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Interview: Korn’s Jonathan Davis on ‘Suffering’
As Korn prepares for the Oct. 21 release of its 12th album, “The Serenity of Suffering,” the band feels whole again. Guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, who rejoined the group after an eight-year absence in 2013, has further become reintegrated into Korn and life is as good within the band as it’s been for some time.
That hasn’t turned Korn into the sunshine boys — at least when it comes to the music. “The Serenity of Suffering” continues the long tradition of Korn, and its lead vocalist/lyricist Jonathan Davis in particular, exploring darker, agitated emotions in the songs.
“It’s just, human beings are dark, brother. You’ve got good times. You’ve got bad times. I just focus on those, for my art (that) are the bad,” Davis said in an August phone interview. “They’re just things that go on in my life that I need to talk about or I need to purge or get out.”
The making of “The Serenity of Suffering” was no picnic for Davis, either, although it sounds like guitarists Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer were vibing just fine while writing the music for the album and cutting the tracks with bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu and drummer Ray Luzier.
Davis doesn’t involve himself in the music writing for Korn — and never has. He prefers to receive a completed recording of a song’s instrumental track then write his lyrics and vocal melody around those elements. And that part of the process for “The Serenity of Suffering” was a struggle for Davis.
“I had to fight myself,” he said. “I had to fight through the writer’s block. I had to go through, you know, you’re not feeling this, but are really not feeling this. Are you just being lazy? I had to question myself on all of this s***. It was a struggle, I ain’t going to lie.”
In the end, Davis delivered, and the band as a whole is proud of its efforts as “The Serenity of Suffering” features some of the heaviest — yet appealing — music of Korn’s 23-year career.
The opening song, “Insane,” sets the tone with an opening vocal roar from Davis and thundering guitar riffs, while the body of the song blends chaos, some unsettling laughing backing vocals and enough melody to make the song stick. “The Hating,” “Rotting In Vain,” “When You’re Not There” and “Everything Falls Apart” are all fairly brisk rockers that deliver aggression and melody in equal parts.
“Black Is The Soul” is more deliberate — even a bit sludgy — but has a vocal melody and guitar riffs that gives it plenty of melody.
As pleased as he is with “The Serenity of Suffering,” Davis might be even happier about life in Korn itself.
What has changed was both the return of Welch and all five band members being in a whole different stage of life.
“The key is everybody’s clean,” Davis said. “It helps immensely. When people are f***ed up, it gets all weird and crazy and emotional and stupid. I’ve seen it happen to tons of bands. We’re lucky.”
To hear Davis tell it, Korn could have easily crashed while the group was becoming one of the most popular hard rock acts on the scene in the 1990s.
As the band from Bakersfield, California quickly rose to the forefront of the so-called nu-metal scene behind its first four albums — three of which were multi-million-selling hits — things were pretty bonkers within the band. The sudden huge success mixed with heavy booze and drug use made for a volatile cocktail.
“We were kids when we got signed and we did it up big. We were out of control,” Davis said. “And I did it up so big I only lasted four years and I had to quit. I had to or die. But those guys came on. And when you’re mixing that kind of stuff every day, of course there’s going to be friction and there’s going to be craziness and no one’s going to consider anyone’s feelings because they’re too busy trying to get f***ed up. And it’s just how it is.”
Today, Welch is back, everyone in Korn is clean and far more considerate of each other — and the early chemistry of the band has returned.
“We’ve matured a lot. That (partying) s*** gets old after awhile,” Davis said. “Now it’s about I want to have the most fun I can possibly have out here. Let’s not have any f***ing drama.”
Davis reported that Korn isn’t playing much of “The Serenity of Suffering” in concert at this point because the album isn’t out yet, but this has given the group an opportunity to change up song selections a bit from show to show and include a surprise or two for fans.
“It’s going to be hits and we’ll be doing at least one weird, one that we really don’t play that much,” Davis said of the group’s live set. “And lately we’ve been doing stuff where we’ve learned all of these songs and me or Fieldy will call out a different song. It will be different each night. It’s been fun.”
Korn, Breaking Benjamin, Motionless In White, and Silver Snakes
6 p.m. Oct. 11; MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, 4802 U.S. 301, Tampa; $25.50-$75.50; 813-740-2446; livenation.com
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