COREY TAYLOR Says PAUL GRAY's Musical Contributions To SLIPKNOT Were 'Almost Orchestral'

This past week, Zane Lowe of U.K.'s BBC Radio 1 conducted an interview with singer SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

SLIPKNOT's current stint on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour is the band's first U.S. trek since the May 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray.

When asked what is the one massive thing that Paul took with him from the band when he died, Corey said, "There's a huge void that has to be filled musically. He brought something so different to what we do. I mean, Joey [Jordison, drums] is an amazing writer. Mick [Thomson, guitar] is a great writer; he comes up with amazing riffs. I can kind of hold my own with these guys. Clown [percussion] has a brilliant mind for the crazier stuff, but he also has a great idea of what the vibe should be. Jim [Root, guitar] writes incredible riffs. There was something so different about what Paul brought to the band. Not only could he write these great riffs — these super-heavy, drudgy riffs — but he has such a great vision for melody. I mean, a lot of the stuff that he wrote had so many different layers to it, it was almost orchestral. And that is gonna be hard to fill, because it was just so different. It comes along once in a generation."

Commenting on SLIPKNOT's decision to carry on as a band following Gray's passing, Taylor said, "The thing that people don't understand is that we're so different that when we're at home, we don't really hang out a lot. I mean, some of us do. Obviously, I see Jim all the time, 'cause I'm in the other band with him, I see Clown. I talk to [Chris] Fehn a lot, I talk to Sid [Wilson]. But for the most part, we're so different that we never hang out. But then we go on the road, killing [ourselves] every night, and the only person who's gonna understand is someone who's there. So we're very tight as a family. Does that mean we're all bunking together, like 'Real World'-style, like MTV? No. Not at all. 'Cause we'd kill each other within 10 seconds. But that bond will never be broken."

Following the end of the Mayhem tour, the group will headline Knotfest, two festival dates put together by the band itself on August 17 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and August 18 in Somerset, Wisconsin.

SLIPKNOT will tentatively enter the studio sometime in 2013 to begin recording its fifth album. In the meantime, a greatest-hits collection called "Antennas To Hell" arrives on July 24.