KORN's BRIAN 'HEAD' WELCH On Next Album: We're Gonna Come Out Heavier Than Anyone's Heard Us In A Long Time

Jack Antonio conducted an interview with KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch on the July 18 episode of "Do You Know Jack?" radio show. You can now listen to the chat using the Mixcloud player below.

Speaking about the progress of the songwriting sessions for KORN's follow-up to 2013's "The Paradigm Shift" album, Welch said: "We started writing a few weeks ago, and we have a bunch of ideas, so it's really coming out quickly. It's pretty danged heavy. I mean, we're really pleased with what's going on. But, you know, we're five guys in the band, so we just… we just want everyone to be happy with the album. We want everybody to be smiling at the end of the process. So we do have other things to consider. But, yeah, we're gonna come out heavier than anyone's heard KORN in a long time, I think. And just the beginning stages [of the writing process] are proof of that to me. So I'm excited."

Asked if performing KORN's self-titled debut album in its entirety at some of the recent shows influenced the heavier direction of the band's new material, Welch responded: "I think it's helped being on the SLIPKNOT tour last year and seeing the crowd and just seeing Jonathan [Davis, KORN singer] carry the… you know, lead the arena… in all the arenas we played. I think it sparked and reminded everybody in the band what KORN started out to be. And it's cool to go do other things, but, you know… I think it was all a journey, and that journey's leading us back to some of the more heavier roots and stuff this time. So… Who knows? Next record, who knows what'll happen."

Welch also talked about his forthcoming fourth book, "With My Eyes Wide Open", which is tentatively due in May 2016. He said: "You know what? It's really a funny book, and then it gets really deep. So it's, like, the first half, it seems to be funny, and then we start digging into some stuff. So it's basically just… it's about the hidden years when I left KORN and all the craziness and stupidity that I went through. But then also the funny times, like raising my daughter, and then going throughout the years, and then the whole KORN reunion thing, and then me nearly losing my daughter to a lot of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. She's okay now, but I lost her there for a little bit. So I go through all that, and she everything. It's a real and raw book. It's just… Gosh, my life is just so intense, you know, so it's good to write about, I guess. "

Welch's previous books include 2008's "Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, And Lived To Tell My Story", a young adult variation on that called "Washed By Blood: Lessons From My Time With Korn And My Journey To Christ" and 2010's "Stronger: Forty Days Of Metal And Spirituality".

Welch left KORN in 2005, got sober and embraced Christianity, saying that as a single father he did not want his daughter around the rock and roll lifestyle. He pursued a solo career for several years before rejoining KORN onstage in 2012 at a festival. He reunited with the group permanently in 2013 and recorded his first album with them in 10 years, "The Paradigm Shift".