Korn will be changing gears on their upcoming album, which the band confirmed will be called Paradigm Shift. That is, changing gears back from their last album Path of Totality, on which they changed gears to incorporate dubstep into their music. But this time, the dubstep is out and former guitarist Brian “Head” Welch is back in. Welch was in the band from its inception in 1993 until he found Jesus in 2005, who told him to leave the group. But he is happy to be back, and is pleased with the new record.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Welch recounts:
“I’m a metalhead. I love rock music, and I came here just wanting to do the old Korn vibe, but with a new twist. Me and Munky [James Shaffer] haven’t been playing guitar together for eight years, so we came in just wanting to jam out with the bass player Fieldy [Reginald Arvizu] and Ray [Luzier], our drummer . . . The end product is a really good mix of old Korn mixed with some new elements. It’s got a fresh new Korn 2013 sound. And the melodies, the lyrics and the choruses on these songs are at a new level. It’s my favorite album by Korn.”
Frontman Jonathan Davis is also happy to have Welch back in the group. “To have our brother back was really good for morale. It was just fun being in the studio with his goofy ass again” he says. While reuniting with the former member may have strengthened the group, Davis had his own issues to work out before being able to come to the studio to work on the new record. Davis revealed during the interview that he was dealing with family issues as well as attempting to wean himself from anti-depressants, saying:
“Writing the record was really weird. They started writing, I think, in August, and I didn’t get into the studio until March, because I was going through all kinds of crazy shit. My boy got diabetes and I had come off medication for my depression, and that fucked me up. I was in a straight haze. I detoxed off that medication – it was an anti-depressant, the anxiety and stuff. I’d been on it for three years and the doctor told me you gotta get off this, it’s bad for you”.
He also admitted that he was in a haze of sobriety while working on the records, and looking back, he had no idea what he was doing. “It was really kind of magic. I don’t know how the hell I did it. I was so fucked up from coming off all that medicine, and I feel so good about the record. When I look back now, I’m like, ‘Wow, how did I come up with this shit?'”
Judging by a brief snippet of the new album already released by the band, their sound will indeed by slightly different than their typical nu-metal style, going in a direction that sounds more like alternative rock. The album will be released October 1st, and was produced by Don Gilmore.
