SLIPKNOT’s Popularity “Opens The Doors For Other Bands”

You’ve no doubt heard of the legendary beef between Slipknot and Mushroomhead, largely relating to frustrations over accusations that Mushroomhead were attempting to capitalize on Slipknot‘s popularity after the masked nonet blew up in popularity despite Mushroomhead having worn masks while playing nü-metal first.

In a new interview with Metal Hammer, sole remaining Mushroomhead OG Steve “Skinny” Felton says that things were exaggerated back then and he sees what Slipknot‘s mainstream popularity has done for many bands that employ mask gimmicks.

“Slipknot, man, amazing. One of the biggest heavy metal bands in the world. Holy shit, it’s gigantically huge and what they have done is amazing. And I think it opens the doors for other bands as well as my own. People like this masked metal. They like theatrics.”

Felton also acknowledged that Slipknot have faced plenty of trials and tribulations of their own, from deceased members and more.

“There were lots of people signing lots of bands in the day. It wasn’t like we got the exact same offer by the same guy who signed Slipknot. And I have a lot of compassion for them, because they’ve put up with a lot of bullshit just to make music and art, and they’ve lost good people. I commend them for everything they do and it just goes to show that I wasn’t that far off many years ago that this type of thing was going to be bigger than we even knew. I wasn’t wrong. It just wasn’t my band.”

The ’90s and early aughts were a long time ago now (despite the fact that it feels like just yesterday for many of us), so it’s nice to see everyone getting along. There is certainly room for both bands in the scene.