Bold statement: Slipknot’s long-delayed side project album Look Outside Your Window (LOYW) still isn’t out, and the release keeps sliding to the next year—now officially pegged for 2026. That’s the core reality fans have been grappling with for years, and this update digs into why the project remains shelved, despite renewed optimism.
Here’s what we know. On December 3, during a Discord Q&A tied to his Slipknot-themed Minecraft venture, percussionist M. Shawn Crahan—aka Clown—delivered the latest setback. He admitted the band previously promised a 2025 release but explained that creative projects can shift due to evolving circumstances in the art. His message was blunt: 2026 is the year, and while he’s tired of waiting, faith in a future release remains. This is the kind of transparency fans rarely get, and it’s still a tough pill to swallow given the album’s legendary delays.
LOYW originated during Slipknot’s 2008 All Hope Is Gone sessions but wasn’t intended as a standard Slipknot album. Crahan, Corey Taylor, Jim Root, and Sid Wilson diverged from the main sessions to record eleven tracks as an experimental project. Those involved have described the effort as having a “Radiohead vibe”—more experimental, melodic, and artistically charged than typical Slipknot material. In 2019, Taylor summed up the project as solemn, energetic, and highly atmospheric, noting it diverges sharply from the band’s usual sound and leans toward a rock/Radi ohead-inspired direction.
The record has remained largely unreleased since its creation. In 2019, there were even talks of a Christmas-day drop, which never materialized. By 2023, Crahan suggested it could arrive in that year, and 2024 was touted as a definite release window, but nothing happened. There were hints throughout 2024 that mixing, mastering, and artwork were completed or near completion, fueling hopes for a 2025 release. Yet, as the year drew to a close, the plan shifted again, with 2026 emerging as the new target.
A potential complicating factor this year involved corporate moves surrounding Slipknot’s royalties and publishing. In November, it emerged that several members sold a stake in those rights in a deal reportedly worth around $120 million. Whether this deal affects LOYW specifically remains unclear, but it introduces a plausible hurdle in coordinating release decisions, marketing, and rights management for a project that has lingered for nearly two decades.
In short, LOYW remains a volatile, eagerly awaited artifact from Slipknot’s extended universe. The 2026 target is the latest in a long line of postponed release windows, and fans will need to stay tuned for further updates. With Crahan’s ongoing public confirmations and the band’s front-loaded experimentation history, the question isn’t whether the project exists, but when and how it finally lands—and what form it will take when it does.
Thought-provoking question: If LOYW finally arrives with a “Radiohead vibe” and a more melodic, experimental edge, should Slipknot consider releasing similar offshoots as regular side projects, or is the risk of diluting the band’s core identity too high? Share thoughts in the comments.
