KORN Signs With ROADRUNNER RECORDS

KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer reportedly revealed in an online fan chat that the band has inked a new deal with Roadrunner Records. The group's ninth studio album, tentatively titled "Korn III - Remember Who You Are", is due this summer. The CD marks the return of producer Ross Robinson, who worked with KORN on the band's first two releases, "Korn" and "Life is Peachy". Lead vocalist Jonathan Davis has said that the new material matches the pure raw emotion of KORN's early releases while the current touring band has never been tighter.

"We experimented with a lot of cool stuff on our last two records [2005's 'See You On The Other Side' and 2007's untitled effort], but we didn't want to do another record like that," Davis explained to Revolver magazine. "So we said, 'Let's strip it back again. Let's do this as a four-piece and make it real raw like the old stuff."

KORN's forthcoming effort was tracked last October at the band's studio. "We recorded everything on tape, just like we did in the old days," said Davis. "And we didn't stack four or five vocal parts like I usually do. I'm singing one part for every song, which was scary. It's just me and the microphone, and you can really hear the emotion."

KORN will top the bill on this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour, which is scheduled to kick off on July 10 in San Bernardino, California.