It feels like more than two years since nu-metal rockers Korn released their last album, 2003’s self-produced Take a Look in the Mirror. After all, a lot has happened since then, including the unexpected departure of guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.

Now with only four members, Korn’s back with a new sound, a new outlook and a brand spankin’ new album released December 6, See You On the Other Side.

If the popularity of the first single, Twisted Transistor, is any indication, then Korn is not leaving for the “other side” just yet.

Fellow guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer is still upset that Head left the band indefinitely. Head was Munky’s musical mentor and the one who sold him his first electric guitar.

There has since been little to no contact. He says dealing with Head’s absence in the band is like dealing with the death of a brother.

“I was surprised when I got the final word that he’s not coming back,” Munky tells andPOP. “That’s when I was like, sad, angry. There’s been very little contact. An email, a phone message, but that’s about it. It sucks.”

Watch Korn talk about Head’s departure from the band:
( Real Media )

Drummer David Silveria says it was hard for the band to go on without someone who has been with them since the beginning.

“We lost our brother who we’ve been making music with for 15 years,” says Silveria. “We were friends for that long; it felt like home, we were family. We just had to rise to the occasion and life goes on and our careers go on and Munky stepped up and turned into twice of the guitar player he was before.”

Silveria adds that when they look back, they had seen it coming for a while.

“It was a big blow to the heart?but we could tell that for the past few years that his heart wasn’t totally into it. We knew he was having trouble being a single father. He was a really loving dad and it was killing him that his daughter didn’t have her dad home all the time.”

Munky says it’s ironic that Head would leave for religious reasons when lead singer Jonathan Davis “doesn’t like organized religion,” but it has personally made him a better guitarist.

“It’s changed in that it’s given me a lot more creative space to make different sounds. It’s definitely made me a better musician.”

He says it was never an option for the band to break up. Instead, they tried to look at it as a blessing.

“That has never been an option and that’s why we have succeeded for so long. We can use this loss and sit back and make another OK record and feel good about it, or we can use this loss as an opportunity to recreate our sound and recreate what we do and our direction. That’s how it gave us a new fresh outlook, a new chapter on the band and the band’s future,” Head says.

Watch Korn discuss working with The Matrix.
( Real Audio )

The band’s future has included collaborating with pop-producers The Matrix, who have worked with the likes of Avril Lavigne and Hillary Duff.

Silveria says after repeatedly turning down the opportunity to work with the powerhouse duo, the band finally decided to give them a chance.

“They said they wanted to come in and we were a little skeptical. But they came in and blew us away.”

Munky says fans should expect this record to be the “most versatile album by far,” and this versatility can be seen in their new music video for Twisted Transistor, where they enlisted mutual friends, hip-hop stars Lil’ Jon, David Banner, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit, to portray them in the video.

“[The video] is a rockementary, a mockementary of us. But it’s not us. It shows that we like to have fun and we’re not always so serious. We’re serious about our music but we love to have fun too.”

Watch Korn discuss their music video.
( Real Audio )

Silveria says the album reflects how they’ve evolved as musicians but fans can still expect “a mean and heavy record.”

Munky agrees and says they still maintain the unquestionable Korn style but that the album definitely isn’t as angry as ones in the past.

“If you listen to a lot of the lyrics, it’s all kind of sadness. Not so much an anger-driven record but still driven from a dark place.”

He hopes fans will embrace Korn’s “other side” with this new album.

“They have to know that as we grow, our tastes are going to grow,” says Munky. “You don’t wear the same clothes you wear 10 years ago, do you? Your taste changes. You grow creatively as a person and I think they’ll understand that and respect that. They’ve stuck by us for 10 years and I really think the majority of them will.”

And how will Korn be able to stick around for another ten years?

Munky replies simply: “We’re a good fucking band, man.”






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