HEAD On Rejoining KORN For Two Shows In Germany: 'I Want To Connect With The Fans'

KORN will reunite with founding guitarist Brian "Head" Welch for two German festival shows next summer. The shows, set to take place at the Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals that take place between June 7 and June 9, will feature Welch playing full sets with the group. KORN posted a statement at its web site saying, "Head returns as a special guest to play two full shows with KORN for the first time since 2004."

Welch joined KORN onstage for the song "Blind" last May 5 at the Carolina Rebellion festival in Rockingham, North Carolina, marking the first time in eight years that KORN played with Welch.

Speaking to Revolver magazine, Welch stated about how the reunion came together: "Last [May], I ended up at the Carolina Rebellion show. EVANESCENCE played, and I had gone with P.O.D., because I was on tour with them. KORN was playing. I was just going to go say hi to them. I saw [KORN guitarist] Munky, and we talked for a long time. It was the first time we talked in seven years. He's sober now and everyone's in a good place. They asked me to jam with them [on the song 'Blind'] five minutes before the show. I was like, This was supposed to be the first time I was gonna watch KORN. I was going to go to the soundboard and everything. But I was like, 'All right I'll do it.' And I felt this connection. It was all positive. When I left KORN, there was all this negative crap everywhere. I went home and thought, That was a cool experience. So Munky called me a little bit later about reuniting [for the shows in Germany]. I told him I didn't think it was the right time, but maybe later. Then I thought about it more and I called him back. I had so much fun jamming I said, 'Let's do it.' It's a couple shows. I want to connect with the fans. It is the right time. We're just going slow right now. We're just gonna do those couple shows and see what happens. Just have a good time."

Asked what he is looking forward to playing with the guys, Welch said: "I'm looking forward to many of them. There are a couple of songs on the first album where me and Jonathan [Davis, KORN's frontman] sang together: 'Ball Tongue' and 'Lies'. I'm looking forward to doing those two songs with them. Hopefully, they'll be cool with it. And 'Falling Away', 'Freak On A Leash', those big songs back in the day. To see the crowd go crazy on those songs is awesome. I'm really looking forward to it."

Welch left KORN in 2005 to become a born-again Christian. The band never officially replaced him and stayed a four-piece, although they've used several touring guitarists for live work.

Welch and bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu have said in interviews that a full reunion could be possible one day. Welch's new band, LOVE AND DEATH, will release its debut album, "Between Here & Lost", in January.

KORN has been touring for much of the past year behind its 10th studio album, "The Path Of Totality", but plans to begin work on a new set of material in early 2013.