Slipknot Drop Surprise New Single "Arsenal" — First New Music in Three Years
Slipknot surprise-released a new single, "Arsenal," on September 9, 2026 — their first new music since the 2022 album The End, So Far, and the first recording to feature the band since turntablist/keyboardist Sid Wilson departed earlier this year. The single arrived alongside a music video directed by band member M Shawn 'Clown' Crahan and starring actor Jackson White, which NME describes as sticking to the band's familiar nightmare-imagery style.
The song and the video
On "Arsenal," vocalist Corey Taylor delivers a series of snarling verses aimed at critics, with lyrics including lines about fighting God and God losing, and Taylor describing himself as "a .45, not a Mach 10."
The track leans heavily on turntable scratching, which has fueled fan discussion given that Wilson — the band's longtime turntablist — is no longer in the lineup. Wilson does not appear in the video, and the band's latest promotional photos show only eight members instead of the usual nine.
Sid Wilson's exit
Last month, guitarist Jim Root addressed fan speculation about Wilson's departure, telling fans not to "believe everything you read." The band later posted a statement confirming they would "no longer be associated with" the keyboardist/turntablist, though the post was quickly deleted. Wilson subsequently updated his Instagram bio to list his tenure with the band as "1997-2026."
New album in the works
Root said in July that the band has "a ton of material" and is writing a new album with producer Matt Wallace, known for his work with Faith No More, Deftones, and The Replacements. He described the new material as sounding "like nothing I've ever heard, but also like I've heard it my whole life," calling the songs "very organic" and, at their core, "just Slipknot music."
The band is reportedly returning to the leapfrog writing process used for 2019's We Are Not Your Kind — pushing a song to a certain point, setting it aside to work on something else, then circling back to develop it further. Root compared the process to making a film.
The band's last full-length under the Slipknot name remains 2022's The End, So Far, though a previously "lost" album, Look Outside Your Window, finally saw release under that title on Record Store Day this past April, with physical editions following in stages.