Slipknot star Joey Jordison is preparing to launch a new solo side-project.

The drummer also plays with rock group Murderdolls and has toured with Rob Zombie, but he is now writing material for a new band.

Jordison has yet to reveal details of the project, but he has assured fans they will be hearing about it once he finishes work on the new Slipknot record.

He tells News.com.au, "I've been in and out of the studio for about six months now - that's (working) on the Slipknot record and also on some solo stuff as well... I'm gonna be forming a band in the near future with a lot of the material I've been writing lately.

"I don't want to release too much but I have been in the studio and I think people will be pretty surprised at what I come up with. It's heavy! But (Slipknot) is all I care about right now."

Meanwhile, Jordison has also told of how he was once given a "weird-smelling" gift by a fan - real human arm bones.

The percussionist was handed the package by a female devotee while he was on tour with rocker Rob Zombie and admits he was shocked by the creepy present.

"I had a gift given to me from a young lady when I was touring with Zombie and I was like, 'OK, well, thank you' and I took it back and I opened it up and it had like a weird smell,” says Jordison.

"But it's not what you think it was, well, it was definitely odd. I used to work in funeral homes, that was my family's business for a long time, so it didn't spook me too much but I was wondering where this person got this from.... It wasn't like an actual arm, just the bones. It was odd, but hey..."

Now that he is out from under the pressure of working with a pre-existing property, Rob Zombie will return this year with an original film centering on witchcraft called ‘The Lords of Salem.’ Being that he is scoring the film, Zombie’s guitarist John 5 has seen some of the footage and says it looks “incredible.”

Rob Zombie is currently in post production on his new film ‘The Lords of Salem,’ his first non-remake, non-sequel, live-action feature since his directorial debut ‘House of 1000 Corpses.’ After months of filming, the project is in post-production and while it is expected this year — a trailer has yet to be released.

Rob Zombie didn’t look far outside of his camp when making the film, drafting several familiar faces for the project like Sid Haig, his wife Sheri Moon Zombie, and hired his guitarist John 5 to provide the score. The former Marilyn Manson axeman recently spoke to Noisecreep about his involvement:

“I am scoring the movie with Griffin Boyce, rocking this thing out. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be working on it, but what we have is unbelievable. We saw a little bit of the film with the music. It was incredible. I don’t score that much. But this is special and it looks incredible. It has been exciting progression.”

[ZombieFAQ editor: This article was written by Booman of horrobid.com.]

As a huge fan of Rob Zombie and his take on horror I am beginning to worry about the status of his latest film, THE LORDS OF SALEM. The film is being produced by Haunted Films (Paranormal Activity, Insidious) who has quite the pedigree even though this is only their third film. The story deals with a local DJ who plays a cursed record and unwittingly unleashes a coven of 300-year old witches who were secretly imprisoned and tortured during the Salem Witch Trials. Add the plot, the production company, the director and the insanely talented cast and you have a recipe for a horror classic. Which is why not hearing more about the film is all the more puzzling.

The film wrapped over three months ago and since that time we haven't heard of a release date, when a trailer would be ready or if the film was going to get a wide-release. Surely we haven't gotten to the point in the entertainment business where a Rob Zombie film doesn't warrant a wide theatrical release? Patience is the key and hopefully Rob is taking the extra time to fine tune the film and get the editing down which was lacking in the theatrical cut of HALLOWEEN 2. Time will tell but as the year goes on one has to wonder if we will see THE LORDS OF SALEM in 2012.

[ZombieFAQ editor: What do you think. Is Zombie taking his time with this, could we still see the film this year or is it doomed to a home video release? We want to hear your thoughts in our forum]!