KORN Wants To 'Get A Bit Dirtier' On Next Album

In a brand new interview with Anthony Toto of Pop-Break.com, KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer spoke about how reconnecting with the band's original guitarist Brian "Head" Welch for 2013's "The Paradigm Shift" album after an eight-year break might influence KORN's approach on the next CD. He said: "Head and I were talking [earlier today] about how we really want to keep the melodic element of what we captured on last record but really expand on the heavy riffs and get a bit dirtier. Maybe a little longer songs with longer intros, and a little more math rock, not prog-rocky but maybe some slower tempoed grooves that are 7-8 or 3-4s timing and stuff like that."

Speaking about KORN's musical evolution and continuous push for musical innovation, Munky said: "It's about taking chances and going out on a limb. You hear a lot of bands say how every album is a chance to reinvent yourself. For us, I really feel like we've gone out on a fucking plank because sometimes there's no turning back. You have to commit to it and sometimes it's, like, 'Eh, I don't know,' and you kind of let go and see what happens.”

Drummer Ray Luzier, who joined KORN in 2007, concurred, telling Pop-Break.com: "Some of my favorite bands like IRON MAIDEN or AC/DC, you kind of know what their new records are going to sound like. And that's great, because the fans expect it, and it's a formula that works, so don't touch it.

"It's cool when Jon [KORN frontman Jonathan Davis] brings these different ideas over, and we're, like, 'Whoa,' and we step back for a second. Once we embrace it, we'll get our heads around it and it's a pretty fierce thing."

He added: "It's still cool that we could go off the deep end like we did with the dubstep stuff, or bring Brian and those metal elements back again twenty-years later. You're always going to piss somebody off but I'll tell you that we gained a bunch of new fans because they're all into dubstep. All this stuff still sounds like KORN and I think that's incredible."

The deluxe reissue of KORN's 2013 album, "The Paradigm Shift: World Tour Edition" (Prospect Park) was made available at Best Buy stores in North America starting July 15.

For the "World Tour Edition", the Bakersfield quintet lock and load last year's critically acclaimed "The Paradigm Shift", with three brand new songs including the single "Hater", plus "The Game Is Over" and "So Unfair". In addition, it's been beefed up with a bevy of live tracks recorded all over the globe and expanded artwork.