“There was a time when I was beat down, and I lost my way.” — Joey Jordison

How I found out is, I landed in Des Moines from a plane ride back from the Rob Zombie tour. I was, like, 'Okay, cool, I'm home. I can finally get some rest.' Once I landed, I turned my phone on, and my manager rang, and I'm, like, 'Oh, what?' He said, 'Paul Gray just died.'

I'd been working on new Slipknot material since the end of the 'All Hope Is Gone' tour cycle, but I ended up with so much stuff, I had to take a step back and stop working on it.

I wasn't worried about flash or persona... It's all about writing a good, solid song.

I'm writing music that people can grasp and hold on to... something that resonates. If you don't have that, then you have nothing.