Battlecross Guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala on His Favorite Slipknot Song

With the release of our new Slipknot special collector’s issue, we’re celebrating Slipknot month on RevolverMag.com, unleashing new interviews, photos, favorite Slipknot song picks from a host of celeb columnists, and much more. So check back right here often. Below, Battlecross guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala talks about his favorite Slipknot song:

“My favorite Slipknot song is ‘Surfacing.’ I love the beginning to that song, in particular. It has such an eerie vibe that leads into a great buildup that you know is going to explode. As soon as Corey screams ‘Fuck you all!’, it’s complete insanity! I think that was one of their heaviest songs and probably still is. The first time I heard it was at Ozzfest ’99 when they played the second stage. I remember seeing pictures of them online but there wasn’t any music up yet. This was before their first album was out. When I saw them play live, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe the chaos that was going on that stage with nine members wearing crazy fucking masks and screaming and headbanding. I was blown away. Seeing them play live was inspiring because I knew that if I was ever going to be in a band, I would want it to be just as heavy and intense, if not more, not only on record, but including stage performance. Around the time that they hit, I was listening to bands like Korn, Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit–embarrassing, I know–and when I heard this song, it was just so heavy and intense that I wanted more. They made me hungry for heavier and more intense bands. I’d have to say I owe them some credit for getting me into death and grind.”