SLIPKNOT is planning to release its next studio album in 2019, Corey Taylor has confirmed. Speaking to Billboard, the singer said: "The guys are writing tons of music and I've written lyrics to almost all of it and we're going to start trying to put together demos here and there with the time off that I have and really try to get ahead of the curve as far as what happens next. I know that we're gonna try and put an album out next year. However, that is all speculation. The best way to make God laugh is to announce your plans out loud. So I'm just going with the flow. The plan right now is next year but that is a huge plan because we still haven’t narrowed anything down, so we will definitely see what happens."

Although he's still on the road with STONE SOUR, Taylor recently said that he has already begun putting together lyrical ideas for SLIPKNOT's follow-up to 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter", adding that the material will see him at his "most autobiographical" that he has "been in years." Taylor's comments came several months after SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan revealed that the band had "about 27 pieces of work" written for the band's new disc.

Asked by Musik Universe if he has heard any of the music Crahan has been composing with the other instrumental members of SLIPKNOT, Taylor replied: "Yeah, I have. It's awesome. That's all I'm gonna say about it. It's everything I wanted it to be." As for the lyrics, Taylor explained: "It's really dark. It's probably the most autobiographical I've been in years. Just for the fact that I've been through a lot the last few years and I've been sitting on a lot."

SLIPKNOT's touring cycle in support of its latest disc ended in November 2016, with Taylor returning to his other band STONE SOUR last year.

Taylor and STONE SOUR are preparing to embark on a new string of U.S. tour dates in support of that band's sixth studio effort, "Hydrograd".