COREY TAYLOR on why SLIPKNOT will never play "Gematria" live | Revolver

COREY TAYLOR on why SLIPKNOT will never play "Gematria" live

"I just love that song, but it'll never happen" 
slipknot corey taylor live 2022 crop AZU, Azu Rodriguez
photograph by Azu Rodriguez

There's one Slipknot song that Corey Taylor wishes the masked metal band would play live, but he's sure it'll never happen. In a recent interview on the All Things Music podcast, the 'Knot frontman revealed that he's "fucking tired" of playing "Wait and Bleed" at shows, a song that's been a staple of Slipknot's set for as long as it's been released.

"It's not a bad song. It's just old, man," Taylor said of the 1999 banger.

In the same interview, he named a track that Slipknot have actually never played live, but that he wishes they would: "Gematria (The Killing Name)," the titanically heavy, technically impressive opening salvo of 2008's All Hope is Gone.

Sadly, he's convinced, for multiple reasons, that fans will never get a chance to rage to it at a Slipknot show.

"I've always wanted to open a concert with 'Gematria,'" Taylor said. "There are certain odiums around the way that that song was created and recorded, which is why some of the guys in the band are like, 'Fuck that, we'll never play it."

"[The reason] isn't even sentimental. It's resentment. But for me, man, it's such a fucking burner that I just love that song. I can listen to that shit all fucking day. It comes screaming out of no-fucking-where. But it'll never happen. Unless the Pope ends up opening up for Slipknot someday, that shit will never happen."

"The fans are fickle, too," Taylor continued. "Because every other fucking fan page is like, 'You fuckers never play 'Metabolic.' Then we bring it out and you could've heard a pin drop. Nobody gave a shit about 'Metabolic'. It's like, ya'll are bullshit. Fuck all you motherfuckers."

We definitely have to agree with Taylor here. "Gematria" is one of Slipknot's heaviest songs, and we'd love to see that shit played live. Hey Maggots, get the motherfuckin' Pope on the line, let's make that opening act happen.