Stone Sour/Slipknot guitarist Jim Root announced his decision to stay home to write Slipknot music rather than tour with the next round of Stone Sour dates. He said on an interview with Hard Driver Radio that Slipknot was finally going to get down to business:
"It’s looking like we’re probably gonna be doing some random touring throughout the next year, but we’re also gonna really try to get an album going, you know. I mean, I know I want to. I know it’s past time. I know we need to for ourselves, we need to for the fans and most importantly, for the legacy of Paul Gray. I mean, he would be looking at us right now going, ‘What are you idiots doing? Get in the studio. Start writing."