Corey Taylor has had many different Slipknot masks through the years.
All of the members of Slipknot change their masks with every album cycle, as you can see in our gallery of all the members’ masks. However, as diehard Maggots know, there are a lot missing from that particular list, because some of the members had different variations of the same mask during each album cycle.
Not Mick Thomson, though. His masks have mostly stayed the same, ever since their self-titled record came out in 1999.
As many are aware, many of Taylor’s earliest masks completely covered his head and had dreadlocks coming out of them.
“For me, I didn’t really know where to go at first. So Clown and his wife actually helped me find … They found an old crash-test dummy’s mask, and we flipped it inside out,” Taylor recalled during Dean Delray’s Let There Be Talk podcast.
“At the time, I had dreads, and I was pulling the dreads out through these holes, and when I shaved my head, we took all that hair and we stuck it in the masks to kind of keep that look.”
Though his mask was similar during the Iowa album cycle, at some point, he started wearing a white version of it, and put black makeup around his eyes and mouth, which made it have a panda bear-type of look.
But, by Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), the mask completely changed. This time, it didn’t cover his entire head, and resembled a mangled face with burnt, rotting skin that was stitched together in different places.
READ MORE: Why Do Slipknot Wear Masks?
“Honestly, the Vol. 3 one was pretty easy. However, it was the hardest to sing out of,” the singer told Kerrang! years later.
“But because it wasn’t like symmetric, it was hard for me to get the mic up to my mouth, so it really changed the way that my vocals sounded. Which is why now when I do my mask I make sure that the rubber is flushed with my mouth so I can get the mic up to it. You know, mask problems.”
Scroll through the images below to see Taylor’s different masks through the years.
Timeline of Corey Taylor’s Slipknot Masks Through the Years
See photos of Corey Taylor’s many Slipknot masks over the years.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
Photos: Masked Rockers With + Without Their Masks
Have you ever wondered what your favorite masked rock star looks like out of costume? Whether it’s makeup, prosthetics or full head coverings, several rock and metal artists employ masks that hide their true identity. Well, here is a revealing list of several rock stars who wear masks or face-obscuring makeup onstage — with one photo showing them masked, and another pic without their getup.
Gallery Credit: Philip Trapp