Family Valued
After burying the hatchet with a founding member, Korn are stronger than ever
written by Gary Graff
The paradigm did indeed shift—in a big way—for headbangers Korn this year. The Paradigm Shift, the group’s 11th studio album, brought Brian “Head” Welch back into the band for the first time since 2005. The Kornheads certainly responded; the album debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and “Never Never” hit No. 3 at Mainstream Rock Radio, the group’s best showing since “Twisted Transistor,” which was also in 2005.
Coincidence? We don’t think so. And neither does Head, who contends, “This is the way people want Korn to sound.
“We wanted it to sound familiar, but like the future at the same time,” he continues. “We wanted it to go backwards and forwards, and so we accomplished exactly what our hearts wanted to do.”
Head certainly brought back a style of guitar crunch that established Korn during the mid-’90s, but his return wasn’t easy. The departure was acrimonious, brought about, Head says, by a need for personal survival. “Ever since I’ve known these guys, we have been just getting into trouble, and then we got successful and got into trouble while we were making a great living and becoming rich and famous,” he says. “I couldn’t be around people killing themselves anymore. As far as people doing cocaine or just drinking themselves into a crazy alcoholic and watching people’s lives slip away, I can’t be around that. It was really dysfunctional and unhealthy, so I just needed to get away from that.”
So, Head went off on his own, embracing Christianity and forming his own band, Love and Death, which opened some shows for Korn this year. He ultimately reconciled with the other members of Korn during a guest appearance onstage in May 2012, and the response—from fans, family and even other bands—“was so strong that it was like, ‘This has got to be meant to be,’ and they asked me to do an album with them, and that was it. It’s cool to see these guys were working on their lives while I was away from the band, getting their stuff straight, too.”
But, Head promises, he and his bandmates have not become fuddy-duddies, either. “We’re not these boring, old, 12-step program, ‘Hi, I’m this guy and I’m an alcoholic,’ ‘I’m a drug addict,’” Head says with a laugh. “We’re still crazy. We still are just funny, crazy, goofy dudes. We didn’t calm down; it’s only the destructive part we stopped. It seems like we’ve been given another chance to live and breathe and really appreciate and be so thankful for what we do. That said, there was still plenty of creative headbutting and horn-locking in making The Paradigm Shift.
“I wanted to do a full-on rock record, like metal. I’m a metalhead,” Head asserts, as if we didn’t know already. “But then Jonathan and the producer [Don Gilmore] and the guys wanted to have a really fresh sound.” Namely a sound steeped in the electronics that Korn embraced on 2011’s The Path of Totality, which frontman Jonathan Davis has been exploring with his J Devil alter ego.
“So, we were talking about doing it a little bit sprinkled with electronics and some really cool new sounds that make it sound 2013,” Head continues. “We didn’t want to just go backwards and do an old Korn album. We wanted to make it fresh, and I think we accomplished exactly what our hearts wanted to do.”
A good case in point, he adds, was “Never Never”— although Head recalls it wasn’t initially a slam-dunk to make the final cut.
“When I heard it we were like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool, but I don’t know if it’s something we’re going for on this thing,’” Head says. “Even [Gilmore] was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know if it’s gonna be a contender, but let’s see.’ Then, as we were packing up and getting ready to leave, Ray [Luzier] was like, ‘Shouldn’t we lay drums on that one song Jonathan did, just in case?’ and the producer’s like, ‘I don’t think we need to, but if you want to just to have it, we could.’
“So, they threw the drums down and Jonathan and Don Gilmore went to work on the vocals, and boom—when the vocals were there, it was like, ‘Oh, wow, this could be a really cool song’—and the first single."
Korn has followed “Never Never” with “Love & Meth,” and an accompanying video that depicts that band members as marionettes. The group has tour plans that stretch into 2014, and Head is confident we’ll be hearing him in the band for the foreseeable future—and, he hopes, forever.
“Only time will tell,” he notes, “but everything’s going great right now, and it looks like we’re going to be working this [album] for another two years. And I can see it happening for the rest of our careers if all goes well, so here’s hopin’.”
Coincidence? We don’t think so. And neither does Head, who contends, “This is the way people want Korn to sound.
“We wanted it to sound familiar, but like the future at the same time,” he continues. “We wanted it to go backwards and forwards, and so we accomplished exactly what our hearts wanted to do.”
Head certainly brought back a style of guitar crunch that established Korn during the mid-’90s, but his return wasn’t easy. The departure was acrimonious, brought about, Head says, by a need for personal survival. “Ever since I’ve known these guys, we have been just getting into trouble, and then we got successful and got into trouble while we were making a great living and becoming rich and famous,” he says. “I couldn’t be around people killing themselves anymore. As far as people doing cocaine or just drinking themselves into a crazy alcoholic and watching people’s lives slip away, I can’t be around that. It was really dysfunctional and unhealthy, so I just needed to get away from that.”
So, Head went off on his own, embracing Christianity and forming his own band, Love and Death, which opened some shows for Korn this year. He ultimately reconciled with the other members of Korn during a guest appearance onstage in May 2012, and the response—from fans, family and even other bands—“was so strong that it was like, ‘This has got to be meant to be,’ and they asked me to do an album with them, and that was it. It’s cool to see these guys were working on their lives while I was away from the band, getting their stuff straight, too.”
But, Head promises, he and his bandmates have not become fuddy-duddies, either. “We’re not these boring, old, 12-step program, ‘Hi, I’m this guy and I’m an alcoholic,’ ‘I’m a drug addict,’” Head says with a laugh. “We’re still crazy. We still are just funny, crazy, goofy dudes. We didn’t calm down; it’s only the destructive part we stopped. It seems like we’ve been given another chance to live and breathe and really appreciate and be so thankful for what we do. That said, there was still plenty of creative headbutting and horn-locking in making The Paradigm Shift.
“I wanted to do a full-on rock record, like metal. I’m a metalhead,” Head asserts, as if we didn’t know already. “But then Jonathan and the producer [Don Gilmore] and the guys wanted to have a really fresh sound.” Namely a sound steeped in the electronics that Korn embraced on 2011’s The Path of Totality, which frontman Jonathan Davis has been exploring with his J Devil alter ego.
“So, we were talking about doing it a little bit sprinkled with electronics and some really cool new sounds that make it sound 2013,” Head continues. “We didn’t want to just go backwards and do an old Korn album. We wanted to make it fresh, and I think we accomplished exactly what our hearts wanted to do.”
A good case in point, he adds, was “Never Never”— although Head recalls it wasn’t initially a slam-dunk to make the final cut.
“When I heard it we were like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool, but I don’t know if it’s something we’re going for on this thing,’” Head says. “Even [Gilmore] was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know if it’s gonna be a contender, but let’s see.’ Then, as we were packing up and getting ready to leave, Ray [Luzier] was like, ‘Shouldn’t we lay drums on that one song Jonathan did, just in case?’ and the producer’s like, ‘I don’t think we need to, but if you want to just to have it, we could.’
“So, they threw the drums down and Jonathan and Don Gilmore went to work on the vocals, and boom—when the vocals were there, it was like, ‘Oh, wow, this could be a really cool song’—and the first single."
Korn has followed “Never Never” with “Love & Meth,” and an accompanying video that depicts that band members as marionettes. The group has tour plans that stretch into 2014, and Head is confident we’ll be hearing him in the band for the foreseeable future—and, he hopes, forever.
“Only time will tell,” he notes, “but everything’s going great right now, and it looks like we’re going to be working this [album] for another two years. And I can see it happening for the rest of our careers if all goes well, so here’s hopin’.”