TO SLIP OR KNOT TO SLIP
The big question since Paul Gray died last month has been, “Will Slipknot go on without him?” On the one hand a member passing away is obviously a huge emotional trauma for a band to have to cope with, and Gray was, at least as I’ve always heard it, a key songwriter for the group; on the other hand, bands persevere in the face of tragedy all the time, and there’s already another potential bass player in the band (and I suspect they could make do without a second percussionist/third drummer/whatever) if they didn’t want to bring someone new into the fold.
But – no shocks here – Jim Root, guitarist and guy who gets to sleep with Cristina Scabbia, says the band hasn’t even discussed it yet. From an interview posted on the official Sonisphere site:
There’s going to be a big healing process that needs to happen before we even think about whether or not Slipknot will continue. And right now that’s the furthest thing from our mind. Right now we are just grieving or trying to find time to grieve anyway for the fact that our bro’s gone. It’s weird because some days I don’t even think it’s real, so that one’s not going to make sense for a while.
Like I said, this isn’t surprising. If, say, Justin Foley finally snapped and killed Gary Suarez, and I went over to Vince at Gary’s funeral and said, “So, do you know anyone we can hire as our new hardcore and noise rock columnist?”, Vince would probably be pretty put off. (But not if it happened the other way around, because, as you all know, I am a self-centered sociopath and finding a replacement for Gary would be on the forefront of my mind even as I made sure to look somber during the eulogies.) So while of course the surviving members of the band are going to have to have this conversation sooner or later, of course that conversation has not yet occurred.
Now, having said all of that… I’d be really, really surprised if Slipknot didn’t go on. I hate to be so cynical (no I don’t), but there’s just too much money at stake. But between the new Stone Sour album, the new Murderdolls album, and Gray’s passing, it will be awhile before the ‘Knot are up and running again.
-AR
[via Metal Injection]
