photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Following a week long hiatus, the Clown is back. Slipknot percussionist and artist Shawn Crahan has dusted off his picture boxes and combed through his gnarled memory to bring us some of his most striking images to date. We begin this week with "After the Show," a shot of a girl with a cigarette that's aglow with color and life. What blows us away isn't her bright blue hair, it's that rough, weatherbeaten hand with chipped black nail polish that makes us wonder if she's been working in a machine shop -- or worse. Click "more" to see the pic and read Clown's comments. Read more...

Following a week-long hiatus, we'll resume our photo guest blog with Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan (Clown) tomorrow, and in the months ahead we've we posting some of his most surreal, sexy, funny and disturbing pictures to date. But for now, check out the last installment of Clown photos we've posted over the past six months. Click "more" to see such stuff as screams are made of. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Having shot a couple dozen or so videos, Slipknot have become masters of the art -- so much so that percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan has co-directed the last two of the band's clips with Paul Brown. The latest, "Sulfur," is visually stunning, creepy and conceptual in a way the Iowa band have never been before. Click "more" to read Crahan's description of the video and to watch the Internet premiere. See it again on Saturday on "Headbangers Ball," which airs from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on MTV2. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

For most of his weekly HeadbangersBlog.com photo posts, Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) has sent us single-frame images that have been warped and manipulated either in the developing stage or in post-production. This week, however, he sent us a composite of images of fellow percussionist Chris Fehn, which was created using a digital camera's preset mode. By gauging where each of 16 equally sized frames would wind up in the image, Crahan employed mathematics, creativity and luck to create this week's striking image. Click "more" to see the picture and read Crahan's comments. Read more...

Check out "Headbangers Ball" this Saturday night for the debut of Slipknot's "Sulfur" video. The clip was shot in Los Angeles in February and directed by band percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) and P.R. Brown. The video depicts the nine members rocking out in groups of three and submerged in water one at a time. The video concept was modeled after a video installation by Bill Viola called "Ascension" that's currently on display at the Des Moines Arts Center. Click "more" to watch a preview of the video. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Generally, Slipknot percussionist and photographer Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) shoots eccentric characters and unsettling subject matter and then uses various unconventional tools to manipulate the images into things that are even more bizarre or macabre. But for "Sister Brother Devil" Crahan used a computer plug-in called Mirror to summon the beast. Click "more" to see the photo and read Clown's comments. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

If you love the experimental inclinations of Slipknot and their affinity for surprising listeners, you should really be familiar with Nashville, Tennessee's Today is the Day. Fronted by eccentric, individualist Steve Austin, the band has been releasing creative, jarring, acrobatic, spiritual, dissonant, disturbing and beautiful music since 1992. At one point, the group featured Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher (on bass) and, over time, its chaotic constructions have influenced countless groups including The Dillinger Escape Plan, HORSE the Band and Between the Buried and Me.

In many ways, Austin and Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) are kindred spirits, which is why when Crahan sat Austin down for a quick photo, he was able to capture a side of Austin that others often don't see, but which is an integral part of his being. Click "more" to see the picture and hear Clown explain more about the shot. Read more...

What, no dead goat, monstrous face or nightmarish scenario? Has Slipknot percussionist and photographer Shawn Crahan gone soft? Hardly. He's just learning to appreciate the world around him, good and bad, beautiful and hideous. Here, he strays a bit from his normal apocalyptic vision to deliver a gorgeous statue in Australia using a very narrow depth of field. Click more to see "Timeless" and read Clown's comments. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

The second Slipknot record for Roadrunner, 2001's Iowa, depicted a sinister looking Goat's head that effectively conveyed all of the ugliness and evil that was filtering through the band and it's entourage at the time. It's a simple image, but one that was anything but simple to capture. In this week's "The Eye of a Clown," band percussionist and photographer Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) offers an alternate cover photo and explains how he struggled to capture the right image before passing off the camera to photographer Stefan Seskis. Click "more" to see Clown's shot and read his comments. Read more...

Clown photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Here we are again, ready to examine one of Shawn Crahan's photos to try to get inside the Slipknot percussionist's cryptic brain. This week, Clown offers us -- not a shot of a dead deer or an exploding object in flight -- but an abstract still life of sorts that he took to help him determine the direction for the cover art of the 2004 album Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. click "more" to see the image and read Clown's commentary. Read more...