Slipknot‘s Slipknot Arsenal standalone single is ‘not really representative’ of the material being built for the band’s upcoming eighth album, guitarist Jim Root has said, confirming the track will not feature on the record.
Root addressed the release directly in response to fan comments on a since-deleted Instagram post, writing: ‘Arsenal was a tune we could quickly get out there while we work on the rest of the record. It’s not really representative of the other tunes.’ Asked point blank whether it would land on the new album, he left no room for doubt: ‘No. This was just one that we could finish sooner to get out there.’
What the Slipknot Arsenal standalone single tells us about album eight
The surprise drop arrived without warning, as Slipknot releases tend to do, and immediately sent fan forums into their usual state of productive chaos. But Root’s clarification reframes what the song actually is: a pressure valve, something the band could close out while the larger body of work remains in progress, rather than a window into where the album is heading.
That distinction matters. If Arsenal sits outside the sonic territory of the other ‘tunes’, as Root puts it, then reading it as a signal of the album’s direction would be a mistake. The record, whenever it arrives, is apparently heading somewhere different entirely.
No firm release details for the eighth album have been confirmed. What is known is that Root has previously spoken about the sessions in terms that suggest the band are genuinely energised by the material. ‘There’s times where we just kind of sit back and we’re listening to what I just worked on and I’m just like, Wow this is wild,’ he said. ‘This sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Yet there’s a familiarity to it that feels like I’ve been listening to it my whole life and it’s just so organic. It’s just Slipknot music.’
Matt Wallace in the producer’s chair, and around 50 ideas on the table
Root has also revealed that the band are working with producer Matt Wallace, a long-time collaborator with Faith No More. According to Chaoszine, Wallace’s production history also includes work with Mushroomhead, giving him a grounding in heavier, more experimental territory that could prove useful for wherever Slipknot are taking this record.
Root previously put the scale of the writing sessions into perspective, saying the band had around 50 song ideas in various states of development. That is an enormous pool to draw from, and arguably explains why Arsenal could be finished and released independently without disrupting the larger project. When you have fifty directions to explore, one that reaches completion early is easy to set aside without it representing the whole.
The release also marks the first new music from Slipknot since the recent departure of DJ Sid Wilson, adding another layer of context to what is clearly a transitional period for the band. How Wilson’s exit shapes the remaining sessions, and what form the eventual record takes, remains to be confirmed.
Root’s candour about Arsenal’s relationship to the album is the kind of frank fan communication that tends to go down well in a fanbase that has always paid close attention to the band’s own words. The Metal Hammer coverage of the release captured the intensity of the online reaction, which was, predictably, passionate. Whether the album eventually lands closer to Arsenal’s territory or somewhere further out, Root’s description of the sessions as producing something ‘wild’ and yet unmistakably Slipknot suggests the band are not playing it safe.
