Early years and formation (1989–1993) Before Korn was formed, three of the original members of the band were associated with the band
L.A.P.D.–
James Shaffer,
Reginald Arvizu, and
David Silveria. The group originally consisted of Shaffer, Arvizu, and lead vocalist Richard Morrill; Silveria joined when he was 16. When the band moved from
Bakersfield, California to Los Angeles, Silveria dropped out of high school and Shaffer stayed in Bakersfield. When Shaffer reunited with the band, they found a manager and released an
EP entitled
Love and Peace Dude in 1989 through
Triple X Records. L.A.P.D. released their sole full-length studio album ''
Who's Laughing Now'' on May 3, 1991. After the album's release, Morrill departed from the ensemble. The remaining trio were also briefly known as Creep, recording a demo with a singer named Corey before enlisting
Brian Welch and
Jonathan Davis to form the band that went on to become Korn. When thinking of a band name, someone suggested "corn", but the band rejected that name, but Shaffer later had the idea to spell the name with a "K" instead of a "C", and a backwards "R", so the band's name would appear as "KoЯn". The idea of using a backwards "R" came from the logo of toy retailer
Toys R Us, for which many of the band members had previously worked. Silveria explained the logo, designed by Davis, "the music makes the name, because Korn's a dumb name. But once we get established, it makes the name cool." Korn rented a studio from Jeff Creath called Underground Chicken Sound, in
Huntington Beach, California. While they were recording there, a crowd had been
loitering outside the studio. The band began playing a prelude to a later song "
Clown", attracting a larger crowd. Arvizu said the crowd gathered because it sounded so "different." Korn started performing at gigs in the summer of 1993, with members saying that touring was a "pain-in-the-ass." While in Huntington Beach, the band was spotted by
Immortal Records A&R employee Paul Pontius. Pontius would describe Korn's sound as "the new genre of rock." In 1993, Korn released their first
demo album, ''
Neidermayer's Mind,'' which had very limited printing. It was not well received by critics or the public. It was released to
record companies and to people who filled out a flyer given out at gigs they played for free with
Biohazard and
House of Pain. With this demo, Korn pioneered the nu metal sound, riffs, and rhythm.
Korn, Life Is Peachy and recognition (1994–1997) By May 1994, Korn began recording their
self-titled debut album with
Ross Robinson. Recording was finished by the end of the following month, and on October 11, the band's debut album was released through
Immortal Records (an Epic imprint label); it peaked at number one on the
Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and would eventually reach number 72 on the
Billboard 200 in February 1996. Korn's self-titled album went
gold in the midst of the tour "
Need To" was also released in 1995, on April 8. The fourth and final single, "
Clown", was released on February 2, 1996. "Blind" was the only single to chart, peaking at number 15 on the Canadian
RPM Alternative 30. After the success of their debut, Korn decided to enter the studio again for a second album. By then, the band had created a large
fan base, having played between 200 and 250 shows, and the expectations for their follow-up album were high. and despite minimal radio airplay and television attention, the album debuted at number three on the
Billboard 200, The album sold 106,000 copies in its first week.
Jon Pareles from
The New York Times said that the band was "mad at everybody, including themselves." The album was certified double platinum in the United States, platinum in Australia, and gold in Canada. The first single, "
No Place to Hide", spawned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. "
A.D.I.D.A.S." was released as the second single on March 4, 1997. It became the band's first charting single on
Billboard, peaking at number 13 on the
Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The third single, "
Good God", was released on July 14, 1997. A promotional disc was released in 1997 to promote both the band and the Life Is Peachy Tour featuring
Incubus and
the Urge and included three live tracks. in London during the Life Is Peachy Tour, February 24, 1997 Korn gained more popularity after co-headlining the
Lollapalooza summer tour festival in 1997 with
Tool. However, Korn was forced to stop touring after Shaffer was diagnosed with
viral meningitis. The band remained relatively quiet during the end of the year, resting and setting new goals. The band then founded their own label, Elementree Records, to sign and introduce new bands to their fans. The label was run by Davis who first signed
Orgy. Silveria influenced Davis to sign them. Prior to the release of 1998's
Follow the Leader, Gretchen Plewes, a
Zeeland, Michigan high school assistant principal, said in an interview for a Michigan newspaper that Korn's music is "indecent, vulgar, obscene and intends to be insulting" after giving a student named Eric VanHoven a one-day suspension for wearing a shirt with the Korn logo. FM station
WKLQ was filmed giving away hundreds of free Korn T-shirts, donated by the band outside the school.
Ottawa County Police were called by the school, but they ended up helping handing out shirts. Korn filed a
cease and desist order against Plewes and the school district for their comments. They also threatened a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, but dropped both actions due to the band members' personal lives. The period from 1993 to 1997 was embodied by wearing apparel that contained
Adidas clothing brand.
Follow the Leader and Issues (1998–2001) In 1998, Korn signed a publishing contract with
Warner Chappell Music. While Korn was waiting for a full partnership with Adidas (which had previously sponsored
Run-DMC), the sportwear brand refused to sign a contract with Korn. In a contradictory argument, Adidas told them: "We do sports, not music". In 1998,
Puma seized the opportunity and offered a $500,000 deal to Korn, including their music featured in
Kevin Kerslake-directed advertisements. Korn accepted the contract; Davis said, "That's more than Adidas ever did for us! It wasn't a sell-out thing. It was about respect." Prior to the release of the band's third album, Korn produced a weekly online TV show called
KornTV, which documented the making of the record and featured special guests such as
porn star Ron Jeremy,
Limp Bizkit, and
311. which featured a number of guest vocalists such as
Ice Cube;
Pharcyde member
Tre Hardson;
Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit; and actor
Cheech Marin on the hidden track "
Earache My Eye" (written by Marin himself). Korn launched a political campaign-styled tour to promote
Follow the Leader’s release, which took the group on a chartered jet all over North America. Band members talked to fans and answered questions during special "fan conferences" organized at every stop along the tour and signed autographs. Jim Rose of the
Jim Rose Circus hosted the entire "Kampaign" tour. The album was considered a complete success by the band, debuting at
number one on the
Billboard 200 with at least 268,000 copies sold in its first week of release and, among other singles, spawning two of their biggest singles: "
Got the Life" and "
Freak on a Leash". They both exposed Korn to a wider mainstream audience, with the music videos being mainstays on MTV's
Total Request Live. "Got the Life" was the show's very first "retired" video, with "Freak on a Leash" also reaching retirement several months later. In September 1998, Korn signed with a second music publisher,
Zomba Music Group, through negotiations of the band's then-manager
Jeff Kwatinetz (the former
CEO of
The Firm), along with co-founders
Peter Katsis and
Michael Green. The video also earned nine
MTV Video Music Awards nominations for Video of the Year; Best Rock Video; Breakthrough Video; Best Direction; Best Special Effects; Best Art Direction; Best Cinematography; Best Editing; and Viewer's Choice. It eventually won two awards for Best Rock Video and for Best Editing. "Freak on a Leash" failed to enter the
Billboard Hot 100, although it did manage to peak at number six on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. featuring cover art designed by Alfredo Carlos, who won an MTV contest held for the fans.
Issues was released during a week of many highly anticipated records. It debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 with at least 573,000 copies sold, keeping
Dr. Dre's second album
2001 and
All the Way... A Decade of Song by
Céline Dion from hitting number one. This performance marked the first performance by a rock band since
Buddy Holly in the late 1950s. A snippet of "
Falling Away from Me" was featured on
RealVideo with a brief
interpretive dance by bassist
Reginald Arvizu, and also featured on their official website as an
MP3 file, although its release was against the advice of its attorneys and the corporate establishment. The album was also promoted by the band's highly successful Sick and Twisted Tour. A little before Korn's album
Issues was released, the band appeared on an episode of
South Park titled "
Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery", in which the first single from
Issues, "Falling Away from Me", was premiered. The single became Korn's first entry on the
Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 99. "
Make Me Bad" was released as the album's second single in February 2000, peaking at number 14 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Korn re-emerged into the media with their fifth album
Untouchables. It debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200 with 434,000 in sales. The band has blamed
music piracy for the drop in sales, as an unmastered version of the album had leaked three months prior to its official release date. On April 2, 2002, the
Opie and Anthony Show began airing songs from
Untouchables. The album contained experiments and styles never previously attempted by Korn.
AllMusic related: "The band is far more experimental this time out, delivering
Helmet-like ringing guitars that melt and morph into each other, a mix of
Metallica-esque blastbeats and tight funk drumming from the constantly improving David Silveria, and memorable riffs that take the shape of dark sound structures and offer more than just a collection of chords." The first two music videos from
Untouchables, "Here to Stay" and "
Thoughtless", were directed by the
Hughes Brothers. "Here to Stay" earned Korn a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. "Here to Stay" peaked at number 72 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Due to the album
Untouchables leaking onto the Internet,
Take a Look in the Mirror was released on Friday November 21, 2003– four days earlier than its original release date. The album therefore received a weekend's worth of sales, which resulted in a poor showing on the
Billboard 200. During its first full week,
Take a Look in the Mirror soared ten places from number 19 to number 9, increasing the album's total sales to 179,000. Korn released the single "
Did My Time" on July 22, 2003, which was used to promote the film
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life but did not appear on its soundtrack due to unspecified legal issues. The single debuted and peaked at number 38 on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming Korn's first and only top 40 hit in the United States. Korn released their greatest hits album,
Greatest Hits Vol. 1, on October 5, 2004. The album debuted at number four on
Billboard, selling more than 129,000 copies. This album assembles choice tracks from six Korn studio albums released between 1994 and 2003. The first single was a cover of the song "
Word Up!" originally composed by
Cameo. The single peaked at number 23 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. In early 2005, Brian Welch announced that he would be quitting the band. In front of a crowd of 10,000 in three services at Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield, California, Welch said "I was addicted to methamphetamines and tried everything ... rehab, stuff on the Internet, but nothing helped me kick it. I was trying on my own to quit and couldn't do it. I wanted to die. No one knew what I was going through. I could not quit. Church was my last shot. I would sit in church high [on drugs]. I would wonder why people would go up to the front after the service. But one day it was for me. I said [to God], 'Show me how to quit.'" In a 2013 interview with
Rolling Stone, Head described his final moments in the band as very tense: "the last year I was in the band, we were gonna kick out the bass player, Fieldy, and this guy's girlfriend couldn't be on this side of the stage because there were fights with another wife in the band. And obviously the drugs – it's no secret I was into the drugs, so crazy stuff, like having to finish our blow right before we got to the border because they were gonna come check to see if we had anything." Following his departure from Korn, Welch released two autobiographies, a solo album, and formed a band named Love and Death, which released a debut album in 2013.
See You on the Other Side and Silveria's departure (2005–2007) thumb|right|Korn at the MTV Asia Awards 2006|MTV Asia Awards in
Bangkok, Thailand, 2006 Upon completing their record deal with
Sony, Korn partnered with
EMI and signed to
Virgin Records. As part of this innovative arrangement, Virgin paid Korn $25 million upfront in exchange for a share in the profits of their next two studio albums, including tours and merchandising. Virgin also received a 30 percent stake in the band's licensing, ticket sales, and other revenue sources. The band's first album for Virgin Records,
See You on the Other Side, was released on December 6, 2005, and debuted at number three on the
Billboard 200, The album managed to stay in the top half of the
Billboard 200 for 34 consecutive weeks. "Twisted Transistor" peaked at number 64 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
See You on the Other Side was certified Platinum in the United States, Korn held a press conference at the
Hollywood Forever Cemetery on January 13, 2006, announcing the
See You on the Other Side Tour.
10 Years and
Mudvayne were selected to open all dates of the tour, which kicked off in their hometown of Bakersfield on what Mayor Harvey Hall officially declared as "Korn Day", February 24. The resurrection of their Family Values Tour was announced on April 18, 2006, which featured co-headliners
Deftones,
Stone Sour,
Flyleaf, and the Japanese metal group
Dir En Grey on the main stage. Korn and
Evanescence co-headlined the 2007 edition, with
Atreyu, Flyleaf,
Hellyeah, and
Trivium rounding out the main stage. While promoting
See You on the Other Side in Europe, Jonathan Davis was diagnosed with
idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a blood platelet disorder that hospitalized him for the weekend and prevented him from performing at the renowned
Download Festival. Despite the illness, the band still performed with guest singers, including
Corey Taylor of
Slipknot and
Stone Sour fame;
Trivium's
Matt Heafy;
Skindred's
Benji Webbe; and
Avenged Sevenfold's
M. Shadows. This led to Korn canceling the rest of their European bill for 2006, including the
Hellfest Summer Open Air. It was originally unknown to the public what his ailment was, but the singer revealed in a letter to fans that he was "dangerously low on blood platelets and at a high risk of death from a hemorrhage if the problem was not treated". In early December 2006 it was announced that founding drummer David Silveria would be taking an indefinite "temporary hiatus" from the band. Korn then performed at the MTV studios in
Times Square on December 9, 2006, for the
MTV Unplugged series, which was broadcast on February 23, 2007, through MTV.com and on March 2, 2007, across North American, South American, European, and Asian MTV stations. Korn played a 14-song
acoustic set, complete with guest appearances by
the Cure and
Amy Lee of Evanescence. The performance was eventually cut down to 11 songs for the album, two of which did not air on MTV. Sales of nearly 51,000 brought
MTV Unplugged: Korn to number nine in its first week out.
Untitled eighth album, Luzier's addition and Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2007–2011) Korn's
untitled album was released on July 31, 2007, debuting at number two on the
Billboard 200 with 123,000 copies sold in its first week. The album was certified gold by the RIAA. and features touring keyboardist
Zac Baird. Drumming duties were left up to
Terry Bozzio and
Bad Religion's
Brooks Wackerman, as David Silveria went on a hiatus.
Joey Jordison from
Slipknot played drums during Korn's live shows until the permanent addition of
Ray Luzier (
Army of Anyone,
David Lee Roth). This confirmed David's departure."
Evolution" and "
Hold On" were released as singles to promote the untitled album. The former peaked at number seven on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Korn covered the song "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" in 2008, which was originally performed by
Paul Reubens,
Catherine O'Hara, and
Danny Elfman and was released on the compilation album
Nightmare Revisited.
Ubisoft reported in October 2008 that Korn had "written and recorded an original song inspired by Ubisoft's
Haze video game, simply entitled "Haze", which was released on April 22, 2008. Korn also released a live DVD,
Live at Montreux 2004, one of their performances with former guitarist Brian Welch on May 12, 2008. In a YouTube video, bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu affirmed that a
charity song titled "
A Song for Chi" would be released, featuring
Slipknot guitarist
Jim Root;
Clint Lowery of
Sevendust; drummer
Dave McClain of
Machine Head; and former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, among many other musicians. The song was intended to raise money for
Deftones bassist
Chi Cheng, who fell into a comatose state following a car accident in November 2008. Along with the announcement of the Ballroom Blitz Tour in March 2010, the title for the new album was revealed as
Korn III: Remember Who You Are. Later that month, Munky announced that Korn has officially signed to
Roadrunner Records. "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)" was simultaneously released to radio stations and became a top-10 hit on the
Billboard Mainstream Rock airplay chart. A music video directed by Phil Mucci received an exclusive premiere on
MTV2.
Korn III: Remember Who You Are was released on July 13, 2010. A second single, "
Let the Guilt Go", was released that same month, reaching number 23 on Mainstream Rock. Korn co-headlined the
Music as a Weapon V tour with
Disturbed in late 2010 and early 2011.
The Path of Totality, The Paradigm Shift and Welch's return (2011–2015) Festival,
Gothenburg, Sweden in June 2011 Korn's tenth studio album,
The Path of Totality, was released on December 6, 2011. It was the second and final studio album for Roadrunner Records. The album features contributions from
Skrillex;
12th Planet;
Excision; Downlink;
Kill the Noise;
Noisia; and various other
EDM artists.
The Path of Totality debuted and peaked at number ten on the
Billboard 200 with 55,000 copies scanned. "
Get Up!" was premiered as the lead single via
Spin in April 2011. The single managed to peak at number eight on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. After a stint of festival appearances, Korn promoted
The Path of Totality during
a headlining tour of the same name. Korn split their show into three sections. The band kicked off by playing tracks from their first two albums, including the B-side "Proud", which was originally included on the soundtrack to the 1997 film
I Know What You Did Last Summer. They followed with a different stage set up, playing several of their new songs. The set list ended with hit singles and an encore. Other appearances came from
Datsik, Downlink, and Dope D.O.D. A special album release performance filmed and recorded at the
Hollywood Palladium was issued in various formats through
Shout! Factory in September 2012.
The Path of Totality won Album of the Year at the 2012
Revolver Golden Gods Awards. This was Korn's first victory at the Golden Gods Awards, a ceremony that celebrates the best in hard rock and heavy metal music. Korn was also inducted into the
Kerrang! Hall of Fame during the 2011
Kerrang! Awards. On May 5, 2012, guitarist Brian "Head" Welch joined Korn on stage at the
Carolina Rebellion festival to play "Blind" for the first time since his departure. As recalled in the documentary DVD
Reconciliation, Welch's appearance was a spur-of-the-moment decision: Welch initially visited the festival because of his daughter, who was a fan of bands performing. Welch joined
Red on stage for a song, and would eventually be persuaded to join his old bandmates in Korn for a
meet and greet. Upon Korn preparing for the show, the guitar tech prepared an extra guitar and amplifier for Welch, "just in case". It was also announced that their next album would not contain any dubstep influences like
The Path of Totality. Guitarist
James "Munky" Shaffer stated in an interview with the
Phoenix New Times that the new album would be heavier, with more aggressive "in-your-face" guitars and vocals. He went on to say that he would be using new recording techniques in the studio to give his riffs a fresh approach. In November 2012, Mudvayne bassist
Ryan Martinie toured Korn as a temporary replacement for Reginald Arvizu, who stayed at home during his wife's pregnancy. That month also saw the confirmation of Welch's return to the band. His comeback was initially thought to be temporary as he was only scheduled for two shows in June 2013 at
Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, but
Ray Luzier announced at the January 25
Sabian show during NAMM that Welch would be working the whole tour. In January 2013,
techno artist Beta Traxx acknowledged he was working on a new Korn song for their upcoming album, which he commented would sound "like the past and the future at the same time." Luzier affirmed that the album would be produced by Don Gilmore. The BK Entertainment Group updated their clients list on February 12 and attested that Korn had signed to their management's independent label - Prospect Park Productions. On February 18, 2013, Korn posted a photo showing Head as part of the line up, which escalated rumors that he was in the process to rejoin Korn permanently. This was confirmed by Head himself in May, when it was also confirmed that he had been recording as part of the band for their upcoming album. Fieldy has said of the album "Right now, I will tell you this ... we've done something we've never done before. Normally if we do a new Korn record, we'll normally put 12 or 13 songs and that's how many we make. This time we've made 20-plus songs, and we'll put the best of what we have on there, whatever the numbers end up being. We have so many to choose from, I think it's going to be a little extra special this time." Munky later confirmed this by saying that the band completed 25 songs and 15 of them would be put on the album. Head later elaborated that musically this was Korn's best album. Korn's eleventh studio album,
The Paradigm Shift, was released on October 8, 2013. Their first single,
"Never Never" was set to be released August 12, 2013. The band recorded an episode of
Guitar Center Sessions for
DirecTV on September 11, 2013, which is scheduled to premiere November 1, 2013 on DirecTV Audience Channel. Korn will also be the latest act to be inducted into the world-famous Hollywood
Rockwalk on October 8, 2013. The band brought back their
Family Values Tour as a one-day festival, on October 5, 2013. The venue and line up were revealed on September 3, 2013. The music video for "Spike in My Veins" was released on February 6, 2014. The band performed the entirety of their
self-titled debut album on several occasions during 2015.
The Serenity of Suffering and The Nothing (2015–2020) Korn soon began the process of writing new songs for a twelfth studio album. Guitarist Head described the music on the new album as "heavier than anyone's heard us in a long time." Their twelfth studio album
The Serenity of Suffering was released on October 21, 2016. On July 14, 2016, guitarist
James "Munky" Shaffer revealed to
Metal Hammer that
Corey Taylor of
Slipknot/
Stone Sour would make a guest appearance on the new album. He also revealed
Nick Raskulinecz as the album's producer. On July 16, 2016, Korn premiered a new song, "Rotting in Vain", at
Chicago Open Air Festival. In late 2016,
Zac Baird left the live band after 10 years. Jules Venturini completed the tour before
Davey Oberlin was brought into the band. It was later announced that Fieldy would be missing Korn's South American tour and
Robert Trujillo's then-12-year-old son
Tye was brought in to perform with the band for the tour's duration. In March 2018, Korn embarked on a Japanese tour with support from
Deadly Apples, including a stop at
Vans Warped Tour Japan. On May 15, 2018, Korn announced the dates of special shows in order to mark the 20th anniversary of their album
Follow the Leader. In order to mark the album's 20th anniversary, the band partnered with the clothing company Pleasures to release clothing
merchandise dedicated to the album. In August 2018, Luzier reported via
Instagram that Korn has begun the process of tracking drums for the upcoming thirteenth album. In a December 2018 interview to
Revolver Magazine, Welch revealed that the upcoming album was scheduled for release in fall 2019, with
Nick Raskulinecz resuming production duties. He also stated some of the tracks had been co-written with
John Feldmann and that the band had tracked demos with
Travis Barker on drums. On June 25, 2019, the band revealed that their latest album,
The Nothing, would be released on September 13, 2019, and unveiled its first single: "
You'll Never Find Me". On August 2, the band released a brand new song from
The Nothing called "
Cold". On August 22, Korn announced their new album by playing a concert in multiplayer game AdventureQuest 3D, complete with in-game merchandise, a virtual meet-and-greet, and performing a new song on a digital stage. In July 2020, Korn released a cover of "
The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by
Charlie Daniels, who had died earlier that year. The cover was recorded during sessions for
The Nothing and featured rapper
Yelawolf and proceeds were donated to non-profit
Awakening Youth. During an interview with
Wall of Sound,
Munky spoke about COVID ruining their plans to tour
The Nothing, stating "It was kind of a fucking bummer, I gotta be honest man. I was so excited [with] that album. We put the artwork together, we designed the stages, we got everything ready to roll out, merch and all; you know everything a band does before they go on the road and promote an album." On April 24, 2021, Korn released a one-off, online streaming event entitled
Monumental that was filmed on the top of a parking structure at the
Stranger Things: A Drive-Into Experience set in Los Angeles. On May 12, the band announced a 28-date summer U.S. tour with
Staind as the supporting act. The 2021 tour came after Korn was forced to cancel their planned 2020 run with
Faith No More due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On June 21, the band announced that their bassist Arvizu would be taking a hiatus and wouldn't be performing with the band on their upcoming summer tour. Ra Díaz of
Suicidal Tendencies replaced Arvizu on the tour. In May of 2025, Fieldy clarified his current status with the band, stating that he does not anticipate returning to the band anytime soon. The tour was marred by several separate instances where members contracted
COVID-19: first, Jonathan Davis tested positive in August, causing several dates to be postponed. Then in September, Munky was forced to sit out several dates, being replaced by
Love and Death guitarist JR Bareis while he recovered. Lastly, in October Ray Luzier also tested positive, missing the next three shows while
Fever 333 drummer Aric Improta stepped in. On April 23, the band confirmed that they had begun work on a fourteenth studio album, utilizing the
period of lockdown due to COVID-19 to begin writing. The album was said to be fully written as of April 2021. A new single was released November 11 entitled "
Start the Healing", with the music video debuting in a
YouTube premiere. On January 13, 2022, the band released the second single from the album entitled "Forgotten". The album
Requiem was released on February 4, 2022. On April 21, 2022, the band released a music video for the song, "Worst Is on Its Way". Shortly prior to the release of
Requiem, Davis revealed in an interview with Music Feeds that the band were already in the process of working on a follow-up studio album. Welch later stated in a September 2023 interview that a release of new material in 2024 was likely: "Yeah, [there will be] new music coming out next year. I don't know. We're just kind of in hiding right now, just doing our own thing." Welch reiterated in late March 2024 that work was still underway, speaking positively regarding the content recorded thus far. In early December, he stated that while the majority of the album had been written, there were no plans to release anything in the immediate future. Shaffer reiterated once more in 2025 that recording is still underway. Welch, in a February 2026 interview, clarified that while work on the album is still ongoing and there were plans to reconvene for exchange of new material, the band as a whole instead have decided to focus on touring-related endeavours due to already having a substantial catalogue of released works from the preceding decades. Immediately following this, a since-deleted post depicted Shaffer with Chris Lord-Alge strongly implying that the mixing process was underway. As of March 2025, the elapsed time since the release of
Requiem has become the longest thus far with no studio album release, exceeding the 1,109-day gap from
The Paradigm Shift to
The Serenity of Suffering. On April 23, 2026, the group released a single, "Reward the Scars", which became their first song release in four years. The track appeared on the soundtrack for the
Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred expansion pack. ==Artistry==