Corey Taylor has opened up about what fans can expect from the next Slipknot album in a recent interview with Kerrang. The legendary frontman gave a well overdue update on where the masked-metal lords are at with new music, confirming that they are in fact working on a new album.

“I have fantastic news. Some of you know, but I’ll just make it official right now: we are working on a new album” said Taylor in the interview. Back in April, the band took to their social media pages to share a slew of cryptic posts that hinted at a 2019 release date.

Taylor said that although the band are still in “demo” stages, and shared that there are 16 songs already written and described them as being “fucking dangerous”. If you’re wondering where on the heavy-Richter scale “fucking dangerous” registers, Taylor noted that the album would be “Iowa levels” of heavy.

“It’s only in the demo stages right now, however, we have very serious, tentative plans – and I say that because the best way to make God laugh is to announce your plans out loud – to go into the studio at the beginning of next year and get this fucker going.

“We have 16 songs written right now, and they are fucking dangerous. I loved ‘.5 [The Gray Chapter],’ but this album, to me, makes ‘.5’ look like nobody’s business. This is ‘Iowa’ levels of heavy.”

The band’s second album Iowa was released in 2001 and features some of Slipknot’s career-defining anthems, including ‘My Plague’ and ‘People=Shit’.

Listen to ‘Left Behind’ off Slipknot’s Iowa: 

Further along in the interview, Taylor gave an update as to what his relationship with the rest of the band is like, saying that they’re all “really excited” about upcoming projects.

“I talk to Clown either every day, or every other day. I’ve been talking to Jim, V-man, Jay, Mick, Craig, Chris, Sid. We’re all really, really, really excited about this stuff, and it’s coming together really fucking well.

Taylor also noted that next year will mark the 20 year anniversary of the band’s debut self-titled album, telling fans to be “prepared” – could he possibly be hinting at a 20-anniversary tour?

“So be prepared for 2019 – which, weirdly, is the 20th anniversary of our first album. Shit’s about to get fucking real again! So take that as you will.”

In June this year, Tone Deaf reported that Corey Taylor said the new Slipknot album would feature his “best lyrics yet.”

“It’s been a heavy couple of years for me personally,” Taylor explained. “So I’m working out some things, personally for myself, which has been great. I’ve been able to grab ahold of some of the depression that I’ve been fighting and formulate the way that I want to describe it.”

“So some of these lyrics are, to me, some of the best I’ve ever written. It’s probably the most I’ve shared in years.”

Slipknot last released .5: The Gray Chapter in 2014, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album the following year.

Watch Slipknot’s ‘The Devil In I’

The article was originally published on Tone Deaf