KORN's BRIAN 'HEAD' WELCH: 'We're Just Overflowing With Gratefulness To Do This All These Years Later'

In a new interview with Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA, KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch spoke about the personal chemistry between him and his bandmates, a little over a month after the release of their fourteenth studio album, "Requiem".

"It really is a good time [for KORN right now]," Welch said. "You can feel the energy. Everything's synchronizing really well. Everyone's done with the B.S. with the music industry. If there's a hiccup and disagreement, and there is problems, everyone's been humbled enough to know that we're not gonna end up like — no judgment — but one of these… like a QUEENSRŸCHE or a RATT and all this ugliness. We've had our share of lawsuits and stuff like that, but, yes, we're gonna overcome them and we're not gonna let them run KORN into the ground. It's too special; the fans are too important to us."

He continued: "[We're] living our dream. We're just overflowing with gratefulness to do this all these years later… It really is a crazy cool story 'cause Lord knows that KORN has had our share, with me leaving the band [and coming back], with David's [Silveria, former KORN drummer] situation. Fieldy [bassist Reginald Arvizu] is on hiatus right now and whatnot, but it's all positive vibes. And Fieldy played on the ['Requiem'] record. And we're just gonna overcome that too."

Fieldy announced last June that he would sit out KORN's recent tours in order to "heal" after "falling back" on some of his "bad habits." He is being temporarily replaced by Roberto "Ra" Díaz (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES).

Welch left KORN in early 2005, at the same time announcing that he kicked his addictions to drugs and alcohol by becoming a born-again Christian. He officially returned to KORN in 2013, one year after joining the band onstage at the Carolina Rebellion festival in Rockingham, North Carolina to perform "Blind".

Since his conversion to Christ 17 years ago, Welch has been very open about how God changed his lifestyle and restored his relationship with his daughter.

In recent years, Brian has been preaching that people don't have to wait until they die to see if having an encounter with the presence of God is real.

Both Welch and Arvizu have had highly public, though separate, conversion experiences, ones that have been greeted with a certain amount of skepticism.

Fieldy's 2009 memoir, "Got The Life: My Journey Of Addiction, Faith, Recovery And Korn", detailed his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction during KORN's early years and how he became a born-again Christian to help get his life together and get sober.

"Requiem" was released on February 4 via Loma Vista Recordings.