Why Slipknot Believes They Were Haunted While Recording Vol 3

There aren't a ton of successful metal bands to come out of the Midwest, but even if there were, Slipknot would still reign as the kings of Iowa heavy metal. The band hit the ground running in 1999 with the release of its self-titled debut album and rose to fame like a nü-metal meteor blazing through a dark sky of anger and nihilism, complete with creepy masks. But, like, in a good way. As a big part of the early 2000's metal culture, songs like "The Heretic Anthem" and "Spit It Out" drove Slipknot's first two albums up the Billboard 200 chart, with the band's sophomore effort, Iowa, peaking at No. 3. That's quite a feat for metal band, and it wasn't even the high point of Slipknot's career.

Slipknot's next album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), brought the band to further heights when it hit the No. 2 position in 2004. With Vol. 3 's easy success, it might be hard to believe that the band didn't exactly have the easiest time recording it, but it's true. According to Loudwire, Slipknot was going through a period of total dysfunction, no small part of which was frontman Corey Taylor's alcohol problem, but recording Vol. 3 had another bizarre twist: members of Slipknot believed they were being haunted, which may not have been a bad thing, at the end of the day.

Someone's grandmother might think Slipknot's music is the work of the devil and they brought the haunting they experienced on themselves, but no, grandma, that's not the case. The nine-member band recorded Vol. 3 in famed rock music producer Rick Rubin's 1918 Mansion recording studio, a place where artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Marilyn Manson and System of a Down have also recorded and been entertained by spectral hosts.

It would be safe to say that the band was on edge before they even walked through the Mansion's doors. Not because of ghost stories or anything, but because of the internal turmoil they'd faced after the rapid rise to success that followed their first two albums. Slipknot had just regrouped after several of the members had branched out on side projects — such as Taylor's Stone Sour and drummer Joey Jordison's Murderdolls, as Slipknot-Metal.com pointed out — and they were trying to get back in the same groove that had led to their fame. In Jordison's opinion, it was the creepy vibe of the Mansion that helped them get there.

"I think we just fed off the vibe and the weirdness of the place; it really helped with the record, it was cool," Jordison told Metal Hammer (via Louder). Jordison also mentioned an odd occurrence that happened to him during his stay: the drummer's door would open on its own every morning at 9 a.m. regardless of what he piled in its way.

Maybe Corey Taylor is more in tune with the paranormal than his bandmates, but the Slipknot frontman has offered more details on the happenings than any of his fellows. The singer told Metal Hammer (via Louder) that the "ghosts" made themselves known with an array of different methods.

One of the things Taylor noticed, which he pointed out during the interview, is that the room he stayed in had a phone jack with the words "In case of paranormal activity, dial" followed by a phone number. This house definitely wasn't trying to hide its spiritual activity, which, during the recording of Vol. 3, happened a lot.

Taylor said that "you can really feel it on the album." Apparently, the paranormal activity made their equipment act up, with tracks playing loops and things freezing for no apparent reason. But none of that came close to the level of creepiness that Taylor claimed to have experienced in his room.

The front man was in the shower, cleaning up from a long day of recording and binge drinking. According to Kerrang!, the door to the room had been locked. Well, Taylor said he looked out of the shower right as a man in a tuxedo walked through his room, paying no attention to the shut door. To make things even creepier, the frontman said he and the apparition locked eyes as he went past. Regardless of the Mansion's eeriness, Taylor somehow found the time he spent there to be "cool."