Corey Taylor Remembers The Time He Nearly Joined Anthrax

Despite being one of the busiest men in metal, Corey Taylor very nearly added another project to his plate over a decade ago: joining thrash metal legends Anthrax.

The Slipknot frontman was potentially going to be recruited for the role (for one album, at least…) following Anthrax's line-up uncertainty after the release of their 2003 record We've Come For You All – their last with John Bush on vocals.

“That actually started as an idea because of an acoustic gig that I did with Scott [Ian] and Frankie Bello at a place in New York… afterward, we were all kind of just hanging out, and the half-joking line got thrown out, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if you joined Anthrax?’” Corey recalled on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation Virtual Invasion. “And we all laughed, and then we all stopped. And we all just went, ‘Hmmm. That could [be] interesting.’

Read this: 13 bands who wouldn’t be here without Slipknot

“It was between Joey and John, so everything was kind of up in the air… we talked about it more and more, and it was something that I was really, really into.”

However, the loose idea wasn't allowed to come to fruition as Slipknot's label, Roadrunner, had future plans for Corey: 2008 album All Hope Is Gone was in the works, and that took priority.

“I got a phone call from Roadrunner telling me that they weren’t gonna let me do it,” Corey continued. “They wanted me to go back and do All Hope Is Gone, because we were still contracted to do another Slipknot album, and they weren’t going to allow me the wiggle room. I don’t even know if those people are still at Roadrunner, to be honest. But I know that they cracked the whip on it and were really hardcore.

“It was the first time I had ever felt like I was kind of backed into a corner. Not that I didn’t wanna do a Slipknot album, but I was so into the idea of doing an Anthrax album. And I remember having to call and tell the [Anthrax] guys that I wasn’t gonna be able to make it. It broke my heart so hard. But, obviously, things worked out for the better for them.”

Watch the interview below:

CMFT is out on October 2 via Roadrunner Records – get your copy here.

Read this: 10 of the best Corey Taylor guest appearances