Muse and Slipknot are probably two names you didn’t expect to see together so frequently in 2022, but here we are. Muse’s ninth album Will of the People is out today (Aug. 26), and they channel a bit of Slipknot in their new horror-themed video for the song “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween.”
There are, fittingly, a lot of horror movie references laced throughout the video. As frontman Matt Bellamy, the masked protagonist, makes his way throughout the storyline, you’ll likely recognize imagery from Stephen King’s It and The Shining, Friday the 13th, Scream and a few others.
There’s a scene toward the end of the video where each time he takes off a mask, another mask is revealed underneath. We see him go through Jason Voorhees to Ghostface to Guy Fawkes and then… Corey Taylor? The final mask resembles the one that the Slipknot frontman wore during their self-titled and Iowa eras, and the dreadlocks really top it off.
See a screenshot of the scene below, and the full music video underneath.
Muse vocalist Matt Bellamy did say that there was a bit of a Slipknot influence that seeped its way onto the new album, mainly thanks to his son, who’s a fan of the masked band.
“And we never pretend to be able to touch those guys, but hearing that stuff blasting on the way to school most mornings, that really kind of got into the album a little bit,” the singer told Apple Music yesterday.
They even shocked a festival audience in England back in June when they played a tidbit of Slipknot’s “Duality” during their set, which was part of a melody of songs they played by other artists. However, the other artists were Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine and Jimi Hendrix — Slipknot are a bit distant from those bands sonically.
Some fans may recall that Muse drummer Dominic Howard actually once wore Taylor’s Slipknot-era dreadlock mask backstage in 2001. Both bands had been on the bill for a festival in Spain, and the ‘Knot frontman tossed his mask into the crowd as their set ended. The fan who caught the mask ended up hanging out with Muse later on, and someone recorded the drummer impersonating Taylor while wearing the mask. Check it out below.
Muse ‘You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween’ Video
YouTube – Muse