Look Outside Your Window

The album originates back to the recording sessions for Slipknot's fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone (2008).[2] Two separate recording sessions in two separate studios occurred concurrently; the All Hope Is Gone sessions, which included the entirety of the nine-piece band, and the Look Outside Your Window sessions, which only included four band members; Corey Taylor (vocals), Jim Root (guitar), Shawn Crahan (percussion), and Sid Wilson (turntables).[2] Crahan noted that the sessions began with himself and Root initially, with Taylor and Wilson coming in shortly later, and it became a group project shared among the four of them, separate from Slipknot, in his eyes.[3][4] Taylor noted that, while the band pursued their regular heavy metal sound in the All Hope Is Gone sessions, the members who took part in the Look Outside Your Window sessions took a more experimental approach to the music.[2] He described the material as far more melodic than typical Slipknot material, with more of a rock music-vibe, with some more artistic qualities akin to the work of Radiohead.[2] Root recalled unconventional approaches in the sessions, including recording the song of a frog croaking, and then building a song around that recording, and having Taylor sing a track from the bottom of a well, making it sound like he was singing in a cavern.[4]

Eleven songs were recorded in the sessions.[5][6] At one point, Taylor, who loved the music from both sessions, attempted to combine the material from both projects into one collective album, creating what he described as an alternate tracklist/sequencing of All Hope Is Gone containing Look Outside Your Window material intermixed.[2] However, due to turmoil within the band at the time, Taylor was unable to find support from any other band members on the endeavor, and he subsequently dropped the idea.[2] Only one song from the Look Outside Your Window sessions ended up making it onto All Hope Is Gone; the track "Til We Die" originated from the Look Outside Your Window sessions, and was placed on the All Hope Is Gone special edition as a bonus track.[7] Despite the association, Crahan maintains that the album is a "very unique art piece on its own".[3]

Crahan and Taylor have mentioned various plans for releasing the material over the years. Crahan noted that they had wanted to release it ever since its creation in 2008, but has had difficulty with figuring out how to time the release without it interfering with other albums or band downtime.[3] However, the album is owned by the four, not the label, so they are in charge of its release.[3] Plans to release it early in the touring cycle for their We Are Not Your Kind (2019) album arose, though the plans were delayed as to not take away the momentum of said album, which ended up topping the album chart in the US much to Taylor's surprise.[8][9] In January 2020, Crahan revealed the album, at one point had an unannounced surprise Christmas 2019 release date,[10] but it was delayed again, for undisclosed reasons.[11] Crahan noted that there are still plans for it to be released during the latter half of the We Are Not Your Kind touring cycle,[12] though the COVID-19 pandemic forced the band to cancel much of their 2020 touring or reschedule for 2021.[13] No concrete release date has been given, though publications have predicted a release in 2020[14] or 2021.[5]

• Corey Taylor – vocals
• Jim Root – guitar
• Shawn Crahan – percussion
• Sid Wilson – turntables