STONE SOUR / SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor has been named ArtistDirect.com's Man Of The Year for 2012. Following is an overview as to why Taylor was chosen:

"Corey Taylor might just usurp Dave Grohl as the busiest man in rock music.

After releasing the New York Times bestseller, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good last year, the Slipknot and Stone Sour main man kicked off 2012 by launching Living Breathing Films, his production company with cohort M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan. The outfit began drumming up attention at Sundance and, definitely, has its sights set on big things.

This past summer, Slipknot headlined the annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival to some of the biggest crowds the fest has seen in its history. These shows also saw the band at their most focused, fiery, and fierce. Taylor delivered every performance like it was his last, practically ripping a hole through the earth every time the band hit the stage. At the same time, on numbers like 'Gently' and 'Duality', his immense vocal prowess proved as hypnotic as ever.

Speaking of impressive vocals, Taylor recorded and released Stone Sour's epic House of Gold & Bones Pt. 1. The first half of the band's two disc concept album, it's the largest undertaking he's tackled yet and, as always, he nailed it with flying colors. House of Gold & Bones dispenses a rough thrash assault on the likes 'Gone Sovereign', 'RU486', and 'Rumor of Skin'. However, the collection boasts some of the singer's most entrancing and ethereal melodies to date as well on 'Taciturn' and 'Travellers Pt. 1'. Everything culminates on the seesaw gut punch of 'Last of the Real', which oscillates between poignant lyrics and his immortal scream. Each song follows a story Taylor penned including in the album too, welcoming listeners into this unforgettable world.

In addition, he inked a deal with Dark Horse Comics for a comic book for House of Gold & Bones. Taylor has jumped outside of the confines of hard rock, and he's only continuing to grow as a true presence in the worlds of music, literature, comics, and film.

That's why we've named him our 2012 man of the year.

Watch out Mr. Grohl..."

As previously reportted, Taylor is featured in a new interview with Simon Crampton at ThisIsNotAScene discussing th eband's new album, House Of Gold And Boney Part 1. An excerpt is available below:

Q: You mentioned that you have overseen everything to do with the release of House Of Gold And Bones Part 1, was it challenging for you to explain everything you had in your head to the rest of the band to get everything going?

Taylor: "Not really, I mean they kind of assume that I know what I’m talking about. (Laughs). The poor bastards. I explained the idea to them, the concept of what it was essentially. That got them really excited, not only that but when I told them I wanted it to be a double album that really got them excited. Essentially we were getting into territory that we’d never done before. Not only making an album that had a narrative, had a concept, had a theme and everything, but also to rise to the challenge with that many songs. They were really stoked and I was really happy about it.

I kinda cheated a little. I played them a bunch of the songs I’d written, stuff like ‘Gone Sovereign’ and ‘A Rumour Of Skin’, that helped their excitement to say the least, so it was pretty cool. Once I really wrote it out and got it so you could read it and see it, and had it so you could see all the different halves and stuff, they really got behind it. It’s been awesome knowing that we are all on the same page, fighting for something that means that much to us."

Q: Part 2 of the House Of Gold And Bones saga has yet to be released, what can we expect from that?

Taylor: "Part 2 is much darker, if I’m honest. Aside from it being a completely different album, it feels more like a soundtrack to a movie in a lot of ways man. It’s really thematic, there are themes from part 1 that reveal themselves and that come again musically, there’s actually stuff from Part 2 that you’ll hear that’s on part 1 and you’ll be like 'Fucking hell!' We essentially recorded these, and this is where technology is now, that so you could have these in a playlist on your iTunes and play them top to fucking bottom and really get that experience while you read both parts.

So it’s some of our darkest music, our most intricate and complex music, some of the best fucking lyrics I’ve ever written to be honest, even writing from a narrative like that, it was so challenging. Plus, it’s got some of our best songs on it. You guys think Part 1's good, fuck off, ‘Do Me A Favour’ alone is going to kick the shit out of people and that’s going to be the first single which comes out in January, that’s going to be the first taste that people get of Part 2, and people aren’t going to know what to do."

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