet with the 100-watt Eminence-made Carvin speakers that sound so goddamn good.

“And I mean, it’s not a great guitar tone. It’s whatever. But it was mine. It was what I had at the time. And it felt right. Would I love to go back and change it and make it into something that I would like now? Sure. But it was what it was. It’s very organic and raw and shitty. [Laughs]”

What was your main electric guitar?

“My Jackson King V. Three-piece Eastern hard rock maple body, with swamp ash sides. Ebony ’board. EMG 81s. And I fixed the bridge. I put a screw in it, and then I let the sustain block just pull into that when you pull the string. So it had better sustain and was a little bit bigger-sounding than stock.

“But I wasn’t playing that guitar live, because it was a Custom Shop order and it took me a year to get it, and years of payments on a loan just to buy it. I didn’t want to get it hurt. So I started playing Ibanez [RG]550s and 560s, because I could pick ’em up at pawn shops for 150 bucks.

“I’d get one of those, put EMGs in it, do a fret job and set it up, shim the bridge, and now I’ve got a monster guitar. That’s why I was always telling people, ‘Man, these fucking Ibanezes are just the shit. You cannot do better. You can go spend a thousand dollars on a new guitar or spend $150 on this used Ibanez.’

“So that was what I played live early on. Because onstage I would take Clown damage or Sid damage… shit used to be nuts. I mean, Clown used to use, like, metal bars and shit. We were very unsafe. You break the headstock off a $200 fucking used Ibanez it’s one thing, but a Custom Shop Jackson King V is another.”

Original Slipknot guitarist Josh Brainard left the band shortly after you finished recording the album. What was it like to work with him in the studio?

“Josh is a great rhythm player. So it was pretty cool working with him. He was really tight, really efficient. Just fucking solid. Easy to work with. I remember his guitar sound on that record was a 100-watt Laney AOR, and he was going straight into the head.

“It was modded by my old guitar tech, a friend of mine, and that thing snarled. So we recorded the whole record together, and we had a really good symbiosis there for quite a while. But by the time we came back in to mix it, Josh had quit, and Jim [Root] was with us.”

Was it a different sort of energy with Jim?

“When Jim came in, the record was already done. He played on Purity, but that’s because we did that one when we were mixing. But with Jim, we just had to show him the songs and go on tour. So it’s tough to compare the dynamics.

“Like I said, Josh is a great rhythm player, but Jim’s a way more complete player. There’s a bigger palette of things to work with. So I’m really happy with the way it worked out.”

Throughout Slipknot you use noise and effects to create an ominous atmosphere. It’s one of the defining characteristics of the album from a guitar standpoint.

“My weird effects shit! [Laughs] It’s funny, because the Boss GX-700 [processor] that I used for all those weird sounds, I’m still a slave to it. I still have those in my rack, because it’s the only thing that will make, like, the Spit It Out sound. It does this humanizer vowel sound, but it doesn’t do it the same anymore.

“The way that the digital shit is structured is different. It doesn’t act the same. So I have to use those old units. And these things are now 25 years old. Every time we turn one on I’m hoping I haven’t lost all my presets. Like, ‘Is today the day the presets are gone?’”

You could just write them down…

“[Laughs] Yeah, right? You’d think I probably would have done that. As soon as I get off this call I think I’m gonna open up the fucking thing and start writing down parameters…”

Another distinguishing guitar feature of the album is the absence of traditional solos.

“Well, I actually had some solos in songs, but they all got cut out. Because between Ross and Joey, guitar solos are stupid now. So…[Laughs] Oh, any kind of technical guitar playing was mocked and frowned upon. So, yeah, leads were stripped out. The song (sic) used to be called Slipknot, and there was a lead in that, and then there were solos in some other shit. But they were just massaged out.

“But as I said, I learned a lot from Ross, and that was one thing. I mean, we grew up in an era where you heard one to two guitar solos in every goddamn metal song. And it’s like, ‘Why?’ Just as a matter of course? It’s like paint-by-numbers. ‘There’s your template. There’s where that solo goes.’ Ding!”

As a guitar player, how did it make you feel to have your solo spots wiped?

“I mean, I get it… but it sucked. Because it was one of those things where I’m like, ‘I’ve spent my whole life playing and now fucking here I am, and... nope! Never mind! It’s all gone!’ You know? Like, ‘Just take it all away from me. That’s cool! Never mind that I sat in my room for years obsessing and trying to fucking do whatever, and then here I am and… nope!’”

Did you try to fight against it?

“No. What are you gonna do? Throw fits? Go, ‘I demand!…’ If it works, it works.”

Do you have a favorite song on Slipknot, or is there one that you feel really defines the record?

“I don’t know, really. There’s so much stuff on there and there’s so many different things. It’s kind of all over the map. So it’s different things for different people. For me, if I had to pick one song that I’d rather play, I’d probably play the hidden track, Eeyore. The quick fucking grind thing. It’s raw. It’s on fire. It tells you to go fuck yourself.”

I’ve always liked Get This for the same reason.

“Yep. Absolutely! I was gonna say that one, too. That would probably be the other one I would choose.”

At the other end of the spectrum, is there anything you would change about the record? Maybe something that seems dated to that specific era that you’d do differently now?

“No, because everything has to happen the way it happens. One thing I think is funny is the way you can look back at something through the lens of today and people will be like, ‘Oh, that sounds really old…’ I’m like, ‘Dude, that was so cutting-edge when that came out! People were shitting!’

“It’s like when you watch a movie from the ’80s and the special effects, at the time it was the most amazing Steven Spielberg thing, but now it’s just kind of cartoonish. But it had to exist. Because there is no ‘whatever is happening today’ without it. You know what I mean? So with the album, yeah, there’s a few things that I’d get rid of, that are dated from the ’90s. But I won’t say what!”

Can you give one example?

“Let’s just say there’s just some aspects of stuff that’s on the first record that could not be there now. And I’d be fine with that. [Laughs]”

Well one thing is for sure: Slipknot was, and still is, an extreme record. But one of the reasons we’re still talking about it today is because, amazingly, it also achieved significant mainstream success. How surprised were you about that?

“Utterly and completely. But I try not to think about it, because I don’t wanna tempt the gods. You know what I mean? Like, ‘Oh, you questioned fate! Ha! Dick!’ I don’t wanna push my luck. It’s like the Soup Nazi [on Seinfeld]; you just smile and be happy you’ve got your soup.”

Say thank you and move on.

“Exactly! Just smile and keep fucking moving.”

• Slipknot is out now via Roadrunner.

25 years ago, Slipknot dropped their self-titled debut – a record that redefined heavy and brought extreme metal into the mainstream. However, for all the bone-crushing riffs it contained, Slipknot had one glaring omission: it didn’t have any guitar solos.

Speaking in the new issue of Guitar World to discuss the record’s anniversary, the band's electric guitar player Mick Thomson shed new light on the album's dearth of lead lines, discussing why all of his own solos were ultimately left on the cutting room floor – and how he felt about it.

“I actually had some solos in songs, but they all got cut out,” Thomson says when asked about Slipknot’s solo situation. “Because between Ross [Robinson, producer of Slipknot] and Joey [Jordison, drummer], guitar solos are stupid now.”

“Any kind of technical guitar playing was mocked and frowned upon,” he continues. “So, yeah, leads were stripped out. The song (sic) used to be called Slipknot, and there was a lead in that, and then there were solos in some other shit. But they were just massaged out.

“I mean, I get it... but it sucked. Because it was one of those things where I’m like, ‘I’ve spent my whole life playing and now fucking here I am, and... nope! Never mind! It’s all gone!’ You know?

“Like, ‘Just take it all away from me. That’s cool! Never mind that I sat in my room for years obsessing and trying to fucking do whatever, and then here I am and... nope!’”

Though he begrudgingly understood the decision to remove his solos, and didn’t put up much resistance to have them stay in – “What are you gonna do? Throw fits?” – Thomson did learn from the experience.

“I learned a lot from Ross, and that was one thing,” Thomson reflects. “I mean, we grew up in an era where you heard one to two guitar solos in every goddamn metal song.

“And it’s like, ‘Why?’ Just as a matter of course? It’s like paint-by-numbers. ‘There’s your template. There’s where that solo goes.’ Ding!”

Guitar solos wouldn’t be out of the picture forever, though. Thomson would get the opportunity to flex his technical lead nous over the next two-and-a-half decades, sharing guitar duties with fellow Slipknot bandmate, Jim Root.

Thomson's approach to solos was most recently evidenced in the band’s latest album, The End, So Far, which included some of his most adventurous playing.

“I bought a couple of Jackson Dinky guitars with whammies on Reverb.com and brought them into the studio,” Thomson once told Guitar World of the experience.

“I even got a fucking Jackson sustainer, so I went nuts with the wang bar on a bunch of spots ’cause I was having fun. I’ve only played hardtails ever since we started recording. I literally drove to Simi Valley to pick up these guitars and then used them to record my solos.”

To read the full interview with Mick Thomson, visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitar World, which also features interviews with David Gilmour, Grace Bowers and more.

Fishman has just announced the release of the Fluence Mick Thomson Signature Series pickup set. Thomson is known for exploring new technologies and gear, and Fishman Fluence claims to “deliver the greatest version of Mick's signature tones” but also “encapsulates everything that he’s been searching for throughout his career”.

The new pickup set promises to deliver an array of humbucker sounds as well as single coil capability. The first voice in the bridge pickup is Thomson's signature tight, active bridge humbucker tone, while the second voice conveys a refined punchy passive humbucker sound. The third voice channels a “glassy, crystal-clear single coil tone.”

The neck pickup features the first voice, which Fishman describes as “thick and fluid”, plus a second voice that offers “sweet” vintage passive humbucker plus an extra low-mid punch. In addition to these two, the neck pickup also incorporates a third voice that delivers “vintage, but quiet, single coil neck tone”.

To achieve the voicings Thomson requested, Fishman leveraged a new custom hybrid magnet design. “My pickups were tuned in a studio and then tested on the road and then tuned a little bit more. The end result being both musical and face melting,” reveals Thomson. 

“Extra attention was given to the low mids to keep it big but tight. Voiced to cut through a mix but never be shrill. Just could not be happier with how they turned out.”

Last year, the Slipknot guitarist officially became a Fishman Fluence endorsee alongside his new role as an ESP artist, all of which led to speculation that a signature set was on its way.

Fishman Fluence pickups were a game-changer when they first came out in 2014 due to the use of tiny, precision-made coils that can be stacked to isolate hums and frequencies. They can also be “split” to create different voicings, making the pickups particularly attractive for potential endorsees. 

In an interview with Guitar World, Fishman’s VP of Marketing and Artist Relations Chris DeMaria said, “It goes back to creating solutions for players. We’ve been able to sit in our studio with the artist and, in real time, create voicings that perfectly match the idealized sound they’re looking for.”

Priced at $289.95, the pickups are available as a 6-string set and come in a Thomson-approved matte black nickel finish. For more information about the Fluence Mick Thomson Signature Series pickup set, head to Fishman. 

Fishman has announced that Slipknot guitarist Mick Thomson has officially become an endorsee, following several months of speculation. 

Formerly a Seymour Duncan and Jackson endorsee, the guitarist sparked rumors of change back in April when images surfaced of Thomson using ESP and Fishman products.

Now it seems the paperwork is all cleared up and the pickup manufacturer is able to confirm Thomson’s arrival.

“We’re excited to announce that we have officially signed Mick Thomson to our esteemed artist roster,” says Ken Susi, Fishman Fluence Brand Manager. 

“His exceptional talent, passion, and dedication to his craft are truly remarkable, and we’re thrilled to have him on board. We wholeheartedly believe that this collaboration marks the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.”

“I’m honored to be part of the Fishman family,” says Thomson. “Their Fluence pickups are unlike anything else there is. The result is a punch and clarity that is much improved.”

As is often the case with endorsee announcements, the statements are somewhat vanilla, but we’re excited to see what the mind behind some of the most abrasive and challenging metal tones of the last 20 years is able to bring to the Fluence table.

There’s no official announcement of a Thomson signature set just yet, but Susi’s mention of “a long-lasting relationship” hints that might change in the near future. 

What’s more, from what we know about the Fluence manufacturing process, it doesn’t take long to produce a set once an artist has found their sound.

Ever since the arrival of its Fluence pickup design in 2014, Fishman – previously best known for its acoustic pickups – has been scooping up endorsees at a rapid rate. 

The trend is particularly notable among heavy players, who value the ability to replicate a tone across seven-string and eight-string guitar builds – something that can be difficult to accurately achieve with a traditional magnet and pole construction. 

The Fluence’s construction also uses microchips to route the signal through the coils and, while it might lack the romance of the traditional hand-wound process, it makes it much faster (and cheaper) for players to create voicings according to their preferences. 

“It goes back to creating solutions for players,” Fishman’s VP of Marketing and Artist Relations Chris DeMaria told Guitar World earlier this year.

“We’ve been able to sit in our studio with the artist and, in real time, create voicings that perfectly match the idealized sound they’re looking for. Once those voicings are created with the artist, we can then reproduce it consistently in our manufacturing process. There’s not a dud in the bunch.’’

The process is a world away from having to go back and forth, experimenting with pole pieces and different windings, and it suggests a set of Thomson signature Fluence pickups could be here sooner than we might think – and a dead cert to feature in confirmed future ESP signature models from the Slipknot guitarist.

It’s more good news for us mere mortals, then, as we’re increasingly spoiled for choice when it comes to pickups. 

For more on Fluence’s evolution and innovative gear from the likes of Seymour Duncan, Bare Knuckle and beyond, check out our piece on the new golden age of pickups.

For information on Fluence, head to Fishman.

ESP has officially welcomed Mick Thomson into its roster of signature artists in a move that sees the Slipknot electric guitar star leave Jackson.

Rumors of Thomson’s defection to the ranks of ESP began circulating earlier this year, when the previous Fender brands artist was spotted and snapped wielding various ESP guitars during Slipknot shows.

Around the same time, the mask-wearing maestro’s guitar tech, Mike Smith, and the Slipknot player’s wife, Stacy Thomson, further fueled speculation with a handful of pictures of their own.

Stacy posted a pic of Mick holding an ESP guitar – accompanied with the caption, “Some news” – while Smith offered a glimpse of Thomson’s updated, ESP-heavy guitar stand.

Now, speculation has finally been put to bed with official word from ESP itself, which says it is “thrilled” to add the heavy metal titan to its roster.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mick as part of the ESP family,” said Tony Rauser, ESP's Director of Artist Relations. “Mick is one of the most respected and influential players in the world of metal guitar. The intensity of his aggressive playing style with Slipknot fits perfectly with the energy at ESP.”

Of his move to ESP, Thomson himself added, “Couldn’t be happier to be in the ESP family. So impressed with everything I’ve been playing live, and there’s a great energy with everyone I’ve dealt with.”

Thomson also revealed he and the brand are currently busy putting together a couple of custom models, though he added that the whole process is “taking longer than expected” as there are “too many possibilities for monster guitars.”

“Admittedly, It’s been a great problem to have," Thomson noted. 

Furthermore, news of Thomson’s move to ESP was also accompanied with confirmation that a new ESP/LTD Signature Series model is indeed in the works. No timeline is in place for that guitar, but we imagine details will arrive later this year, when Thomson’s total transition to ESP has been completed.

We’d also imagine that his signature guitar will come loaded with Fishman pickups, owing to the fact that early speculation surrounding the player’s brand activities also posited that he had left Seymour Duncan.

That move, though, has not been officially confirmed by either party just yet – all we have to go on is Smith’s word that Thomson is currently using “nothing off the shelf” from Fishman, implying a signature set is in the works.

Head over to ESP for further updates.

If recent online developments are to be believed, Slipknot’s Mick Thomson has left both Jackson and Seymour Duncan in a move that sees him switch to the ranks of ESP and Fishman.

Thomson – who, alongside Slipknot bandmate Jim Root, was a Fender brands artist with two signature guitars to his name – seems to have switched guitar and pickup providers in recent months, with speculation arising after he was spotted playing a handful of ESPs during Slipknot’s recent shows.

In pictures and video footage taken from Slipknot's latest live shows in Japan, Thomson can be seen exclusively wielding ESP models – including the SuperStrat-esque Horizon, single-cut Eclipse and V-style Arrow electric guitars – prompting intense speculation from fans.

Such speculation was further fueled by social media posts published by both Thomson’s guitar tech, Mike Smith, and the Slipknot player’s wife, Stacy Thomson, who each posted pictures of what looked to be Mick’s latest axe of choice.

While Stacy posted a picture of a mask-clad Thomson clutching an ESP guitar with the caption “some news” – which was followed by a better look of that same guitar fitted with what looked to be Fishman humbuckers – Smith offered a look at Thomson’s new ESP-heavy guitar rack.

As noted by YouTuber Jamie Slays – who collated some live footage – Stacy Thomson also shared a now-expired video of Mick walking on stage as he prepared to play “one of his ESPs for the first time”.

As for Smith’s social media activity, not only did his picture – which contained five separate ESP models – seemingly confirm Thomson’s sponsor switch, it also notified fans of the fact he had also defected from Seymour Duncan to Fishman, with a signature set potentially in the works.

Responding to a commenter who asked whether Thomson had left Seymour Duncan, Smith replied, “Yup,” and when quizzed by another what specific Fishmans the Slipknot maestro had opted for, the guitar tech teased, “Nothing off the shelf.”

The move is Thomson’s latest high-profile brand switch, having previously moved from B.C. Rich to Ibanez prior to landing on Jackson’s artist roster a few years ago. It’s also a significant shake-up in the Fender brands artist roster, which no longer has both Slipknot guitarists to its name.

Instead, Fender will go forward with just Jim Root on their books – having recently released his Charvel signature – and though Mick Thomson is still currently listed on the Jackson website as an artist, we imagine it won’t be long before that changes officially.

Jackson is also still listing Thomson’s two signature models: the high-end USA Signature Soloist and a slightly more affordable Pro Series Soloist SL2.

It looks as though Thomson is gearing up to release both a new signature guitar and some signature Fishman pickups. It might be too soon for a NAMM 2023 release, as Thomson may still be road-testing prototypes, but we’ll be watching with a keen eye just in case.

In any case, now the cat is out of the bag, we expect an official announcement from ESP to be imminent.

On album and onstage, Slipknot guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson work together as a team. Both play rhythm and lead tracks, and both feed off the energy and excitement of the other’s musicianship. They also equally enjoy a dizzying variety of textural passages and rib-kicking riffs.

So, amid the firestorm of barrelling beats, pummelling percussion, screeching samples, DJ scratching and vocal acrobatics, how can you tell if a guitar part you’re hearing is coming from Root or Thomson? 

The easiest way is to pay attention to which direction the sound is coming from (this is easily accomplished with headphones). Root’s parts are always in the left part of the stereo mix and Thomson’s are always on the right. The same goes for their live shows.

But what if the listener is cranking the band’s tunes on a mono Bluetooth speaker? Well, there are other ways to tell the differences between the two players.

“We’re really different kinds of players, but we complement each other really well,” Thomson says. “What isn’t in my wheelhouse is in Jim’s. He’s more of a rock guy and I’m more of a technical metal player. He’s got a great touch and plays legato, and I play some of the more offbeat stuff.”

Can you describe your working relationship?

Thomson: “When you play with somebody for long enough, you develop a seventh sense. Me and Jim know each other well enough that without thinking about it consciously, he automatically adapts to playing along with whatever I’m doing. I guarantee he can anticipate when a note’s gonna come out of me, just as I can with him.” 

What should listeners keep an ear out for to tell the two of you apart?

Root: “I’m a liquid sort of organic guy and he’s more like, ‘Here I am. I’m gonna lay it down and it’s in your fucking face and it’s gonna be powerful.’ I like to mix alternate picking with legato and I’m a little bit more fluid than Mick. But Mick understands theory and tries to put it in place a lot more than I do. I’m more of an instinct player. Even if I play something out of key, I don’t care because sometimes that shit works and creates something you wouldn’t normally get.”

There’s a push-pull dynamic to Slipknot’s guitar parts.

Thomson: “I tend to rush stuff a little bit. I can be really on top of shit and pushing it, and he’ll lay back a little bit more. I have a more staccato, shorter, barky guitar attack and Jim’s got a fatter, raw tone. 

“His playing is a bit looser and mine’s more tight. If we both played the same guitar, I think his chug would be a little bigger and fatter just from the way he holds his pick. And it’s funny ’cause he plays with a lot more gain than I do.”

Did you pre-write the leads for The End, So Far?

Root: “I have different phases of guitar playing that I go through. There’s the woodshedding phase where your muscle memory’s really great around the fretboard. And then you have your writing mode. For me, that’s when I throw all the woodshedding and muscle memory out the window and focus on the songs and the riffs. And that’s the phase I was in when we were recording. 

“I’m kind of bummed because I was really out of practice when we tracked the record. I was insecure about playing the guitar and doing the solos. I was just like, ‘Shit, why now?’ If we had time, I’d like to go back and reapproach some of the solos.”

Thomson: “We didn’t write any of the solos. What you hear on the record is what came out when I had a guitar in my hand and Joe said, ‘Okay, go.’ It wasn’t a big, epic thing. If there were any bigger, more involved leads, I probably would have sat down, felt it out, built it and taken it someplace instead of recording a bunch of random, sporadic shit that came out of my brain once that afternoon and now has to stand the test of time.”

It sounds like there’s more whammy bar playing in the solos. Which one of you brought that to the album?

Thomson: “That was me. I bought a couple of Jackson Dinky guitars with whammies on Reverb.com and brought them into the studio. I even got a fucking Jackson sustainer, so I went nuts with the wang bar on a bunch of spots ’cause I was having fun. I’ve only played hardtails ever since we started recording. I literally drove to Simi Valley to pick up these guitars and then used them to record my solos.”

• The End, So Far is out now via Roadrunner.

For many bands who wrote albums during the pandemic lockdown, having extra time to compose and experiment was a bittersweet bonus. It allowed them to try new techniques, then revisit and fine-tune songs months after they were first tracked. 

Artists had the flexibility to upgrade their home studios and record in multiple locations. Fiddling while Rome burned provided a temporary escape from a decaying world and an outlet to funnel their anger and frustration. All good things in a tragic and frightening time.

Listening to Slipknot’s seventh studio album, The End, So Far, suggests the nine-piece wrecking machine benefited from such a chance to explore a wide range of musical options, from moody and melodic elegies to vicious and chaotic tirades. 

Throughout the record, ambient, effect-laden sounds collide with chuggy, downtuned riffs and tempos reel from sluggish to torrential, often in the same song. Like their last album, 2019’s We Are Not Your Kind, atmospheric interstitials are bookended by a schizophrenic hybrid of pop hooks, raging riffs and enough rhythmic variation to bewilder and enthrall.   

“We’re not just five guys up there playing metal songs like, say, Anthrax, Exodus or Testament. There’s so much more going on,” says guitarist Jim Root of Slipknot’s sawn-off-shotgun-to-the-head approach. “There’s orchestration going on with [keyboardist] Sid [Wilson] and [DJ and sampler] Craig [Jones]. There’s melodic vocals and screaming and piano and samples and all these layers and music styles.”

The End, So Far may not be Slipknot’s most accessible album, but it’s arguably their most eclectic and enduring, an inescapable, enigmatic nightmare of sound that alternately soothes, stomps and slashes. Many of the songs will instantly appeal to fans of the band’s tribal death, thrash and new-American-metal classics like Pyschosocial, People = Shit, and Duality. 

However, hordes of “maggots” (the historic diehards) will likely be dismayed by some of the other tracks. Slipknot seem to take a perverse glee in this inevitability, which may explain why they open the album with Adderall, a melancholy, cinematic cut redolent of Radiohead and Trent Reznor. Sampled choir snippets merge with layered atmospheric guitars, fraying the nerves without a single distorted power chord. 

Elsewhere, Medicine for the Dead blends warbling industrial noises into a melange of evocative arpeggios, clanking xylophones and palm-muted guitar chugs, and De Sade intertwines militant beats, a honey-sweet chorus and glistening guitar shards with shreddy leads. The End, So Far includes bluesy bits, some soulful crooning and tons of swooshing, pulsing effects you definitely won’t find on an Anthrax album. 

“I don’t think we intentionally did anything to piss anyone off,” says second guitarist Mick Thomson. “But I know some people are gonna hate it, and I don’t give a shit about what they have to say on the internet about how much I suck. I don’t even read anything on there that has to do with music [imitates blog post]: ‘Fuck those guys! Fucking sellouts!’ [implies blasé response]: ‘That’s fine. That’s wonderful. Have a great day. Oh, and your mom says you gotta fucking take the garbage out after your fucking homework’s done.’

Considering the intricate yet coherent results, what’s most striking about The End, So Far is that Slipknot had neither an abundance of time to work on the album nor a surfeit of material to choose from. When they entered the studio with co-producer Joe Barresi, demos were half-formed, Root – usually one of the band’s main songwriters – was almost too bummed out to pick up his guitar, and no one had rehearsed the chunks of music that were being considered.

“We were flying by the seat of our pants,” Root says. “Someone would go, ‘Okay, this is all we got. This is what we’re gonna build from.’ And we’d be off. I’d listen to something and go, ‘This is what I want to play on.’ I’d turn to Mick and go, ‘Okay, we want two guitar parts here that are different. Do you want to take the low one or the high one?’ And maybe he’d say, ‘I like the low one.’ And we’d play together until we came up with something.”

The situation was a producer’s second-worst nightmare. The only more stressful scenario is when everyone in a band is either constantly drunk, strung out on drugs or feeling left out of the creative process, as was the situation for Slipknot’s 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone. 

Having mixed the last two Slipknot albums, however, Barresi was prepared for the unusual. He just wasn’t completely ready for the avant-jazz-style sessions that went down at his home studio and at Henson Studios in Los Angeles. Equally unsure of the outcome, everyone entrenched themselves and started spitting ideas. And alchemy occurred.

In a series of revealing and fascinating conversations, Root and Thomson address the extemporaneous recording style that yielded one of Slipknot’s most dizzying and cathartic albums, the setbacks that threatened to cripple their efforts, how they conjured mind-bending noises out of the ether and how they’ve made it through more than 25 years by adapting to, learning from and maximizing every bizarre scenario in which they find themselves.

I: The art of random chaos

Your 2019 album, We Are Not Your Kind, was filled with experimental interludes and structured almost like an epic, conceptual piece. The End, So Far is just as creative and artistic, but it seems more like the product of an attention deficit-afflicted nation being bombarded with a vast array of stimuli. 

Was the goal to take contrasting clusters of noise and melody and stitch them together in a way that somehow holds up as resolutely as an AC/DC album?

Mick Thomson: “There’s never a plan. I’m totally against the idea of following expected paths because even if you try to do that, it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would. Even if you think you know what’s going on, unexpected things always happen. Life always changes. 

Jim Root: “Our sound comes in part from constantly changing up the formula. We’re still trying to evolve as a band, and I am trying to evolve as a songwriter. And now we’ve got our new bassist Allesandro [Alex Venturella] (ex-Krokodil, Cry for Silence), and he’s an amazing schooled musician. 

“He was tech’ing for Brent Hinds of Mastodon, and he’s a friend of mine. I said, ‘Hey, man, would you rather be onstage playing bass or helping Brent out?’ He jumped at the opportunity. And then he brought some song ideas to the band, so that duty came off me a little bit.”

Up until 2008’s All Hope Is Gone, the late bassist Paul Gray and the late drummer Joey Jordison co-wrote much of the material. Has the band changed significantly with different writers at the helm?  

Thomson: “We’ve always been the way we are. Every song has a different story and goes through all sorts of different processes to become what it is. No one writes something and goes, 'Here, dude, check this out' and then there’s a song. It’s never worked that way with Paul and it doesn’t work that way now. Paul could write a song, but when we were done with it you may not even recognize it anymore.” 

Do you feel different about the creation of The End, So Far than about your previous releases?

Thomson: “So much was going on the whole time that nothing seemed fucking real. Now that I’m thinking about things and what we just recorded, it’s almost like a dream. That’s the way everything has been for me ever since we couldn’t tour anymore because of the pandemic.”

Root: “We were all crazed. We had zero time for pre-production and it was like we were learning and building and adding to this meal we were making as we were eating it. But we tend to work well under pressure and we got a great record out of it. 

“The only thing I’m really bummed out about is that we were so unprepared, and it was the first time we got to work with Joe Barresi as a co-producer. I wanted to come to Joe with our A game. I could sense a little frustration in him sometimes because we weren’t well-rehearsed and ready to go. We were still writing and working on the songs.”

Do you think The End, So Far is darker and more chaotic than much of your prior output because of the two-year horror show you experienced as you created it?

Root: “Yeah, because no one had rehearsed together. If we were gonna rewrite parts of the demos it was gonna have to happen right there on the spot as we were recording it. We were lucky that we were in the position to come up with these parts because we were layering the record rather than playing it. 

“It wasn’t my favorite way to make a record, and [it’s] not Joe’s favorite way to make a record. But because of the circumstances with Covid and the fact that we all live so far away from each other, and we had a budget and a schedule we had to stick to, we had no choice.” 

It seems like you’re trying to create a puzzle with 1,000 pieces, but the puzzle doesn’t have a guide image to follow and the pieces don’t all have compatible parts.

Thomson: “It’s unglamorous, but yeah. There’s all this talk about the vision for this record. In reality, a lot of it is taking a part and duct taping it onto some other part, and then doing it again. But it’s not fucking throw-and-go. 

“Something might start with a part someone demoed with EZdrummer. Another thing could come from fucking riffs that were three years old that we jammed on. Everything filters through the band and gets rebuilt and constructed. But wherever it started, and whatever it goes through, it always turns into a Slipknot song.”

If you took the material everyone contributed to the songs on The End, So Far and started working on them today, having never heard them before, would the album be pretty much the same?

Thomson: “No. It would be completely different. That’s what a lot of fans don’t understand. There’s a nucleus point somewhere, and then the rest of the band comes in and all sorts of other parts change and morph and mature and grow and get cut and rearranged. Everything could be different at any time. 

“Right now, in this situation, this is who we are. If you gave us six months to go record it again, it would sound radically different because it would be a year and a half later. We’re different people. We’ve had different experiences than what was happening when we did this record. We could have the same vision. We could try to put out the same thing, but it wouldn’t even sound close.”

There are some complex, multifaceted songs on the album, such as Medicine for the Dead or Hivemind. Were those particularly hard to get your head around?

Thomson: “We’re always dealing with multiple parts that come from totally different directions. That’s just Slipknot. If we’re stuck on a part that just isn’t working, and you don’t come up with something within a couple hours, you’ll spend the next three days and then never have it. 

“Sometimes it doesn’t work and you gotta drop it entirely and sometimes you just need to walk away and look at it again later or kick it to [vocalist] Corey [Taylor] and let him write some words for what you’ve got. 

“If there weren’t words to it already and he comes up with something, that might trigger something else, and you completely rewrite it because of his lyrics. Sometimes we’ll get stuff back that he did a demo vocal on, and then we’ll be like, “Okay, that riff’s gone now and this other thing moves to the front. Every song has got its own different kinda weirdness that it goes through and it’s never really the same.”

Root: “I try not to get married to anything that I write. Let’s say I write a full five-minute-long arrangement. I’ve layered it up with five guitars and synthesizer parts and put bass on it and programmed all the drums for it. I might have put 30, 40, 50 hours into one arrangement. 

“When you sit up all night putting something together by yourself, you tend to feel close to it. But if I hand that to Corey and he says, ‘Hey, can you make this part longer?’ Or, ‘Nah, I don’t like this part,’ I don’t get butt-hurt about it. 

“And I don’t take it personally because I know we both want the song to be great and if changing my parts around makes him come up with a better vocal line for this part, then I’ll spend another five hours on it to get it to where he needs it.”

Do you ever pick up your guitars and just jam to come up with a new part or find a segue to a part you’ve already written?  

Root: “That’s the way Mick works. If we’re in a room playing and he comes up with an idea, he’ll play it over and over until somebody’s like, ‘That’s a fuckin’ riff! We’re gonna turn that into a song!’ Or I’ll show him something and say, “We need a part here.” He comes up with a lot of stuff like that. Or he will be fucking around with an effect and that will spark a song idea.”

Thomson: “But that’s why it was really fun to experiment in the studio this time. We’d have something and then I’d throw a bunch of other different amps up and go, ‘Okay, let’s try this.’ I would double a riff but then change it a little. 

“Next thing I knew, that doubled riff was the main part with a totally different amp sound and my normal tone had disappeared. It was just a bizarro process. It was almost a backwards fucking record from the way we’ve worked before.” 

Slipknot has always thrived on creative chaos. Does the band’s aesthetic rest on the idea that control is an illusion?

Thomson: “I don’t know if any band could ever have an entire vision for something and then achieve it. So we don’t even try because everything is dependent on so many things. Every one of our records is different because they’re reflective of all the people in the band and the input they have in the songs. And that input has a lot to do with who we are. 

“We’re all in different spots in our lives and every time we do stuff together, everything sounds a little different. Maybe one of us is burned out from playing something a certain way too many times, and maybe someone else wants a little more of another thing. 

“So, now we’re pushing in new directions we’re not even aware of because we’re processing it as you’re doing it. It’s like you let your gut direct you and then your brain doubles back later and tells you what your gut did.”

Do you think your gut reaction to a musical passage is usually the right one?

Thomson: “I think you can overthink things until you don’t know which way is up or if what you just did is any good. This album is looser and darker, but is it better? That’s up to anyone’s perception on any given day. There’s days when I love a song and then another day I hate it. But that’s what’s cool about what we do. You’ve got all these conflicting factors and everything is the product of these different people involved, So we’re always in a different spot.”

Does rolling with the chaos make you rely on one another more instead of trying to be the main creative force? 

Root: “To me, everything feels a lot more collaborative now because, in some ways, we’ve grown up to be inquisitive children picking each other’s brains. ‘Oh hey, what’s that thing you’re doing there? How did you do that? Will you show me?’ Or I’ll hear something Mick does and I’ll go and grab a pedal to see if I can come up with something that will compliment his part. 

“We’ve learned how to communicate and we’re trying to understand where everyone else is coming from. I just wish some of these songs on this new record had the chance to evolve a little bit more. Now that we’ve been away from the recording process for a few months, I’m like, ‘Shit, man, I have such a better idea now for that part. I wish I could re-record that thing.’ Or ‘I have this riff that I think would fit better in that section.’ And that’s when you see us play live – I tend to improvise a lot or add things into the songs.”

If We Are Not Your Kind was like your twisted version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, with all the different interstitials leading into these epic songs, The End, So Far feels like a Pink Floyd record playing simultaneously with albums by Radiohead, Pantera, Slayer, Foreigner, Soundgarden, Ministry and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Root: “It sounds like it’s all over the place because our influences come from all over the place and we’ve evolved to the point where we can get that across in the songs. This band is such a cornucopia of different personalities and musical styles and musicians in general. Me and Mick are basically self-taught metal dudes. 

“Corey can sing anything. Alex is schooled in music, Clown came from a more indie rock world, and everyone else is very artistic in their own way and they bring their own approach to the songs as well.”

Slipknot isn’t easy listening, but, like some of the best albums by Mastodon, Tool, Lamb of God or even Yes and King Crimson, you have to earn the right to love it and understand it.” 

Thomson: “It shouldn’t be too easy to digest or even categorize. When we did Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, I was listening to a burn of roughs in my car in Des Moines. The guys in the band Cephalic Carnage were playing in Des Moines that night, so I was playing the songs for one of the guys in the band and he didn’t know what to say. 

“He was like, ‘This is just so different. What is it? It’s metal, but it’s not metal. How do you define it?’ And I said, ‘Stop trying to fucking nail it to a wall as something and just enjoy it as music.’ 

“That’s what I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older because I was one of those kids that went, ‘Well, I only like this kind of thing and fuck you.’ So I understand how fans do that. But music is a huge thing. You don’t have to put yourself in a narrow type of pigeonhole. It’s an expression of who you are and what you do, and if you’re true to yourself it just comes out of you and it is what it is. 

“That’s what I love about metal more than a lot of other music. You can draw from a lot more places. Punk always sounds like punk, but metal can go in a million different directions.”

II: Sinking into the depths

Jim, Did you play a substantial role in the songwriting for The End, So Far?

Root: “Mostly, I helped shape and structure songs in the studio. But I didn’t write and bring in stuff the way I did before. I was majorly involved in the writing from Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. And then I got in a bit deeper on All Hope Is Gone. 

“I wrote most of .5 The Gray Chapter and We Are Not Your Kind. But then the pandemic happened and nobody could be together. I was home alone and I got stressed out and depressed. So my contribution was minimal for this. It’s a good thing we had Alex stepping forward and picking up some of the slack along with [percussionist and artistic coordinator M. Shawn Crahan] Clown, who’s becoming a lot more involved in song arranging.”

Did Alex’s ideas fit into the nebulous metal realm of Slipknot?

Root: “When I first heard a lot of the arrangements, I thought, 'Oh fuck, this doesn’t sound like Slipknot to me. We’ve got a lot of work to do.' I was kind of freaked out. What I heard was the symptom of having somebody that isn’t in our age group and wasn’t influenced by the same music. 

“Alex was a Slipknot fan so he sounds like somebody that was influenced by Slipknot trying to write for Slipknot. But he had some good ideas, so we Frankensteined a couple of different parts between me, Alex and Clown, and things started to take shape. It was a huge group effort, but I was grateful Alex wrote the stuff he did because it taught me – not just about songwriting and arranging – but also about humanity, humility, ego and friendship. 

Even if you weren’t able to write songs, did picking up the guitar during the pandemic help take your mind off the state of the world?”

Root: ”No, guitars were depressing me. Everything was depressing me. It’s weird how the wires in your brain will cross up and whereas previously the guitar was an outlet for me to escape stuff, this time when I looked at it, it just reminded me of all the things that I wasn’t able to do because of Covid. So, this positive force in my life turned into this negative thing, which would’ve been absolutely fucking horrifying if I hadn’t been able to pull myself out of it. 

“Now I pick up a guitar and I’m like, ‘What would I do without this?’ But back then, I was so far from that place. I was losing any sense of positivity. I had zero purpose at all. And I thought, ‘What difference does it make if I’m here or if I’m not here? What good is my existence? I’ve pretty much accomplished everything in life that I’ve set out to accomplish. How do I set new goals and why should I bother?’ That’s what was going through my head and it was scary.”

Once you came out of your funk, were you able to write again? 

Root: “I tried to do some stuff. If I had felt a little more confident and positive, I would’ve said, “Oh, this is great. I’ve got all this downtime to sit and write and be creative.” I normally write in my house, but I had a bad leak and there was water damage so I had to try to find someplace different to set up my computer and write. 

“It just didn’t feel right and gave me anxiety to try to work that way, which made me give up trying. I wasn’t in my comfort zone even being by myself. I was trapped in my head and I overthought everything. 

“I was thinking about a bad relationship I was dealing with and trying to figure out the problem. ‘Am I the problem? Do I need to try harder?’ I was questioning everything and coming up with no answers and getting more depressed. I got to the point where I was really struggling to even want to see the next day.”

That’s bad. What did you do to regain some stability?

Root: “Finally, I got depressed enough and dark enough and sick enough of my own shit that I reached out for help and started seeing a therapist. And that really helped. They say men only seek out therapy as a necessity. They won’t go unless it’s their last resort.”

Did a doctor prescribe you antidepressants or anti-anxiety meds?

Root: “I think that might have been part of the problem. I have a lot of social anxiety and I’m a pretty introverted person. Whenever I’ve talked to a doctor in the past, they’ve prescribed me [antidepressants] like Wellbutrin or Zoloft. I’ve tried taking those things, and after about a week or two they seem to make my anxiety even worse and I have massive panic attacks. 

“So I don’t think those really jive with my chemistry at all. Instead, I was prescribed [the anxiety medication] Xanax. I felt like I needed to take something to level me out. I think I got too reliant on Xanax and that made me not care about anything at all.”

Mick, were you also in a bad place?

Thomson: “Basically. Yeah. It seems like every plausible metric is fucked currently. I was in a very bad place a lot of the time.” 

Were you angry and depressed?

Thomson: “Oh, I always am. When am I not? More than usual? Absolutely, sure. It’s been like a fucking horror movie. It’s the frog that doesn’t know the water in the pot he’s in is starting to boil. It’s turning up and we’re sitting in the fucking nearly-boiling water right now and we’re going, ‘Oh, this kind of sucks.’ If you woke up 28 Days Later-style, you’d say, ‘What the fuck happened to the world?!?’ It wouldn’t seem real, but in incremental steps toward where we are, you somehow deal with it.”

Was playing guitar therapeutic for you during the pandemic? 

Thomson: “It’s always therapeutic for me to be doing something with guitars. I’ve got pedals all over my dining room table. There’s guitars all over the floor. I just work on shit and experiment and play. 

“I’m always putting pickups in something or swapping out a bridge, just messing with stuff, adjusting the action and the intonation. And as soon as I’m done working on something, I’ll plug in and play with it for hours. What’s fun about it is that it’ll feel like I’m dicking around with something different and testing it out. So there’s an excitement about guitar because I’m being constructive. 

“It’s not, ‘Oh, look. Employment. Guitar.’ During quarantine, I spent hours and hours on that to get everything dialed in right. I played a bunch for sure, but my mental getaway comes from fixing shit and modifying stuff.”

Jim, after you went through life coaching, was it easier to start writing again? 

Root: “A lot of my arrangements on The End, So Far were things I had been trying to do on my own, maybe for a solo album, around the time we did The Gray Chapter or We Are Not Your Kind. 

“There were just a few songs I had written in the interim that I wasn’t really in love with, and a bunch of sounds and effects and atmospheric parts I recorded. I also did some stuff that was real riffy, but not songs. I handed the hard drives to our engineer and Clown and I said, 'Here’s some stuff. See if you can do anything with these.'

Did entering the studio get your creative juices flowing again?

Root: “I went through weird phases. It was time to record the album, but I was still in songwriting mode. There was one idea I had [for Acidic] that was really bluesy and I experimented with key changes, which I don’t normally do. And I found myself going back to playing a lot of speed metal and thrash metal riffs, and we recorded a lot of those.”

III: Salvation through sound

You worked with Joe Barresi, who has entered the studio with many heavy bands, but never one as aggressive as Slipknot. Did you click right away or was there a learning curve?

Thomson: “It always takes some time to learn each other’s style and build up that trust. But I wasn’t worried because Joe’s history with tones is unreal. Just the fact that he engineered the Kyuss records I always loved so much sold me on him. 

“Joe has a certain openness to trying different things, which I loved. He got me to use a bunch of different passive pickups with great effect on a bunch of spots. So that’s something I’ve reopened my mind to after 20 years. I play passives and stuff at home, but I wouldn’t even consider taking a passive pickup guitar to go play metal in somebody’s basement. 

“But dialing that back a bit was fun because it forced me to really dig in. I’ve got a heavy right hand anyway, so it’s not much work for me to dig in more to get more out of those strings.”

Root: “Joe is extremely knowledgeable about sounds. Fuck, listen to Tool [whose albums Barresi has engineered]. He knows how to get the best out of everyone. Working with him has made me go to my live rig, and me and my tech are reworking the sounds on my amps now. I’m gonna see if EMG can make me a passive style of pickup, like an HZ, which would have a different vibe from the compressed pickups I’m using now. 

“I’d like to dive deeper into that world and go a bit back to the roots of everything – using an overdrive pedal to get that extra juice out of the amp instead of jamming the preamp gain – that kind of thing.”

The new music isn’t always a fist-in-face attack. Just as often, you seem to express a different kind of heaviness with ambient passages and experimental techniques. It’s like you took a box of random effect pedals, connected them to an amp, and made crazy sounds for hours.

Thomson: “I had so much fun experimenting with all the fucking gear. There’s so much going on that it’s more in your mind than in the pedals, but there are all these soundscapes that you can create in all these different ways. This is the first time ever on a record that I didn’t have one guitar sound as my attack tone.”

Did you have go-to set-ups depending on whether you wanted a crushing tone, a middle-of-the-road tone or an ambient tone?

Thomson: “I had a different amp on every song – multiple amps on every song. And then there were all these other layers; we played with radically different amp combos. Joe’s got a bunch of stuff, which is like a toy chest. And I’ve got lots of my own stuff, too. The funnest thing was putting together non-metal things – different combinations that wouldn’t necessarily be your first choice for a metal tone – and then just playing the living shit out of them.” 

Did you come up with any combinations that surprised you?

Thomson: “There were times when I’d be playing heavy parts with a passive pickup guitar with a fairly low output into a Marshall 800 with an overdrive. I’d be picking real fucking hard and it sounds like I have tons of gain on there but it felt damn near clean in my hands picking it. You have to beat the living shit out of it, and a lot of that translated in a great way.”

How are you still around and making some of the most creative and powerful music of any heavy band more than 25 years after your self-release demo CD, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.? 

Root: “We’re getting to that point in our career where we’re all in this together. We all want to do the best we can for the role we play in this band, and when that becomes the priority, that’s when you put ego aside, put all that bullshit aside, and work together to make something great. 

“I don’t think you choose to do this for a living because you’re the most well-adjusted human on the planet. It’s just too hard to stay stable and your life is just too chaotic to have any sort of anchoring.”  

Thomson: “We’d be stupid to keep doing this if we didn’t love it. There’s too much bullshit. I think the biggest problem that breaks up bands is when everyone comes in with fucking egos. When egos and bullshit start to make a person nutty, that’s when problems happen and musicians start to hate each other. 

“Fortunately, in the first few years after we blew up, nobody’s ego got too far out of check. And that can happen real fuckin’ easily. You take a bunch of fucking dork kids and apply money and fame. 

“Someone’s always got someone in their ear telling them shit about one thing or another. And most bands end up eating shit because they just can’t personally navigate everything and manage to keep it together. I’m just glad we’re all fucking able to deal with everything we’ve experienced. And that’s because we all know we have our roles. There’s no I, there’s us.”

• The End, So Far is out now via Roadrunner.

Slipknot have unleashed their first new music in over two years, a brutally heavy track named The Chapeltown Rag. 

Following 2019's We Are Not Your Kind, the new track is described by frontman Corey Taylor as “a punisher," “frenetic” and “classic Slipknot," and sees the Iowa nine-piece stylistically revisit the chaotic arrangements of their first two albums, Slipknot (1999) and Iowa (2001).

Kicking off with an Eyeless-style breakbeat from resident turntablist and onstage hypeman Sid Wilson, the track quickly descends into madness, with guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson offering up their usual brand of chugging drop B riff work underneath Corey Taylor's savage vocals, which sound stronger than ever. Check out the track's official visualizer below.

The track is said to have been written after Corey Taylor watched a Netflix documentary on the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer who murdered multiple women in the area of Chapeltown in Leeds, England in the late '70s.

Lyrically, the track is inspired by the moral failings revealed by the film – the case was botched by investigators who became wrongly convinced that the killer was only targeting prostitutes – which are echoed in the current age of the internet and social media.

“It’s coming from a point of talking about the various manipulations that can happen when social media meets media itself,” Taylor explains. “And the different ways that these manipulations can try to pull us in different directions, in the fact that we’re all becoming addicts to it, which is very, very dangerous.”

“The Chapeltown Rag facilitates a sort of mindset that you’re going to like: it’s along the barnburner side of things,” adds percussionist, backing vocalist and Slipknot co-founder Shawn “Clown” Crahan.

Taylor also says that the dynamic in the Slipknot camp is healthy, adding that they're “all getting along so well," and that it “feels like it did when we first started touring."

“When we first started touring, we were really tight and we all did everything together,” he says. “Then obviously, as time went on, our personalities got bigger and our addictions got bigger. We all pulled apart in a lot of different ways and it was hard to get back to that. But now, it almost feels like it’s come full circle.”

Slipknot began teasing the new song earlier this week, when, via social media, they encouraged fans to visit a mysterious website named The Chapeltown Rag. The site hosted nine NFTs for sale, which when fans would hover over with their mouse would play what we now know are audio snippets from The Chapeltown Rag.

The band are scheduled to give the track its live debut during their set at Knotfest Los Angeles at the Banc of California Stadium later today (November 5). The show will be livestreamed from 6PM PT, and tickets are available at $20 apiece over at Veeps.

Slipknot's new album – which is yet to receive an official title or release date – will be their last with longtime label Roadrunner Records. It will follow the tragic death of the band's first drummer Joey Jordison, who appeared on their first four albums: Slipknot (1999), Iowa (2001), Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004) and All Hope is Gone (2008).

Heavy metal titans Slipknot are currently on the European leg of their chaos-inducing We Are Not Your Kind world tour. While in Germany, guitarist and #7 Mick Thomson paid a visit to Thomann to talk in-depth about his live rig and favorite guitars.

"You have one guitar that just feels right in your hands. I love the V because I love the way it puts my arm out for picking." Thomson said.

"It's not like I have to fight to pick on a Strat-type shape, but if I had my way, I would be playing a V all the time."

Thomson, of course, has his own signature Jackson double-cut - but maybe we can expect a V in the not-too-distant future?

The retail giant also managed to take a comprehensive look at the guitarist's vast live rig courtesy of Thomson's tech, Mike Smith. The rig even features the exact Boss GX-700 effects processor that was used to track the bands debut self-titled album.

Thomson also signed one of his signature guitars - to be in with a chance to win, post an answer to Mick's final question in the video above in the comment section.

The Jackson Guitars Custom Shop is hitting the big 4-0 in 2020, and to celebrate this four-decade anniversary the company unleashed some truly mind-blowing new models at this year’s NAMM.

In addition to exotic woods, wild body shapes and eye-popping graphics and finishes, there’s also a 27-fret Randy Rhoads, a multi-scale seven-string and bass, several one-off artist electric guitars and, particularly cool, an Jackson/Charvel double neck.

As the company puts it, “There is no build too big or too nuts for the guys at the Jackson Custom Shop.”

We agree. Just check out some of the insane new builds below.

Jackson Custom Shop J0001 40th Anniversary

The original J0001 was entered into the Jackson Custom Shop’s log book as belonging to ex-Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing, although Downing reportedly never received or played the guitar.

Custom Shop Master Builder Mike Shannon says he had Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson “verify with Downing that he actually never had or played this guitar. How it got in the log books that way, I’m not sure. But the player, as far as I know who has it, is a guy named Jay Reynolds.” No word, however, if this is the same Jay Reynolds that played guitar for Malice and, for a brief time, Megadeth.

Specs on the J0001 include an alder body, quartersawn maple through-body neck, 12” radius rosewood fretboard, Seymour Duncan Custom Trembucker TB-5 humbucker in the bridge and Seymour Duncan ’59 humbucker in the neck and an iridescent Snow White Pearl finish.

Jackson Custom Shop Randy Rhoads

The Randy Rhoads boasts an alder body, quartersawn maple neck with a 12”-16” compound radius and a flame maple 22-fret fingerboard. Pickups are a Seymour Duncan TB-6 at the bridge and a Seymour Duncan SH1N at the neck, both with chrome covers. Other features include a White Sparkle finish with chrome hardware and pickguard, Floyd Rose Original tremolo system and Jackson-sealed die cast tuners.

Jackson/Charvel 40th Anniversary Double Neck Hot Rod Flame

This insane double-neck combines Jackson Soloist and Charvel San Dimas body styles. The Jackson half features a quartersawn maple neck-through-body design, 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and classic Jackson sharkfin inlays, There’s also a Seymour Duncan TB-4 at the bridge and SH-1 at the neck and a Floyd Rose Original tremolo system.

The Charvel half, meanwhile, features a bolt-on maple neck topped with a 12”-16” compound radius fingerboard and 22 jumbo frets, DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge pickup and a DiMarzio DP117 HS-3 neck pickup, Charvel brass tremolo and Gotoh tuners. It’s all topped by a custom Hot Rod Flames finish.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Phil Collen PC1 Black Walnut

The PC1 sports a caramelized Dinky mahogany body capped with a 1/8” claro walnut top, a caramelized bolt-on maple neck and a 12”-16” compound radius 24-fret ebony fingerboard. Pickups are a DiMarzio Super 3 humbucker in the bridge, DiMarzio HS-2 single-coil in the middle and PC1 Sustainer Driver in the neck. Other features include a Floyd Rose Original double-locking tremolo system and Gotoh sealed die-cast tuners.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas

The limited edition Adrian Smith San Dimas features an alder body, bolt-on quartersawn maple neck and 12”-16” compound radius 22-fret fingerboard. There’s also a single DiMarzio DP100F Super Distortion pickup and a Floyd Rose Original bridge. The graphic, meanwhile, references Iron Maiden’s 1984 song, 2 Minute to Midnight. Said Smith about the model, “I call it my hooligan guitar because it is stripped down – no nonsense, one pickup. Sounds great, actually plays great. “I just love the guitar – apart from the fact that it looks really cool.”

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Mick Thomson Carbon Fiber Soloist

This limited edition Mick Thomson signature model recreates the carbon fiber finish of one of the Slipknot axman’s stage guitars. In addition to the finish, there’s a mahogany Soloist body, through-body maple neck and 12”-16” compound radius 24-fret ebony fingerboard with block side markers. Other features include Thomson’s signature Seymour Duncan EMTY Blackouts in the bridge and neck, a custom Jackson MTB HT6 bridge and a reverse pointed headstock.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Misha Mansoor So-Cal HSS 2PT

Features on the Limited Edition Mansoor So-Cal include an ash body with a heavily relic’d Daphne Blue finish, caramelized flame maple bolt-on neck and 20” radius caramelized flame maple fingerboard with maple inlays outlined in ebony and 22 jumbo stainless steel frets.

There’s also a Bare Knuckle Ragnarock humbucker in the bridge and Misha Mansoor single-coils in the middle and neck, a Gotoh 510 2PT tremolo system, Luminlay side dots and white pickguard.

Jackson Custom Shop Limited Edition Signature Chris Broderick CB2 Diabolic

The Broderick CB2 Diabolic boasts a mahogany body with 1/8” flame maple cap in a Trans Black finish with flame maple binding and pinstripes. There’s also a quartersawn maple neck with a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard fitted with 24 jumbo stainless steel frets and boasting ziricote reverse sharkfin inlays.

Pickups are Broderick’s signature DiMarzio humbuckers, and there’s also a reverse Jackson AT1 headstock, seven-string Floyd Rose Pro tremolo system and D’Addario Planet Waves locking tuners.

Jackson Custom Shop RR27 HS FR Galaxy

This 27-fret behemoth boasts an alder Rhoads body with buckeye resin top, through-body quartersawn maple neck and 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard. Pickups are a Bare Knuckle Aftermath humbucker in the bridge and Bare Knuckle Trilogy Suite single coil at the neck. There’s also a Floyd Rose Original bridge, Sperzel tuners and a magnetic truss rod cover to avoid the use of screws.

Jackson Custom Shop Warrior HT 7-String Multi-Scale

The seven-string Warrior Multi Scale HT sports an alder body, through-body quatersawn maple neck and 24-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl reverse sharkfin inlays. Oh yeah – it also comes in a retina-searing Neon Pink finish.

Other features include DiMarzio The Tone Zone 7 and DiMarzio Air Norton 7 pickups, Hipshot multi-scale fixed bridge, phenolic nut, Jackson sealed die-cast tuners, master volume and five-way toggle switching and reverse headstock.

Jackson Custom Shop Hellion Bass

The five-string, multi-scale Custom Shop Hellion boasts a reversed and elongated Demon shape and custom-carved ash body, through-body quartersawn maple neck and 16”-20” compound radius maple fingerboard with 24 jumbo stainless steel frets, classic black piranha teeth inlays and blue Luminlay side dots. Other features include a single Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Jazz Bass bridge pickup, Hipshot triple lock single saddle bridge and J Hipshot bass tuners. The bass comes in a Neon Yellow finish with reverse pointy headstock.

Jackson Custom Shop Soloist SL2 Exotic

The Custom Shop Soloist SL2 sports a cooked ash body with a ziricote top and titanium hardware. There’s also a flame maple set neck, ebony fretboard, Guitarmory Orion Pickups with curly maple bobbins and a Floyd Rose titanium bridge. Additional stylish touches include an inlaid maple Jackson logo on the headstock and ziricote reverse sharkin inlays on the fingerboard.

For more information, head to Jackson.

Slipknot lead guitarist Mick Thomson is one of metal’s most successful and revered players.

His game changing, take-no-prisoners approach to metal guitar has influenced countless musicians worldwide, while his black hole-heavy de-tuned guitar sound has been an integral part of Slipknot for more than two decades.

With more than 16 million records/videos sold and an impressive stream of ongoing sold-out worldwide tours, the Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum band continues to be a dominant force in modern metal music.

Jackson pays tribute to Thomson with a sinister custom Soloist to match the guitarist’s diabolical demeanor, capable of handling his acclaimed aggressive technique and tone.

Premium features include a genuine mahogany bound body coupled with a graphite reinforced through-body three-piece quartersawn maple/rosewood/maple neck—carved to a custom super-thin profile for maximum comfort and high-speed playability, and a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with 24 frets.

• This signature Soloist is powered by a pair of active humbucking Seymour Duncan Mick Thomson EMTY Blackouts, customized to complement the complex, crushing riffs Thomson plays in dropped tunings. The EMTY bridge pickup offers the energy and output of the original Blackouts but with Thomson’s custom voicing to emphasize the percussive chunk of palm-muted notes.

Designed for crystal clear clean tones, the EMTY neck pickup can also produce more aggressive mids and increased sustain for high-speed solos and ominous melodic interludes when you crank up the gain.

Other features include a fixed Floyd Rose bridge and locking nut for laser-accurate intonation and ultra-stable tuning, single master volume control, three-way blade and a uniquely angled side jack.

Beastly sounding, it’s also a beauty in a show-stopping Deep Blood Metallic with a matching reverse pointed 6-in-line headstock and black hardware, including Schaller strap locks and Gotoh® tuners. Comes in a custom Anvil® case along with special case candy items such as a certificate autographed by Thomson, a black Mono Betty long guitar strap, Dunlop custom picks and a Slipknot tour laminate.

For more information, visit jacksonguitars.com.

Jackson is proud to announce a forceful new addition to its stellar artist roster in Slipknot lead guitarist Mick Thomson.

Thomson’s arrival heralds the induction of one of metal’s most successful and revered players into the Jackson fold.

“Jackson is exceptionally honored to have Mick Thomson joining our family,” states Artist Relations Manager Mike Taft. “His game changing, take-no-prisoners approach to metal guitar has influenced countless musicians worldwide, which makes him an ideal ambassador for the Jackson brand. As Slipknot continues to build on their metal legacy, we look forward to working closely with Mick to provide him the instruments he needs to deliver both on stage and in the studio.”

Thomson’s black hole-heavy de-tuned guitar sound has been an integral part of Slipknot for more than two decades. With over 16 million records/videos sold and an impressive stream of ongoing sold-out worldwide tours, the Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum band continues to be a dominant force in modern metal music.

Thomson provided the following statement about joining Jackson: “I'm immensely proud to be a part of the Jackson family. I grew up in awe of the few Custom Shop instruments that came in to my local guitar shop in my early teens. They hung behind the counter, away from the rest of the inventory. They seemed to cost more than I thought I could ever afford. To have one then, would have been a dream.”

“After saving for several years after high school, I was finally able to take out a loan and placed an order for a custom King V. It was my perfect guitar. Charcoal metallic grey, black hardware, Floyd Rose tremolo, shark tooth inlays and an active pickup circuit. I used it for everything up to, and including, our first record. I cherished it too much to bring on tour and risk damage or theft, and that's where we parted ways for a while (but never being out of reach at home).”

“I'm very excited to be playing the guitars I loved so much growing up and getting to work with the master builders that make up the Jackson Custom Shop is amazing. They were the original company that would make you whatever you wanted, all to your specs.

“And they still do. My new custom Double Rhoads and Soloist models are incredible. They sound massive. Every detail is perfection. I'm proud to be here.”

Thomson can be seen playing his new custom Jackson instruments during Slipknot’s current tour, which marks the last run of dates to support 2014’s critically-acclaimed .5: The Gray Chapter. Visit slipknot1.com/events for tour info.

For more information about Jackson and to find a dealer near you, go to jacksonguitars.com.

This is an excerpt from the December 2014 issue of Guitar World. For the rest of this Slipknot story, plus features on Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Lenny Kravitz, Paul Gilbert, Motionless In White, Electric Wizard and more, including lessons, tabs and reviews of new gear from D'Angelico, Washburn, Boss, Morley, Lace Music and Carr Amps, check out the December 2014 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

Shades of Gray: Between the death and departure of various band members, Slipknot have had a rough few years. With .5: The Gray Chapter, they channel the energy of deceased bassist Paul Gray and return with a brutal but multifaceted album.

“The future of Slipknot is always in doubt,” guitarist Jim Root says. “I always prepare for each album as if it’s gonna be the last.”

It’s a minor miracle that Slipknot have lasted as long as they have. They have nine members in their lineup, each of whom lives up to the band’s aggro metal image in one way or another, and thereby contributes to the potential for volatility.

Yet, they have endured since the group formed in Des Moines, Iowa, 19 years ago, becoming one of the heaviest and scariest bands in a genre crowded with heavy, scary acts. Some 13 years have elapsed since the band’s self-titled 2001 debut album placed them at the forefront of the then-burgeoning nu-metal scene.

“With all the different guys in the band and all the different ideas of what’s what, it’s hard to get everybody on the same page sometimes,” Root says. “We are a very tight brotherhood, but we never know what we’re going to do.”

However, nothing in Slipknot’s turbulent history has been as daunting as the death of their longtime bass player, Paul Gray, from a morphine overdose in 2010. The tragedy was compounded by the recent departure—somewhat acrimonious, apparently—of longtime drummer Joey Jordison. Because both Gray and Jordison were key songwriters for the band, Slipknot’s future has hung in the balance these past few years.

But Mick Thomson, Gray’s coguitarist, says he never really considered packing it in.

“Any devastating moment throws you into shock,” he says. “I was just hoping that no one in the band was going to get caught up in the raw emotion of the moment and make any kind of grand statement, like, ‘I will not go on without Paul.’ You say something in the heat of emotion, and sometimes later when you settle down, you think, Maybe I should take that back. Once you can think straight again, what do you do? Obviously, you gotta get on with your life. We all grieve differently. I mean, we still are grieving, every time we think about it. It’s not something you get over. You just find a way to deal with it.”

With Gray and Jordison out of the picture, the bulk of songwriting duties fell to Root on Slipknot’s new album

.5: The Gray Chapter

. The title pays homage to the deceased bassist, and the music remains true to Slipknot’s disturbing legacy.

Somber, sound-collage intros—generally assembled by Slipknot’s turntablist Sid Wilson, sampling maven Craig Jones and provocateur-in-chief Shawn “Clown” Crahan—lull the listener into a false sense of security. Then all hell breaks loose in a cacophony of car-bomb percussion as Root and Thomson’s down-tuned guitars chug and grind like some diabolic machine and lead singer Corey Taylor does his level best to projectile-vomit his tonsils out over his front teeth.

“Once we get in the studio, it sounds like us,” Thomson says of

The Gray Chapter

. “Some of it is very classic us. Some of it is slightly more experimental us.”

“We’re still evolving as a band,” Root adds. “I think that’s really important for a band to do, especially after being around for so many years. Paul, before he passed away, really wanted the band to experiment a lot more, musically, with the direction of where we’re going. We’d done Slipknot. We’d done Iowa. I think the closest thing we’ve done to a record that Paul was very excited about was probably The Subliminal Verses. It’s very diverse. It had a little bit of everything in it. And we’re still trying to find our way. For me, and for Paul’s legacy, it’s important that we continue to evolve.”

In Gray’s absence, Root and Thomson handled the majority of bass duties on the new album, although the band did some early work with Slipknot’s touring bassist Donnie Steele. “Donnie’s a great guy,” Root says. “We brought him in to help us out in the studio for a while. But it wasn’t really jivin’. He wanted to go home and get married and do all that stuff. It’s just better off for us to kinda move on from Donnie.”

The identity of the drummer on

The Gray Chapter

, as well as that of the bassist who will take Gray’s place once Slipknot hit the road, was still a closely guarded secret at press time.

“We’re not saying who the new drummer is,” Root confirms. “Even if people find out beyond a shadow of a doubt who the new drummer is, I think we’re always going to deny who it is. He might not last. He might tour with us a year and figure out we’re all insane and he can’t handle being around us. Or we might shut him out. Who knows? For Slipknot, I’d say drumming is only 50 or 60 percent of the job. The rest of it is who you are and what your personality is. Will you clash with guys like me, Mick, Clown, Corey, Craig and Chris? We all have these strong alpha-male personalities.”

Photo: Sean Murphy

This is an excerpt from the December 2014 issue of Guitar World. For the rest of this Slipknot story, plus features on Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Lenny Kravitz, Paul Gilbert, Motionless In White, Electric Wizard and more, including lessons, tabs and reviews of new gear from D'Angelico, Washburn, Boss, Morley, Lace Music and Carr Amps, check out the December 2014 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

EMTY Blackouts, pickups designed by Seymour Duncan and Mick Thomson of Slipknot, are now available for 7-string guitars.

Thomson was already a Blackouts fan before he and Seymour Duncan collaborated on his signature model pickups.

“Blackouts have a lot more tone than your typical active pickup,” Thomson said. “They sound more real. It’s a bigger sound, with richer harmonics and a wider frequency range.”

EMTY Blackouts maintain those qualities, but they’re custom voiced to suit Thomson’s signature low tunings. Seymour Duncan tightened the bass response for better low-end articulation, avoiding the “woofy” sound that can plague dropped tunings. Thomson also requested more high-end “cut,” but without added harshness.

For more info, visit SeymourDuncan.com/mickblackouts.

Guitar World visited the Ibanez booth at last week's Winter NAMM show to see two versions of their new Mick Thomson Signature model guitars.

Slipknot are headlining the Mayhem Festival this summer, and Thomson will actually be using the Black version of the guitar with the awesome "Seven" inlay. It features a neck-through design and Seymour Duncan pickups. On the left in the video is a Blood Red "budget" version of the model.

Check out the photos in the gallery below, and be sure to watch the video for more info.

For more about Ibanez, check out their official website. And be sure to check out all the latest NAMM videos, photos and new-product information at our special NAMM 2012 page.

Photos: Cindy Moorhead