COMING UNDONE

There are these dark energies that like to cause havoc and pain,” Jonathan Davis explains matter-of-factly, staring at us across the table in a white-walled meeting room. “I’ve had to battle them my whole life.”

This might sound like a cliché if we didn’t know he’d just been through something horrific. As frontman of Korn, he’s spent three decades writing down his darkest thoughts and singing them to millions, with great success. We’re currently sitting in a hotel in London’s exclusive Mayfair district – a real-life Monopoly property – during a press day for Korn’s forthcoming 13th album, The Nothing. Previous record The Serenity Of Suffering, released in 2016, saw them play Wembley Arena and shoot up the billing of US festivals. Last summer, Jonathan released an accomplished and critically acclaimed solo album, Black Labyrinth.

Yet the second half of 2018 was particularly tough for Jonathan. His mother passed away. Two months later, he lost his wife, Deven, to an accidental overdose of illegal and prescription drugs, following years of mental health difficulties. As soon as we listen to The Nothing, we can hear these events relived, raged about and reflected upon. It is a genuinely hard listen.

So when his press officer emails to make it clear that Jonathan