Slipknot's Shawn 'Clown' Crahan would feel ''cheapened and betrayed'' if the group ever ditched their famous masks.

The 'Wait and Bleed' hitmakers have always performed with their faces covered and the 50-year-old percussionist insisted it is ''pure religion'' from him and the band don't ''deter'' from their art.

Speaking on 'The Fred Minnick Show', he said:''I really couldn't fathom us any other way. I would feel cheapened; I would feel betrayed. I think that's the difference. It's the self-worth in the dream, in the art that you create. Ours is very, very, very precise, and we do not deter away from staying the course.

''People ask me all the time, 'Are you gonna take off the mask?'

''And I say, 'Why do I need to do that? You're only asking me because of behaviour. You're only doing that because you have a hypothesis of all the other artists, some way or not, but I'm not a part of that test, that field research. I'm the Clown in a band called Slipknot. We are not your kind. We are not like you. We're not part of your hypothesis.' ''

Shawn can't ''fathom'' the idea that anyone in the band would even want to be unmasked.

He said: ''It's my life. And I can't ever fathom going in so personal because of laziness or stress or just the will to not wanna put it on anymore. I signed the deal we did in the beginning, and there's just never been any [thought] of anything else.''

Singer Corey Taylor has previously admitted he doesn't think the group will ever ''lose the masks'' as he feels it keeps them relevant.

He said: ''It's such a part of our art. It's also part of the reason why we change the masks with every album.

''Unlike KISS, they have always used the same make-up and it never evolved.

''For us, we've changed with every album and not only the masks but also the outfits. You can totally tell every album by the uniform.

''I think things like that have kept Slipknot relevant, it's kept the music vibrant, it's kept the live shows different and it's kept us from stagnating. So, no, I could never see us losing the masks.''