Korn have stockpiled an arsenal of new material for their eventual fifteenth studio album it would seem. In a recently published video interview with Rolling Stone Brasil that was conducted last month, the band\u2019s guitarist James \u201cMunky\u201d Shaffer confirmed that nearly 40 songs have been written over the past few years, though not all of them have made the cut.<\/p>\n
One such new track, \u201cReward The Scars<\/a>\u201c, recently saw a release in conjunction with the arrival of a new DLC for the \u2018Diablo IV\u2018 video game, which frontman Jonathan Davis himself is a fan of.<\/p>\n In this aforementioned new video interview, it was pointed out that Korn frontman Jonathan Davis had recently informed the interviewer that the n\u00fc-metal pioneers have been working on even more new songs, to which Munky responded [transcribed by theprp.com]:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s taking a f*cking long time. We\u2019ve gone through\u2026 I swear to God, we\u2019ve written probably almost 40 songs, and gone through \u2019em, and rewrote \u2019em, and got rid of \u2019em, and tore \u2019em apart, and rebuilt \u2019em. And it\u2019s been quite a long process, because we\u2019re very critical about what we do now. We\u2019re very particular, in\u2026 because we wanna keep our original sound. You can\u2019t really get away from that \u2014 when we start playing, it sounds like Korn, especially with all five of us.<\/p>\n And Ra [Diaz, Korn bassist] has actually been such a, such a great addition to bringing a lot of energy in the rhythm section. And Ray [Luzier, Korn drummer] and him play really well together. And it\u2019s fun to watch those guys work out parts, because they do some stuff that I wouldn\u2019t think of.<\/p>\n That\u2019s been a big part of this writing process, is those two working together. Because they\u2019ve never worked together on a record. Obviously, they\u2019ve, you know, worked together on the older songs and stuff. But I think that working on the older songs, those two, learning the rhythm parts, has really given some insight to what is on the back catalog. And they\u2019ve brought a similar vibe into the newer stuff that we\u2019ve written, and that is exciting.<\/p>\n But, yeah, we\u2019re trying to\u2026 As an artist \u2014 and any artist \u2014 you don\u2019t wanna paint the same picture over and over again. You wanna add some flavor, add some color, add something new so it feels fresh, so the listeners still get a classic sound, but with fresh takes on things. So, it still sounds like Korn, for sure. There\u2019s not\u2026 there\u2019s no heavy electronics, you\u2019re not gonna get anything too far out of left field. It\u2019s still in the\u2026 very guitar driven and bass heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the lengthy gap for this follow-up to the band\u2019s 2022 album \u201cRequiem\u201c, Munky explained:<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just been a lot of touring, and us taking our time, to release something that\u2026We didn\u2019t want to release something mediocre. That\u2019s why I think we keep on writing and rewriting, because honestly, it\u2019s like we want to release new music. We could just keep touring, you know, on our old records, but we we like to keep something fresh, you know?<\/p>\n I think we took a page out of out of the book of Metallica on that. You can always play some new music and write something and record and it\u2019s fun. We love the process of writing and recording as just as much as we do touring.\u201d<\/p>\n As for this being the first Korn album to not feature contributions from estranged bassist Reginald \u201cFieldy\u201d Arvizu, Munky stated:<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been moments where it\u2019s difficult in imagining what it could be right here, you know, if he was in the band. [A] what would he do kind of thing. But on the last couple of records, he kind of checked out. And trying to get him engaged was a little bit difficult, just to stay in the room while we\u2019re writing. He would always just kind of leave\u2026 and he\u2019d be in there for a few minutes and then kind of just not focused, and he just kind of lost his ambition, I guess.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s okay. It happens. People, everything, goes in cycles. We\u2019re definitely not mad at him or anything, we want him to be happy. And it didn\u2019t really feel like he was happy being a working musician at the time. So it was kind of like it was a mutual sort of \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t say split \u2014 because I still use the word hiatus.<\/p>\n You know, I think he just he needed a break from\u2026 we work our asses off, you know, even like when we\u2019re not touring, we\u2019re writing music, or we\u2019re working on on things, and when we go home, we take a couple of weeks off from tour and then we\u2019re back at it.<\/p>\n And I think that sort of schedule just became too daunting for him after 30 years to continue. It takes a lot of stamina. I just don\u2019t feel like he had it at the time, or [he] just had a lot of other personal stuff happening too. He wasn\u2019t happy. It was obvious that he wasn\u2019t happy. And at the end of the day he\u2019s our brother and we want him to be happy. So it\u2019s like do what you want to do. Just stay healthy, keep your mental health on the track to pursue whatever it is that makes you happy.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if Munky had any updates on how Fieldy is doing now, the guitarist responded:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard he\u2019s doing well. I haven\u2019t spoke to him personally in probably a few months, but yeah. I see his kids. His son [Israel Arvizu], is like playing bass and he\u2019s doing a band, and I think Fieldy\u2018s been helping with that and with his son. And it looks like they\u2019re having a good time and, yeah, he looks like he\u2019s doing better, honestly, which makes makes us all feel great. You know, we definitely want to see him at his best and enjoying being home with his family and staying healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Fieldy himself stepped down from Korn back in 2021 and in an interview conducted late last year, stated that the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> and his own reluctance to get vaccinated were pivotal in him deciding to step down from the band. At the time of the interview he referred to himself as \u2018retired\u2019 from Korn.<\/p>\n As mentioned by Shaffer above, Fieldy\u2018s son Israel Arvizu has indeed followed in his father\u2019s footsteps<\/a>, taking on the bass duties in a n\u00fc-metal band dubbed PlaYuH.<\/p>\n