In a recent interview with Loudwire, Korn’s Brian Welch talked about the current state of rock and metal music, saying it’s stronger than ever.
“Rock music is thriving right now,” Welch said. “Everyone’s doing so much better than they were in 2021 even. We’re seeing crazy numbers, we’re seeing sellouts, and it’s before Gojira played in the Olympics. We’re getting more headlining slots, everything is so great for Korn right now and many other bands.”
Welch mentioned other bands making waves in the scene. “I’m seeing Linkin Park come back, it’s controversial but I freaking love that song. I love her voice with them. Slipknot is, I see all these sellouts on their tour. Deftones, freaking killing it. [Limp Bizkit,] it’s amazing to see. Whenever they say rock is dead, just give it a couple years after that and it’s probably gonna resurge because I find that when a lot of people say something the opposite happens.”
This year, metal took a new turn when Gojira played at the Summer Olympics opening ceremonies. “That was a pretty mystical moment,” said Gojira’s frontman Joe Duplantier. “Before it kicked in, I thought to myself, ‘What the heck am I doing here? What is going on? Are we about to play metal on television worldwide? This is insane.'”
Korn is currently experiencing a surge in ticket sales and they thanked Gojira for their influence in it. “We are selling so many tickets right now it’s crazy,” Welch said in a different interview. “Like we’re averaging 15/20.000 in the States this summer. And thank you Gojira. No, but like everything we’re doing there’s a lot of sellouts in Europe. We’re talking about some big festivals to headline next year. There’s just how you go through peaks and valleys. We’re at a peak, and that’s been really fun.”
Korn started their tour with Gojira and Spiritbox on September 12 in Tampa, Florida. The tour will end on October 27 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
