“Wow, this is wild. This sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before.”

Those are dangerous words when they come from Slipknot guitarist Jim Root.

The masked metal titans are back in the studio, new music is being dragged out of the darkness, and there are already at least 50 different song arrangements being kicked, punched and twisted into shape.

Even more intriguingly, Slipknot are working with acclaimed producer Matt Wallace, the studio mastermind best known for his long association with genre-smashing alternative metal legends Faith No More.

Fifty ideas. Experimental sounds. Doom-laden riffs. Beautiful clean sections. Blisteringly fast guitar work.

Good grief, mun. This could be absolute carnage. 🎸💀

🔥 SLIPKNOT HAVE A MOUNTAIN OF NEW MATERIAL

Speaking during an extensive appearance on the RIDE BYND podcast, Jim Root revealed that Slipknot have been creating a huge amount of material during their latest writing sessions.

According to the guitarist, the band already have approximately 50 arrangements in various stages of development.

That does not necessarily mean Slipknot have 50 completed songs sitting on a hard drive ready for release. Instead, the figure appears to include riffs, jams, sections, rough structures and musical ideas that could eventually be combined, reshaped or sacrificed entirely.

That is still a staggering amount of material.

Most bands would celebrate after finding one decent chorus and a riff that does not accidentally sound like something they released ten years ago. Slipknot, meanwhile, appear to have opened the studio doors and allowed the entire riff cupboard to fall on top of them.

Proper job. 🤘

🎸 THE BAND ARE JAMMING TOGETHER ORGANICALLY

Rather than arriving with every note carefully planned, Slipknot have reportedly been spending extended periods simply playing together.

Root explained that the musicians might jam for around 90 minutes or two hours, potentially emerging from the session with several new song ideas.

Those ideas are then revisited, arranged and developed collectively.

It is a deliberately organic process — one built around musicians reacting to one another rather than constructing everything separately through screens, files and endless email attachments.

And according to Root, the results have been almost frighteningly natural.

There is something incredibly exciting about Slipknot creating music this way. This is a band renowned for precision, layers, chaos and enormous production, but some of their most powerful moments have always carried the feeling that everything could collapse at any second.

Nine musicians — or however many masked lunatics happen to be in the room — locking into one ugly, thunderous groove is exactly where Slipknot become truly dangerous.

🎛️ FAITH NO MORE PRODUCER MATT WALLACE JOINS THE MADNESS

Helping to guide the sessions is veteran producer Matt Wallace.

Wallace is particularly celebrated for his work with Faith No More, including his involvement with landmark releases such as The Real Thing and Angel Dust.

That connection alone should have Slipknot fans paying close attention.

Faith No More were never interested in staying inside one musical lane. They could move from crushing metal to funk, cinematic weirdness, lounge music, punk aggression and complete absurdity without asking anybody’s permission.

Slipknot have always possessed a similar appetite for experimentation beneath the masks.

Yes, they can unleash riffs heavy enough to make your kitchen cupboards rattle, but their catalogue also includes unsettling electronics, eerie atmospheres, vulnerable melodies, industrial noise and moments of genuine beauty.

Bringing Wallace into the room suggests Slipknot are not merely trying to recreate their past.

They appear to be looking for something different.

Something strange.

Something that still sounds unmistakably like Slipknot — but perhaps a version of Slipknot we have not properly encountered before.

😈 “THIS SOUNDS LIKE NOTHING I’VE EVER HEARD”

Root’s excitement over the new material might be the biggest reason for fans to start feeling properly hyped.

The guitarist described moments where he has listened back to the developing music and found himself stunned by what the band have created.

He suggested that some of it sounds unlike anything he has heard before, while somehow retaining a strange sense of familiarity.

That is a fascinating description.

The best Slipknot material has always felt both alien and immediate. Songs such as Wait and Bleed, Left Behind, Duality, Psychosocial, The Devil in I and Unsainted all arrived with their own personalities, but each still carried that instantly recognisable Slipknot DNA.

The percussion.

The samples.

The monstrous guitar tone.

The emotional pressure.

Corey Taylor sounding like he is either about to lead an arena-sized singalong or chew through the studio wall.

Creating something new without losing that identity is the challenge facing any band with decades of history behind them.

Root’s comments suggest Slipknot might have found that balance.

⚡ FAST RIFFS, DOOMY WEIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL CLEAN SECTIONS

So, what might the new Slipknot material actually sound like?

The honest answer is that even Jim Root seems unable to place it neatly into one category.

That is probably a very good sign.

He has spoken about writing some of his fastest grind-picking riffs, alongside melodic passages, crushing doom-influenced heaviness and delicate clean interludes.

There are also apparently more atmospheric and experimental elements entering the music.

Root was cautious about making direct comparisons, but he hinted that some of the stranger material may exist somewhere within a broad Pink Floyd-style experimental wheelhouse.

Slipknot going full psychedelic doom nightmare?

Corey Taylor singing over an eight-minute atmospheric breakdown while Clown hits a flaming oil drum on the moon?

Take our money immediately. 🌒🥁

Of course, nobody should expect Slipknot to suddenly release a gentle progressive-rock concept album about a lonely lighthouse keeper.

But the possibility of wider dynamics, unusual structures and eerie atmospheric sections sitting alongside punishing guitar work sounds extremely promising.

Heavy music hits harder when it has room to breathe.

A whispered section makes the scream feel louder. A beautiful melody makes the inevitable breakdown feel like somebody has driven a festival truck through the stage.

Slipknot understand that better than most.

💿 COULD THIS BECOME SLIPKNOT’S EIGHTH STUDIO ALBUM?

The new material is expected to be considered for what could eventually become Slipknot’s eighth studio album, following 2022’s The End, So Far.

However, there is currently no confirmed album title, track listing or release date.

The band are now operating in a different position after completing their long-running record agreement with Roadrunner Records, giving them potentially greater freedom over how future music is recorded and released.

That freedom could prove important.

Slipknot no longer need to follow the exact same machinery that powered earlier album campaigns. They could release a traditional full-length record, drop individual songs, experiment with shorter projects or unleash something completely unexpected.

Trying to predict Slipknot has never been a particularly sensible activity.

It is a bit like trying to predict Welsh weather while standing outside Greggs in shorts. Eventually, you are getting soaked.

🪟 A PERIOD OF EXPERIMENTATION FOR SLIPKNOT

The latest update arrives during an interesting creative period for the band.

The long-awaited experimental project Look Outside Your Window, created during the sessions for 2008’s All Hope Is Gone, finally emerged in 2026.

The project featured Jim Root, Corey Taylor, Shawn “Clown” Crahan and Sid Wilson exploring more atmospheric and improvisational music away from Slipknot’s usual sonic attack.

That release demonstrated that the musicians have long possessed ideas that do not fit comfortably within the traditional boundaries of the band.

Now, it appears some of that adventurous spirit could be influencing Slipknot’s next proper chapter.

That does not mean the band are abandoning heaviness.

Based on Root’s description, there should still be enough vicious riffing to make a circle pit appear spontaneously in your local Aldi.

But there could also be more colour, texture and unpredictability surrounding the aggression.

🎭 SLIPKNOT HAVE NEVER BEEN AFRAID TO EVOLVE

Every era of Slipknot has carried its own atmosphere.

The self-titled debut sounded like an underground riot breaking through the floorboards.

Iowa remains one of mainstream metal’s most suffocating and hostile records.

Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses expanded the band’s melodic and experimental range.

All Hope Is Gone brought enormous anthems and sharpened musicianship.

.5: The Gray Chapter carried grief, transition and renewed fury.

We Are Not Your Kind pushed atmosphere and experimentation deeper into the darkness.

The End, So Far continued pulling at the boundaries of what a Slipknot record could contain.

Naturally, every change has sparked debate.

Some fans want another Iowa. Others want the band to keep exploring. Some merely want Corey Taylor to scream while two blokes batter beer kegs with baseball bats.

All are perfectly understandable positions.

But Slipknot have survived because they have never been content to exist purely as a nostalgia act.

They know their history matters, but they also know the masks become meaningless if there is nothing new happening underneath them.

🤘 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT

This is still the beginning of the process.

Fifty arrangements could become 15 songs, ten songs, one absolutely enormous track or a mysterious folder that Clown hides in a vault for the next 18 years.

Nothing is guaranteed until Slipknot officially announce it.

But Jim Root sounds energised.

The band are working organically.

Matt Wallace is bringing a fresh perspective.

The music reportedly stretches from ferocious grind-picking and crushing doom to melodic clean passages and strange atmospheric experimentation.

That sounds less like Slipknot playing it safe and more like Slipknot rediscovering why making noise together was exciting in the first place.

And that, butt, is exactly what we want to hear. 🎭🔥

Slipknot do not need to recreate 1999.

They do not need to produce Iowa Part Two.

They simply need to enter a room, trust their instincts and create something honest, uncomfortable and gloriously heavy.

With more than 50 ideas already circling the studio, there is clearly no shortage of ammunition.

The masks are back.

The riffs are multiplying.

Something wild is coming. 🤘💀🔥

Would you love to hear Slipknot push further into experimental territory, or are you hoping for their heaviest record in years? Sound off in the comments, Maggots!