Masked metal giants Slipknot has revealed plans for a world tour that will ¡°definitely¡± include Australia, early next year.

Frontman, Corey Taylor said that the band is aiming for an October release for their as-yet-untitled fifth album, of which fans got an appetizer recently in the form of new track, ¡®The Negative One¡¯.

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 1, Taylor said that the release would be followed by an extensive tour. ¡°Starting in October, there¡¯ll be a couple of months of touring, mainly in the US and shooting over to do those two Knotfests in Japan¡± he said.

¡°And then break, obviously, for the holidays. And then next year, we¡¯re gonna start slowly moving out to the rest of the world¡± Taylor added. ¡°I know we¡¯re eyeing Europe and the UK, we¡¯re definitely looking at Australia, we¡¯re looking at South America, Canada.¡±

Slipknot¡¯s return to Aussie shores will mark the band¡¯s first visit in two years, when they co-headlined the Soundwave 2012 Festival with System Of A Down. As the nu-metal titans have been rumoured as one of the four headliners for next year¡¯s Soundwave festival, it seems that the announcement couldn¡¯t come at a more perfect time. Promoter AJ Maddah previously said that he would be happy to have the band return to play the hard and heavy festival, however, it ¡°won¡¯t be ¡®til new album.¡± Therefore, the news puts Slipknot at the top of the rumour mill for next year¡¯s lineup.

Despite releasing ¡®The Negative One¡¯ ahead of the main course of tracks on the new record, Taylor says that the track was more of ¡°a gift for fans¡±, rather than the album¡¯s first single. The speedy new track combines slithery guitar riffs, chunky rhythm and Taylor¡¯s trademark growling, as he sings about the ¡°Lord of lies.¡±

¡°We wanted them to hear a piece of the album. The single comes out in a few weeks, and it¡¯s completely different,¡± said Taylor of new track ¡®The Devil In I¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s more melodic, but it¡¯s dark, it¡¯s powerful, man. It¡¯s something different. People are gonna lose their minds when they hear that.¡±

The follow-up to 2008¡¯s All Hope Is Gone, and their first since the death of bassist Paul Gray and departure of drummer Joey Jordison, Taylor says that the forthcoming album is almost ready to unleash unto the music world.

¡°We¡¯ve got pretty much all the artwork done, which Shawn [Crahan, percussionist] did a hell of a job on¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re getting ready¡­ probably in the next couple of weeks, we¡¯re gonna shoot a video for the first official single, which is called ¡®The Devil In I¡¯. So we¡¯re gonna shoot a video for that¡­ that¡¯s about all I know right now. [Laughs] ¡®Cause we¡¯re still finishing mixes.¡±