Slipknot haven't played a show since November of last year, and their next one isn't until April at Sick New World, but things appear to be evolving in the world of 'Knot.
Over the weekend, percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan debuted a creepy new mask on Instagram. The new look is a stark pivot from the otherworldly metallic visages he's been donning for the last couple years.
This one is a pretty clear callback to the classic clown mask that the percussionist wore in the late Nineties, except here the skin is leathery and drippy, as if its been worn down by the passage of time.
Last week, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor posted a photo of his head covered in silicon, signaling that a new mask was underway for him, too. The photo was captioned with "#25", a likely reference to the 25-year anniversary of Slipknot's self-titled debut that the band will be celebrating on the road later this year.
However, as eagle-eyed Redditors have pointed out, Clown's fresh visage isn't exactly brand new. A very similar version of this mask (likely the same one) was on display in the Knotfest Museum between 2019 and 2020, according to one maggot on Reddit.
That same fan claimed that mask-maker Ralis Kahn, who designed Slipknot's masks for the All Hope Is Gone record cycle, created this one for Clown, and they shared some additional photos of the mask on display in the museum.
Clown's photo on Instagram is evidently the first time he's ever worn it out in public, so it's "new" to anyone who didn't already see it at the Knotfest Museum a half-decade back, which is most people.
See Clown's photo with the mask on and the shots from Reddit below.
