GRAMMY Award-winning, multi-platinum singer-songwriter, actor, and New York Times best-selling author Corey Taylor (of Slipknot, Stone Sour) began his latest venture on May 12th with the release of a new single, the toxic love anthem “Beyond”, and the masses are already dying for more. The single serves as the first release off of his newest upcoming project, CMF2, the follow-up to Taylor’s 2020 solo debut CMFT, which featured the #1 Billboard mainstream rock single “Black Eyes Blue” and streaming sensation “CMFT Must Be Stopped” (featuring Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie).
“Beyond” has a bit of a time machine effect to it.
It’s interesting… it sort of takes you back a of couple decades with its rambunctious guitar riffs and sporadic, yet rhythmic drumming that keeps you engaged the whole time. It shouts back to when My Chemical Romance and Blink-182 were blasting in teens’ headphones and driving parents crazy. It just reminds you of the early 00s in a way (ah… simpler times), possibly because it was originally written back then. It took a few years to get the lyrics and instrumentation right, but all along, Taylor knew that this song would see the light of day eventually, he just needed to make sure the world was ready for it.
Having the feel of a song based around a toxic romance, one where you give everything you have no matter how hard it hurts you, time seems to have shifted the mentally a bit, at least for Taylor. “I originally wrote it as an aggressive romantic song, but I’m also looking at it now as a kind of ‘come together’ song,” Corey Taylor explains. “Bringing the masses together and letting them know that I want my music to take them beyond what they may think about me. Maybe they’ve had a misconception about me. It’s not exactly a calling card… more like throwing the bat signal up and being ‘alright, let’s turn everything on its head.’ It’s almost a dual threat, because now I look at it from two standpoints.”
Jay Ruston (of Anthrax, Steel Panther, Amon Amarth), who produced Stone Sour’s 2017 Hydrograd LP as well as CMFT, returns to produce this sequel full-length album. “Together, we have great ideas, great energy, and are quick to try everything,” Taylor says of his studio collaborator. “We’re not afraid to tell each other if it’s a good idea or also a bad one; we have that kind of trust.” Taylor adds:
“My first solo album was kind of where I was coming from. This album is more where we’re going.”
The official video supporting “Beyond” utilized the vast emptiness of the remote Mojave Desert in California and was developed under the eye of director Dale “Rage” Resteghini (of Hatebreed, Five Finger Death Punch, Trivium). The video follows Taylor, a brooding and fucked up looking Uncle Sam walking around the desert, graced by the presence of the infamous Cherry Bombs while gradually gathering up an audience of past versions of himself from over the years, before ending up at a live show for a group of fans out in the desert.
“Beyond” is an excellent example of how Corey Taylor isn’t letting the years get to him and how he is taking every bit of experience over his award-winning career and applying it to this solo project. In support of his new album, Taylor announced his 2023 tour which will feature special guests Wargasm, Oxymorrons, and Luna Aura on select dates. The 28-city tour kicks off on August 25th at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, making stops across the U.S in Detroit, Orlando, Dallas, and more before the final show in Los Angeles at The Wiltern on October 5th. Tickets are available now at coreytaylor.com and “Beyond” is available for streaming everywhere now.
Corey Taylor – “Beyond”
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Disclaimer: All views presented in this album review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Top Shelf Music.
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