Corey Taylor: Duality: Masks, Melody, and Survival from Des Moines Basements to Global Stages

By Caius D. Merrow

Corey Taylor has lived two lives at once: the masked ringleader of Slipknot, one of the most explosive bands in modern metal, and the unmasked author of Stone Sour's melodic anthems. Corey Taylor - Duality is the definitive chronicle of that improbable journey, tracing his path from thrift-store guitars in Des Moines basements to commanding festival stages across five continents.

Written in the voice of a seasoned music historian, this book peels back the layers of spectacle to reveal the discipline, grief, and governance behind Taylor's survival. From the suffocating heat of Slipknot's first Ozzfest tours to the catharsis of Knotfest's global community, from Stone Sour's radio dominance with "Through Glass" to Taylor's solo reinvention with CMFT and CMF2, every chapter situates his voice inside broader musical and cultural currents.

Here, the masks are not gimmicks but survival tools, the screams are not chaos but controlled technique, and the memoirs, lectures, and essays form a parallel career of authorship. The book also explores the unseen machinery: record label contracts, archival battles over masters, and the logistics of pyro, safety, and stamina. Loss and resilience shadow the story-Paul Gray's death, Joey Jordison's departure-yet Taylor emerges as both survivor and custodian, guarding Slipknot's catalog and reimagining heavy music's future through residencies, laboratories, and open stems.

For fans and scholars alike, Corey Taylor - Duality offers both visceral immediacy and cultural insight. It is the story of a frontman who turned chaos into architecture, sustaining two hemispheres of one voice for three decades and counting.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FPRDYH46
• ISBN13: 9798263723217
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 142 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"