[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_niQxntSw4&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Yesterday in Des Moines, the eight members of Slipknot, appearing unmasked, held an emotional press conference expressing their sadness over the loss of bassist Paul Gray. They were also joined by Gray’s wife, Brenna, and his brother, Tony.

“The only way I can sum up Paul Gray is ‘love,'” frontman Corey Taylor said in the press conference. “Everything he did, he did for everyone around him whether he knew you or not … and that’s what he’s left behind for us: absolute love. I will miss him with every fiber of my heart, as will everybody at this table and everyone who knew him. He was the best of us.”

For a band that’s based a lot of their image on nihilism and anger, it’s touching to see them drop the facade and show themselves as a human beings who are clearly still shocked over the loss of their bandmate, husband and brother.

In other Gray-related news, Hail!, the all-star cover band that he’d announced he’d be touring with, announced that Black Label Society/Megadeth/White Lion bassist James Lomenzo will replace him on tour.

On Monday we were dealt a devastating blow with Paul‘s passing two days before our departure. We discussed the situation and unanimously thought that in the face of this tragedy we needed to remain strong and push forward because Paul would have vehemently insisted that the show must go on. In a desperate situation we made an emergency call to James Lomenzo and James responded with a Herculean effort, on only one day’s notice, to fly to Portugal and rescue the Rock In Rio festival. His immediate and unselfish call to arms single-handedly saved this entire tour.

The band also features Tim “Ripper” Owens and Sepultura’s Andreas Kisser, and has featured Megadeth’s David Ellefson.