Slipknot are back and they brought a new drummer, a new song and absolutely no intention of slowing down.
“Arsenal” is the band’s surprise new single and the first Slipknot recording to feature Brazilian drummer Eloy Casagrande, who joined the group in 2024. After two years of proving himself onstage, Casagrande finally makes his studio debut with a track that wastes no time putting his abilities to work.
Corey Taylor’s repeated “Let’s go!” cuts through a barrage of crushing riffs, pounding percussion, electronic noise and Casagrande’s furious drumming. It sounds unmistakably like Slipknot — only with another chapter of the band’s history beginning behind the kit.
The track also arrives at an interesting moment for the band. “Arsenal” is their first new song since longtime turntablist Sid Wilson departed the lineup earlier this year, meaning Casagrande’s studio debut comes as Slipknot continues to navigate another period of change.
Musically, though, there is little hesitation for Slipknot.
The guitars hit hard, the percussion provides the kind of physical weight that has always been central to Slipknot’s sound, and Casagrande brings an almost relentless energy to the track. His playing is particularly prominent during the faster passages, giving “Arsenal” the kind of momentum that should translate naturally to the stage.
There is no obvious attempt to make the song a stylistic departure. Instead, Slipknot lean into the characteristics that have defined them for decades: aggression, layered instrumentation, rhythmic chaos and Corey Taylor’s unmistakable voice sitting somewhere between command and confrontation.
The accompanying video is considerably stranger.
Directed by M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan, the surreal clip stars actor Jackson White and introduces a collection of imagery that appears to hint at another evolution of Slipknot’s visual identity. The band’s masks remain central, while religious imagery and what appear to be papal-style robes add another deliberately cryptic element.
As usual with Slipknot, the visuals raise almost as many questions as they answer. The song itself also has a small mystery attached to it.
When Casagrande joined the band in 2024, he revealed that he was already involved in the creative process. Among the material being developed at the time was a song reportedly titled “Long May You Die,” a track that became one of the earliest indications that new Slipknot music could eventually emerge with the Brazilian drummer involved.
Casagrande later explained that working on new material was actually part of his audition.
“I think that was also part of the audition,” he told Kerrang! in 2024. “They threw new ideas at me to see what my songwriting was like.”
The band, he explained, wanted to test him beyond simply playing drums and see how he functioned creatively within Slipknot.
Two years later, we finally have the first official studio result.
It has not been confirmed whether “Arsenal” is connected to “Long May You Die.” The earlier title could refer to a completely different song, or the material may have evolved during the writing process. For now, Slipknot have left that part of the story open.
What isn’t in question is Casagrande’s place in the lineup.
The former Sepultura drummer has already spent multiple tours performing with Slipknot, giving audiences plenty of opportunities to see what he could do behind the kit. “Arsenal” is the point where that live relationship becomes part of the band’s recorded legacy.
The timing is also notable because Slipknot’s recent studio history has been anything but straightforward.
The band’s last standalone single was “Bone Church,” released in 2023, while their most recent proper studio album remains The End, So Far, which arrived in 2022.
Earlier this year, Slipknot also finally released Look Outside Your Window, the long-discussed experimental project assembled from recordings made during the sessions for 2008’s All Hope Is Gone. The album gave fans access to a very different side of the musicians’ creative work, but it was not a conventional new Slipknot album.
“Arsenal” is… or, at the very least, it is the first proper glimpse of what the next era might sound like.
For a band that has spent more than 25 years constantly reshaping its lineup, image and sound, another transition is hardly surprising. But there is something significant about finally hearing Casagrande on a new Slipknot recording after watching him take the stage with the band for the past two years.
He has already proved he can play the songs. Now we get to hear what he can do to them. And on “Arsenal,” he sounds like he intends to leave his mark.
