Back in the early days, Mushroomhead were often pitted against Slipknot as the two emerging masked bands in metal, but years later how does Mushroomhead leader Steve “Skinny” Felton feel about their supposed rivals? He’s filled with words of praise, actually.
In a new Metal Hammer interview, the longtime Mushroomhead drummer and percussionist reflects on that period when it appeared the two bands were beefing. Slipknot even faced the wrath of audience projectiles at one early show in Mushroomhead’s home base of Cleveland, leading band members to confront some of the audience members. But according to Skinny, the “beef” was a bit overblown.
What Mushroomhead Leader Thinks of Slipknot Now
Skinny started on drums with Mushroomhead in 1993 and alongside guitarist Dave “Gravy” Felton, they are the only two current members who were around to likely witness some of the beef from the peak years of the rivalry.
READ MORE: Slipknot vs. Mushroomhead – The Bitter Feud
But reflecting on where they are at now, Skinny states, “Slipknot, man, amazing. One of the biggest heavy metal bands in the world. Holy shit, it’s gigantically huge and what they have done is amazing. And I think it opens the doors for other bands as well as my own. People like this masked metal. They like theatrics.”
As for the Cleveland incident, Skinny told Metal Hammer he was not in attendance when it happened and he’s heard multiple stories from people over the years, but feels that it was “Inflated” by the media over time. He suggests that the media hyped it up and that “beefs” between acts, particularly in the rap world, were big talking points at the time. “The media fueled it and fans bought into it,” he says.
Skinny’s kind words on Slipknot continued, telling the magazine, “I have a lot of compassion for them, because they’ve put up with a lot of bullshit just to make music and art, and they’ve lost good people.”
He adds that they also fulfilled a vision he once had for his own group, stating, “I commend them for everything they do and it just goes to show that I wasn’t that far off many years ago that this type of thing was going to be bigger than we even knew. I wasn’t wrong. It just wasn’t my band.”
Mushroomhead Vs. Slipknot By the Numbers
Mushroomhead were the first of the two bands to release an album, with the group’s self-titled and self-released offering coming in 1995. Slipknot’s demo album, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat arrived a year later in 1996.
Mushroomhead’s first three albums were issued independently before Universal came calling for 2003’s XIII album. Slipknot caught their big break when Roadrunner Records signed the group and the band’s self-titled 1999 album was released.
Both bands have remained active through to their current run, albeit with lineup changes. Mushroomhead have issued nine albums total, with the most recent being Call the Devil that was issued earlier this month. Slipknot are now seven albums into their career, with 2022’s The End, So Far being their most recent offering.