BRIAN 'HEAD' WELCH Says His Renewed Studio Collaboration With KORN Was 'Effortless'

KORN has completed work on its 11th studio CD and first with founding guitarist Brian "Head" Welch back in the fold since 2003's "Take A Look In The Mirror".

Speaking to Loudwire, Welch stated about the songwriting process for the new KORN album, "It was effortless. It just kind of fell into place and it was better than before."

Asked how much involvement Welch has had in the creative process so far, KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer said: "He had a huge role in everything. This guy is the melody-chorus master. He's the best. He can come up with melodies and choruses all day long and that was a huge help for me, 'cause for a long time I was trying to come up with choruses and verses and wrangle the whole thing. It's been so much work and for him to come in and have these fresh ideas, it's just been so refreshing."

Added Welch: "And it goes both ways, because I came in and then we started, but it was… Like, my favorite song on the album is one that [Munky] came up with. I'm a fan of his writing, he's a fan of my writing, and it all just works great."

Welch left KORN in 2005 to pursue a solo career and devote more of his life to Christianity, but rejoined them for one gig last year and several more in 2013, leading to plans to record together again.

Welch told Rolling Stone, "We knew we would have a blast playing together, because we love each other so much, but we really wanted to make sure the music felt right before we committed to making a whole album together. But since we got in the studio, everything just started pouring out, now I can't wait until our fans hear this stuff!"

The new KORN set is due out in late summer and will follow up 2011's "The Path Of Totality", which found the group experimenting with dubstep.

The new record will feature four-fifths of the original KORN lineup, with only founding drummer David Silveria not on board.

KORN played its first full show in eight years with Welch this past Wednesday night (May 15) at Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. Welch first appeared onstage with them for one song at last year's Carolina Rebellion festival.