Korn guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch has opened up about the band’s return to Australia in a new interview.

Welch sat down with Rolling Stone AU/NZ backstage at Good Things 2024, as the nu-metal legends finished an anniversary with a blistering set at the Brisbane leg of the festival.

As Welch revealed, they were only too happy to reignite their bond with their Aussie fans – it was Korn’s first tour of the country since 2014.

“I don’t remember this [level of] excitement in Australia, back in the ‘90s,” he told Rolling Stone AU/NZ in his trailer. “It’s blowing my mind. We’re selling out a lot of places; it’s always done well, but now it’s great. To see all these teenagers, it’s wild! It’s cool that they’re giving our type of music [a chance]. I’m like, ‘What year is this?!’”

Image: Korn perform at Good Things 2024 Credit: Ashley Mar

Elsewhere in the interview, Welch discussed some of his favourite current artists, shouting out Bring Me the Horizon, Sleep Token, Danish group Siamese, US metalcore artist PINKNOISE, and Welsh rockers Holding Absence.

It was the latter band’s frontman, Lucas Woodland, who came in for particular praise from Welch.

“They sound exactly how they do on their records, live. I went to see [them] to see his vocals and what kind of range he can do live,” he said of Woodland. “He was out of breath a few times, but that wasn’t even a flaw because that’s live. He was hitting every note, I was blown away by this kid.”

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Read Welch’s full Rolling Stone AU/NZ interview here.

In other Korn news, Welch revealed on the Everblack podcast (as per NME) that the band wouldn’t be releasing new music before the end of the year.

“Yeah, we got a lot of it [written]. We’re still working,” he said, before adding, “Dude, it’s a trip 30 years later, man, to try to keep doing it. And we’re very happy with what we got, but it’s just gonna take a while. And I don’t know how long — maybe next summer, maybe next year, the next winter, I don’t know, but it’s not gonna be soon.”

Korn’s last studio album, 2022’s Requiem, topped the ARIA Albums Chart.

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