|
|
 |
Korn
 As a major fan of the band since I was a teenager, being asked to speak to one of the members of Korn was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. In fact, if the same question had have been asked of the fourteen-year-old-me, I doubt I would be able to keep it together. On the other end of the line is Fieldy, the band's bassist, calling from St Louis, Missouri, finishing up a sound-check for the current Family Values tour having recently finished recording for the impending new album.
The album, which, rather interestingly, remains untitled (not to be confused with their self-titled release), is undoubtedly a progressive step for the band. "Recording the new Korn album has been quite an experience for us because we've never done anything like we did with this new one, by bringing our live keyboard player and have him record the entire album with us, which was really different," Fieldy explains. "We also brought in different drummers, used all new kinds of guitar sounds and took a more different approach than any other Korn album we ever have done."
After having a sneak-listen to the album myself, fans can no doubt expect some bold new steps for the band. "When writing, we were trying to do more progressive-type music that was moving around notes more, combining it with more heavy and intense music. We really don't know what to expect, we have to see whether everyone will like this or not like this. It's kind of scary to think if people are going to like the new album or not, we have no idea. You always feel a little insecure about your art.
"The new material is endless, we'll go in a studio and sit there and jam for five hours, and once we're done we'll give the song to Jonathon, and it kind of sets the mood for the lyrics," as he explains the recording process. "It's almost like talking, you can sit there and talk for hours, and something different is going to come out of your mouth each time."
A controversial event in the band's recent history has been the unfortunate departure of co-guitarist Head, which undoubtedly affected the band's sound. "Before Korn, me, Munky and David used to be in a band called LAPD, we actually released an album on Triple X Records, so we used to make music before Head left the band, and now I guess we're back to our core. When you're not ready to quit, it's more inspiring than disappointing. I think we're more confident this time round because we brought in a whole new bunch of musicians, I mean it was fun having a keyboard player live and all these new inspiring ideas."
I, and no doubt other fans, was intrigued to learn about the choice to leave the album untitled. "We left it untitled because it was like starting over for Korn; this is a new beginning for us, we'll leave it up to the fans to decide what they want to call it. I don't think a title was that important to us."
Those who caught the band last time they toured Australia with Hatebreed and Disturbed, experiencing their ever-changing live set with a range of back-up musicians on stage, will be interested to know that it has since grown. "For the live show, we'll still have the whole back-up band with us. The new live show is over the top, man. I mean, I don't want to give it up, because you have to come see it live, but it's the biggest, coolest live show that we've ever done in our career right now, and we're spending a lot of money on it; we just wanna give people the most ultimate rock concert. We've got big plans man.
"The new album will probably be something that nobody has ever heard. It's almost like a headphones album in that you put in on and there's just so much going on, it's unbelievable how much music, lyrics and voices that Jonathon can put in there. We put a lot of work into it man," Fieldy claims. "We also shot a video for Evolution, coming out soon, make sure you check it out."
Brad Holland
Korn's untitled album is out now on Virgin.
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
