Slipknot missed the studio skills of fired drummer Joey Jordison while they were recording .5: The Gray Chapter, frontman Corey Taylor has admitted.

And he says one of the reasons he won’t go into detail about the split is that some people just want to hear him “talk shit” about his former colleague – and that’s not going to happen.

Jordison’s shock departure came in January ahead of sessions for the band’s fifth album, released last month. His replacement is believed to be Jay Weinberg, son of Bruce Springsteen’s drummer Max, although the band don’t plan to confirm the identities of him or their new bassist.

Taylor tells The Jasta Show: “I’m not going to talk about Joey’s life and people need to realise that. There’s legalities, but at the same time, there’s respect.

“I’m not going to sit here and dog somebody that I spent 15 years building up something amazing with. And the fans need to understand that. Most of them do; but there’s always going to be those people who just want a little more so they can talk shit. That’s the only reason they want the full story: so they can talk shit.”

He adds: “The only way I’ve been able to sum it up is that sometimes you’re on the same road and you’ll reach a T-section. Sometimes you turn together, sometimes you split. This time we split – and it was just that simple. We just weren’t able to work any more, and that’s it.”

But Taylor accepts the band struggled to learn how to work without Jordison, although he didn’t realise it at the time. “You’re just trying to get through it; you’re not ignoring it, but you’re kind of charging through.

“There are definitely times where yo miss his ability to kind of see. Joey was definitely a general in the studio – he had such a great mind for it, knowing how to get the right sonics and how to do certain things, and the potential for ear candy, intros and stuff like that. You have to fill that blank.”

.5: The Gray Chapter topped the US chart last week after reaching the number 2 spot in the UK.