Korn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer has revealed that the nü-metal pioneers have written nearly 40 songs while working on the band’s long-awaited follow-up to 2022’s ‘Requiem’.
Speaking in a newly published interview with Rolling Stone Brasil, Shaffer explained that the band have spent years refining material for what will become their fifteenth studio album, repeatedly rewriting and restructuring songs in an effort to avoid releasing anything they viewed as subpar.
“It’s taking a f*cking long time. We’ve gone through… I swear to God, we’ve written probably almost 40 songs, and gone through ’em, and rewrote ’em, and got rid of ’em, and tore ’em apart, and rebuilt ’em,” Munky said.
“It’s been quite a long process, because we’re very critical about what we do now. We’re very particular, because we wanna keep our original sound.”
Shaffer also praised current touring bassist Ra Díaz and drummer Ray Luzier for helping shape the direction of the new material, calling Díaz “a great addition” to the band’s rhythm section chemistry.
According to Munky, the group are aiming to evolve their sound without abandoning the identity that made them one of the defining bands of the late-90s and early-2000s metal boom.
“You don’t wanna paint the same picture over and over again. You wanna add some flavor, add some color, add something new so it feels fresh,” he explained.
“So, it still sounds like Korn, for sure. There’s not… there’s no heavy electronics, you’re not gonna get anything too far out of left field. It’s still very guitar driven and bass heavy.”
Munky also addressed the lengthy wait between albums, explaining that the band intentionally slowed down the process rather than rushing out new material.
“We didn’t want to release something mediocre. That’s why I think we keep on writing and rewriting,” he stated.
“We could just keep touring on our old records, but we like to keep something fresh.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Shaffer opened up about longtime bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu and his gradual disengagement from the band prior to stepping away in 2021.
“On the last couple of records, he kind of checked out,” Munky admitted.
“Trying to get him engaged was a little bit difficult, just to stay in the room while we’re writing. He would always just kind of leave… and he just kind of lost his ambition, I guess.”
Despite that, Shaffer stressed there is no bad blood between the band and their longtime bassist, describing the situation more as a necessary break than a permanent split.
“We’re definitely not mad at him or anything, we want him to be happy,” he said.
“It didn’t really feel like he was happy being a working musician at the time.”
Munky went on to say that the band’s demanding schedule may have ultimately contributed to Fieldy stepping away after three decades with the group.
“We work our asses off,” he explained. “I think that sort of schedule just became too daunting for him after 30 years to continue.”
According to Shaffer, Fieldy now appears to be doing better and spending more time with family, including supporting his son Israel Arvizu’s own musical pursuits in the nü-metal band PlaYuH.
Meanwhile, frontman Jonathan Davis also teased the band’s upcoming material in the same feature, stating:
“These new songs are the next step in our career. I won’t say ‘oh, it’s heavier,’ ‘oh, it’s better,’ because we always say that. I can only say that this is the best music in our lives right now.”
Guitarist Brian “Head” Welch similarly praised the band’s slower creative pace, comparing it to the release strategies of groups like Metallica, Tool and Avenged Sevenfold.
“I’m glad we’re taking this long,” Welch shared. “Without releasing anything, the band has only grown—not just Korn, but all of rock.”
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