Korn is sitting on a mountain of material for their next record — guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer says the band has written roughly 40 songs since their 2022 album Requiem *. The extended creative process has involved a lot of rewriting and rebuilding, and for the first time, bassist Roberto Díaz and drummer Ray Luzier are working together on a Korn record, bringing fresh energy to the rhythm section *. Munky says the new material stays true to Korn's guitar-driven, bass-heavy sound without leaning on heavy electronics *. The band already gave fans a taste of what's coming with "Reward The Scars," released in April for the Diablo IV expansion soundtrack and debuted live at Sick New World in Las Vegas *.
The delay in getting this album out has been partly due to Korn's relentless touring schedule after COVID — they had a lot of ground to make up after their 2019 album The Nothing never got proper tour support because of the pandemic *. Requiem itself was created when the band safely gathered during lockdown, but original bassist Fieldy Arvizu had already become disengaged during the last couple of recording sessions *. Fieldy announced in June 2021 he'd sit out tour dates to heal from bad habits, and while Munky describes it as a hiatus rather than a permanent split, Díaz has clearly revitalized the band's low-end *.
With over 40 million albums sold worldwide across three decades and Requiem hitting number one on Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart with 23,000 units in its first week, Korn isn't slowing down *. Forty songs is an embarrassment of riches — the real question now is which tracks will make the final cut and when we'll finally get to hear this thing in full.