Grammy award winning metal band Korn announced they are performing at Hollywood United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, California on February 3, 2022.
A unique concert venue for the band, the church will be host to an intimate performance for 300 attendees to support of their new album “Requiem,” which will release the next day.
Merriam-Webster’s definition for “requiem” states that it is “a Christian religious ceremony for a dead person,” also defining the meaning as “a mass for the dead; a solemn chant (such as a dirge) for the repose of the dead; or a musical setting of the mass for the dead.”
“Requiem” is Korn’s fourteenth studio album and was recorded during the pandemic. The band shared that this album was free of the normal touring pressures, due to COVID-19 limiting their normal schedules and giving them more opportunities to experiment with new things, since they will not have the normal time constraints touring creates.
The new album will feature nine tracks from the nearly thirty-year-old band, two of which carrying an explicit lyric tag.
Explicit lyrics aren’t unusual for many of Korn’s songs. The band often speaks about issues such as depression and abuse, and songs are targeted toward those who feel like outcasts. Lead singer Jonathan Davis’ lyrics often shares about many of his personal childhood struggles, including abuse and other life experiences.
Korn has gone through some band member transformations both physically and spiritually. In 2005, founding member and guitarist, Brian Welch, announced he was leaving the band after giving his life to Jesus. Welch struggled with alcohol and drug addiction as a member of Korn and left to dedicate his life and talents to the God who saved him.
RELATED: Brian Welch of Korn Says God Led Him Back to the Band
Welch formed the Christian band “Love and Death” in 2012, which was a rebranding of his prior Christian solo project. The guitarist rejoined Korn after an eight-year hiatus in 2013. Welch shared in an “I Am Second” video that God led him back to the band.
“I know the music’s crazy, but mainly the lyrics are about pain, you know, and they come from a real and raw place,” Welch said. “People need hope. There’s addictions like crazy in that world. There’s depression. There’s been a lot of suicide stories happening. What better place to be, having the meaning of life that I carry.”
Welch isn’t the only band member to have given his live over to Jesus. A few years after Welch left the band, Korn’s bass player, Reginald Arvizu (currently on hiatus), announced that he had repented of his sins and committed his life to Jesus following the death of his father. His had father devoutly prayed for him to accept Christ, and his death made Arivzu evaluate what life was all about.
