SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor has unveiled his latest single, "HWY 666". It is available on all streaming platforms now and joined by an official lyric video.
Kicking up dust, rustling acoustic guitars introduce "HWY 666" as the tempo increases to a gallop only to turn on a dime towards road-burning distortion. The song blurs the boundaries between outlaw country, punk, and hard rock, complete with cinematic storytelling and a soaring hook.
"HWY 666" is the third single from Taylor's debut solo album, "CMFT", which will be released on October 2 via Roadrunner Records. Taylor recorded the effort with his band consisting of Jason Christopher on bass, Dustin Schoenhofer on drums, and Zach Throne and Christian Martucci (STONE SOUR) on guitar. The LP was completed at Kevin Churko's The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER and STONE SOUR, among others.
"I love what I've done in the past, I love the projects that I've been attached to, but this, honestly, was probably the most enjoyable album that I've done since the first SLIPKNOT album," Corey told Kerrang! magazine. "There was such a sense of, 'We're doing it together.' I hadn't felt anything like that for a really long time, man. People grow apart, relationships become fractious⊠people stop liking each other sometimes, in certain bands, you know? But with this, it was totally different, because we were all friends before that. We just happened to all play together, and then we formed a band around that friendship, and it all really galvanized it.
"This has definitely made me appreciate making music again, let's put it that way," he added.
The first two singles from the album, "CMFT Must Be Stopped" and "Black Eyes Blue", were released in July and are also available on all streaming platforms now.
"I was talking to my wife about this the other day â I was, like, 'Fuck! There's nobody for me to hide behind!'" Corey told Kerrang! "It's easy to take risks when you have the benefit of a well-established name â and by that, I mean the bands that I've been in for 20 years. But I also feel like I've earned the right to put something out there and throw people for a loop â not only with the things that I've done with both bands, but the guest spots that I've done with several bands: everybody from TONIGHT ALIVE to Zakk Wylde to Tech N9ne. I mean, I've really spread out, in a cool way. I've never sequestered myself to one corner of the genre; I've never allowed myself to be painted into a corner. And I think because of that, people's minds are a lot more open when they hear that I'm putting something out. They're gonna come into it with this mindset of, 'Okay, I don't know what the fuck I'm about to hear. This should be interesting. I think by doing that, that really sets the tone for your career."
SLIPKNOT recently canceled all of its previously announced summer 2020 tour dates, including the "Knotfest Roadshow", Knotfest UK and Knotfest At Sea, due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.
