Slipknot guitarist Jim Root says he "didn't have a ton of creative input" on the band's upcoming new album, The End, So Far.
"We did not do pre-production," Root says tells Music Radar. "We essentially built this record in the studio, and a lot of that was due to COVID, and us being separated, and the circumstances led us to do the record the way it was done."
That process made Root feel "rushed trying to come up with ideas for this or that arrangement."
"We weren't rehearsed as a band," he says. "We did not come in knowing the songs top to bottom, and that affected the record."
Root feels that between the time of Slipknot finishing the album and putting it out, the band could've "taken our...time with pre-production, and, in my mind, put out a better product."
"That's not to say that we’re disappointed with what we are putting out; it's where we are at," he says. "It's what we were able to do, given the circumstances, and the things that we had to work with."
Root also admits he thought Slipknot should've "abandon[ed]" the album and "move[ed] on from it."
"[Percussionist] Clown was like, 'It's not a record! It's not a Slipknot record! We are still touring on We Are Not Your Kind, on that tour, and by the way here are some songs...'" Root says. "Well, you can say that, but we are putting a f****** record out and to the fans this is a f****** Slipknot record. No matter what you say, that's what it is."
The End, So Far arrives this Friday. Slipknot is continuing to tease songs off the record, most recently with a clip of the song "Hive Mind."