Corey Taylor has argued that making Slipknot‘s third album Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses was “just as big of a risk” as the band’s landmark second outing Iowa. 

The Rick Rubin-produced album featured tracks such as Duality, Pulse Of The Maggots, Vermilion and the Grammy-winning Before I Forget. It marked a notable shift from the sound of 2001’s Iowa in that it was considerably more melodic and also used considerably less profanity, with guitarist Mick Thomson later revealing that Taylor chose to consciously avoid swearing in response to criticism that he was over-reliant on it.

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Appearing on Seton Hall’s Pirate Radio, 89.5 FM WSOU in support of his new solo album CMF2, the Slipknot frontman reflects on the band’s 2004 album, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.

Asked to name something the band did on that album that wouldn’t have been heard on any prior album of theirs, Taylor says: “Oh, man. Well, I mean, obviously the acoustic stuff that we did with songs like Circle [and] Vermilion Pt. 2. I mean, really diving… It was where we really started wearing our artistic side on our sleeve, because it was something that we knew that we could do and that we had done in the past, but we had never really been afforded the opportunity to do it.” [via Blabbermouth]

He continues: “We also knew that if we stayed just trying to out-heavy ourselves, we were going to turn into somebody who didn’t sound honest, who didn’t sound legit. Which is one of the reasons why we stopped and we said, ‘We need to spread our boundaries out and we need to take this risk.’ And people don’t realise this, doing Vol. 3 was just as big a risk as making Iowa.

“So, lyrically, sonically, creatively, we were able to kind of pull together, even though we were pulling apart at the seams at the time, and we created something that to this day is probably – other than some of my approaches at singing some of the songs, it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Taylor addresses his past comments on how disappointed he was in his vocal takes during the first months of recording the album, which left him contemplating quitting the band.

“Well, it was largely because my alcoholism was really in full effect,” he says. “I mean, yeah, it was brutal. It is hard for me to listen. And, of course, as an addict, you’re blaming everybody but yourself. And once I got clean, I realised, I was, like, ‘Man, I have to start from scratch.’ And I did.”

He continues: “I slowly but surely started building my vocal takes and vocal passes back. But it was hard going, man. ‘Cause people don’t realise the damage that alcohol does to your voice. Plus, I was smoking, so it was a gnarly, gnarly time in my life.”