Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor concedes racism is a "big problem" within the metal community, following rocker Phil Anselmo's recent Nazi salute controversy.

Anselmo, from American heavy metal group Down, caused a stir last month when he gave the Nazi salute during a concert and shouted "white power" from the stage, prompting fans and peers to gang up on the rocker, who has since apologised for his ill-advised actions.

Slipknot star Taylor has now spoken about the incident, and while he assures his fans they won't see his band in a similar situation, he acknowledges racism is a prominent issue within the community.

"This is a bigger problem than what happened that night," Taylor told UK newspaper The Guardian.

"Slipknot has dedicated itself to bringing people together, to fighting racism, to fighting hate in general since the day we were started.

"I don't have time for people who judge other people by the colour of their skin. If that in itself offends some of my fans, then I'm sorry, you're wrong. I don't ever want our fans to feel like we're judging them because of colour, religion, culture, upbringing, etc. We welcome everyone, we always have and we always will," Taylor said.

"I know there is a problem in metal, and it all comes down to, at least in America, where you grow up and what that culture is passed on from: parents, family members, friends, adults. It's a generational thing. I thought we were close to phasing it out, but unfortunately I was proven wrong," he added.

But Taylor insists there is hope that one day prejudice will be absent from not only the metal community, but all genres.

"I just dedicate myself to fighting it. It's across the board in music, though - it's not a specifically metal thing. But it has come up in the metal community. It's risen its ugly head because of the incident we're talking about.

"I've not only played a lot of metal shows, I've been to a lot of metal shows, and I know for a fact they are quite diverse and they always have been....It will take very little to eradicate racism from metal because the majority of it isn't racist."

Anselmo offered to step down as his band's frontman in the midst of the controversy, especially after promoters in Europe and Down's hometown New Orleans, Louisiana, cancelled gigs in the wake of the controversy.

"I've privately suggested to them (bandmates) that they move on without me," he wrote in a post on his official website.

"My bandmates are now experiencing the consequences of my behaviour, and I now publicly apologise to them as well. Never in my entire lifetime would I drag them down with me," Anselmo wrote.