An angry former member of Slipknot’s road crew has unmasked the secret identities of their new drummer and bassist. After he claims to have been sacked as Slipknot’s drum tech, Norm Costa leaked a document revealing that Jay Weinberg and Alessandro “Vman” Venturella are the band’s newest touring members.
Costa used Instagram to share the information, posting a photo of Weinberg’s drum-kit and one of Slipknot’s backstage personnel list. “#blowitup #fuckslipknot” he wrote. Costa, an industry veteran, has not explained why he was dropped from Slipknot’s road crew. A representative for the group has yet to confirm the appointments.
If Costa is correct, Weinberg and Venturella replace Slipknot co-founders Joey Jordison, who left the group in December 2013, and Paul Gray, who died in 2010. Although fans had more or less deduced the musicians’ identities from clues earlier this year, Slipknot had been trying to keep their names off the record. Frontman Corey Taylor said they wanted to keep the men’s identities secret “unless we absolutely have to [reveal them]”.
“Even if people find out beyond a shadow of a doubt who the new drummer is, I think we’re always going to deny who it is,” bandmate Jim Root told Guitar World (via Blabbermouth). “He might not last. He might tour with us a year and figure out we’re all insane and he can’t handle being around us. Or we might shut him out.”
Many fans suspected that Venturella – a former guitar tech who has played with Cry For Silence and metal supergroup Krokodil – had joined Slipknot after noticing his characteristic hand tattoos in the video for The Devil in I. Weinberg, on the other hand, was apparently outed by yet another vengeful associate: “Dear Slipknot, good luck with that #shitbag,” Against Me’s Laura Jane Grace tweeted in September. Weinberg, the son of E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, had abruptly quit Against Me in 2012.
Slipknot’s latest album, .5: The Gray Chapter, debuted at No 2 in October. It is not clear whether Weinberg or Venturella played on the record.
