Corey Taylor may not be able to entirely mask the pain he still feels from his "unplanned spinal surgery" in early June under his Slipknot character visage. But the silver lining is that he's been a better vocalist during the group's summer tour with Marilyn Manson.

"I've been damn near on, pitchwise," Taylor tells Gary Graff of Billboard. "My stamina's a lot better. It's like I'm really kind of filling in all these weird blanks in [the music] I never even realized were there. I love the challenge of it. It's being able to tune in even more to the music, really kind of being IN it, more than I ever was before." The injury has also made Taylor more aware of the particulars of his manic performances.

"I've had to kind of reassess what I do live," he explains. "Up to this point I didn't realize how physical I am when I sing -- even more than just headbanging or jumping or running or any of that stuff. I punctuate physically when I sing, and I never realized that before. Even the first few shows I was finding I had to hold myself back from more than just the headbanging, y'know? I would do something and it would be like, 'OK, that hurts. OK, we can't do that for awhile.'"

Read more at this location.

Remaining shows:

July
26 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
27 - Camden, NJ - BB&T Pavilion
29 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
30 - Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion

August
2 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
4 - Maryland Heights, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
5 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena