One night in the summer of 1997, under the cover of darkness, three men slipped quietly into the Adult Emporium, Des Moines, Iowa’s premier porn and sex toy store, on a shared mission. The store clerk, 23-year-old Corey Taylor, recognised the trio instantly. All three men – Shawn Crahan, Joey Jordison and Mick Thomson – were long-time ‘faces’ on the local metal scene, having played with acts such as Heads On The Wall, Modifidious and Body Pit. Corey’s own band, Stone Sour, had shared a stage with their current group, masked freaks Slipknot, at a Battle Of The Bands contest organised by Des Moines radio station KKDM the previous summer. Corey looked on with mild curiosity as the trio shuffled self-consciously around the DVD racks for a few minutes before approaching him...