Carnival of Soul

Corey Taylor is certainly one of modern rock and metal’s most prominent figures, and whether or not you’re a fan of Stone Sour or Slipknot is beyond that fact. The 46-year-old Grammy Award-winning singer and New York Times Best-Selling Author, is now looking to expand his artistry even further with the launch of a solo career.

CMFT (Corey Mother F**king Taylor), has officially been announced as the debut album for Taylor’s long talked about solo project. With the announcement, Taylor has dropped two new singles and quite literally a ‘fiery’ music video for lead single “CMFT, Must Be Stopped.”

Similar to Stone Sour perhaps, it looks like Taylor’s solo career will blur the lines between a number of rock sub-genres. And honestly, this approach seems like the best direction for his solo debut. The single “CMFT, Must Be Stopped” for one, delves into avenues of rap-rock and ska-rock territory with its features from rappers Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie, and it’s heavy upbeat grooves. The second single, “Black Eyes Blue,” is similar in the sense that it also takes from a spectrum of rock colors, from pop-rock, folk-rock, and straight rock n’ roll. This track sounds almost reminiscent of a Dropkick Murphys’ tune, particularly with its up-beat-chanty-like verses.

While the lyrical content does come across a bit rant-like, specifically with “CMFT, Must Be Stopped,” Corey Taylor’s singing is undeniably the best it’s ever been. From Slipknot’s last album to his new solo material, Taylor is easily among the best sounding rock singers alive.

Overall, both “CMFT, Must Be Stopped” and “Black Eyes Blue” are a departure from Taylor’s more aggressive, and at times, incredibly dark approach to songwriting, which is most prominent in Slipknot and Stone Sour. In an interview with Loudwire, Taylor has described this new record as “the most fun album people are gonna hear in all of 2020,” which further hints at the album’s differing tone and sonic experimentation. Additionally, Taylor stated the album has songs he wrote over 20 years ago, and that factor alone adds some extra hype to the overall release.

CMFT is scheduled to come out on October 2nd, and in addition to being his first solo release, the album marks Taylor’s first credit as a producer.