Slipknot’s Jim Root says it would be "contrived" to compare their new album to their second record ‘Iowa’.
The 47-year-old guitarist believes it is "bad" to talk about similarities between their forthcoming sixth studio album ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ and previous work the band have done, because the heavy metal outfit were different people in 2001.
He said: "I would never in a million years compare anything we’ve done to anything we’ve previously done.
"I don’t believe in it. I think it’s bad, because no matter … I mean, you could say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna write the heaviest album of all time,’ or, ‘We’re gonna write an album that sounds like ‘Iowa’.’
"Even if we set out to try to do so, it would never compare. We’re not those people anymore. We’re not that band anymore.
"That was a place in time; it was a snapshot of who we were at that time; and to try to recreate that, I think, would be contrived, and our fans would see right through it.
"And even if it was a great, really heavy, aggressive, organic record like that, the comparison wouldn’t match up to it."
Jim’s comments come after Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor admitted ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ "lyrically has the force of ‘Iowa’" and said the album "musically has the heaviness but the experimentation as well".
While Jim insists he likes to look at all the band’s new albums as "an evolution", he accepts the record-making processes could be compared.
He added to Kerrang Radio: "I like to look at everything as an evolution. And if I’d compare anything, it wouldn’t be the songs themselves; it might be the process itself.
"Now, sonically, it’s [the album is] gonna be different. That’s another thing – sonically, you’ll never match something you’ve done before. It’s hard to chase a vibe and catch a vibe.
"That’s why I don’t necessarily enjoy it when bands cover other songs. You’ll never recreate what has been done, especially if it’s something that’s legendary and classic."