Hard rock outfit Korn is putting the “finishing touches” on its fifth Immortal/Epic album, according to a statement. The set, produced by Michael Beinhorn (Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers), is still untitled and is due out sometime this spring. It’s the follow-up to 1999’s “Issues,” which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 3 million copes in the U.S. to date, according to SoundScan.
The album is being recorded on digital hard disk equipment that utilizes a higher sampling rate than standard devices. “With this system, we’re able to gain something that no other rock recording in history has,” Beinhorn says in a statement. “Rock music is very dense. Digital [recording] tends to make things sound very thin, antiseptic, crunchy, and non-musical. We’re able to capture the actual attack of the instruments — the moment they’re played — on this album. Usually, the leading edge of the sound gets shaved.”
“You can pick out and hear each individual instrument while everything’s going on,” he continues. “Considering how dense the recording is — how thick it is, how many instruments are playing any given time — it’s pretty remarkable.”
Korn bassist Fieldy has also completed work on his first solo album, “Rock’N’Roll Gangster,” to be released under the name Fieldy’s Dream on Jan. 22 via Immortal/Epic. The album is said to have a heavily hip-hop flavor, with Korn frontman Jonathan Davis guesting on the track “Just for Now.”
Meanwhile, Davis is still at work with composer Richard Gibbs on music for the “Queen of the Damned” soundtrack, having recently recorded with an orchestra and a choir, according to a spokesperson. The pair has written five songs for the album, but for contractual reasons, Davis’ parts will be sung by vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, who also appeared on the “Rock Star” soundtrack.
The label on which “Queen of the Damned” will be released is still up in the air, according to a spokesperson for the film. The set was originally due on Blackground, but was put in limbo after the label recently ended its joint-venture pact with Virgin. The spokesperson expects the soundtrack to arrive in early February; the film, based on the third novel in Anne Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles” series and starring the late Aaliyah, arrives Feb. 22 in U.S. theaters.
Davis’ collaboration with Gibbs on an interactive disc of paintings by renowned horror filmmaker Clive Barker also remains unfinished and is not likely to be completed until after the Korn album is wrapped.
