Chris “Howard’s End” Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels,

An idea exists that metalheads don’t like to read, that we’re too busy pounding brewskis and sacrificing housecats to Satan to enjoy a good book, or that our stimuli-raped brains can’t take in media more intelligent than Robocop. Which, of course, is bullshit. Any hesher who has spent a night hunched over some Lovecraft knows that literature is metal as fuck, it’s just that a lot of “highbrow” literature is not terribly exciting, and a lot of it was forced on us in school. (I, for example, will never like E.M. Forster thanks to having to read Howard’s End in high school.) But headbangers shouldn’t despair—there are plenty of options out there. So for the discerning literary metalhead, I present these, my picks for the Most Metal Books of 2011, each one matched up with a song from 2011 that suits its atmosphere.

1. The Last Werewolf  by Glen Duncan The Berliner is dead—Jake Marlowe is now the last werewolf on earth. And even if he’s not being attacked by government-funded monster hunters and vampire illuminati, he still has his ever-present hard-on and nonstop diet of good scotch and smokes to deal with. In this smart, sexy, and darkly grandiose novel, Duncan (who looks like he just survived the goth apocalypse) brings us a charming definitive take on one of horror’s most underappreciated monsters. (Recommended Listening: The Black Dahlia Murder, “Moonlight Equilibrium”).

2. Black Metal Vol. 2 by Rick Spears and Chuck BB In the follow-up to last year’s graphic novel sensation, Spears and BB continue the story of the Brothers Stronghand, twin corpse-painted Hell barons who wield an ancient sword they discovered by playing a black metal record backwards. But now, in their attempts to reclaim the throne of Hell, they are faced with an unexpected foe: Satan himself. This slim volume of cartoon violence and mayhem is a fitting tribute to black metal’s ravishing grimness. (Recommended Listening: Midnight, “You Can’t Stop Steel”).

3. Crimes In Southern Indiana by Frank Bill America is not all cheesesteak and NASCAR. In the bubbling ancient cauldron of Heartland USA, terrible things go down—lovers murder each other brutally, meth is sold and consumed by the pound daily, guns go off randomly, human life is weighed cheaply. In this collection of short stories, Bill (gotta love an author with two first names) paints a picture of the dark means of survival that run through the gritty cut-throat underbelly of our own backyard. (Recommended Listening: The Atlas Moth, “Perpetual Generations”).

4. Murder In The Front Row: Shots From The Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter by Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew In this photographic diary, Oimoen and Lew chronicle their upbringing at Ground Zero of the thrash-metal movement in California, giving readers an insightful glimpse of a gritty, too-real world of speed and rebellion that created the entire concept of extreme metal. Includes words by Gary Holt and Machine Head’s Rob Flynn, as well as rad pictures of everyone’s favorite headbangers—Holt’s band, Exodus, Slayer, Testament, Anthrax, Vio-Lence, Possessed, Megadeth, and, of course, Metallica. (Recommended Listening: Toxic Holocaust, “Nowhere To Run”).

5. Zone One by Colson Whitehead Spend three days in the life of Mark Spitz, a lone disillusioned marine attempting the clean up of Chinatown in New York—now known as “Zone One”—after the zombie apocalypse. But sometimes it’s not even the walking dead that are the problem, but the infrastructure, the sponsor corporation’s new rules, the gossip between your fellow sweepers (though, in the end, it’s really the walking dead that are the problem). In a bold attempt to make a lowbrow genre literary, Whitehead presents a new kind of horror story, one drowned in great drifts of mediocrity, depression, and inevitable doom. (Recommended Listening: Machine Head, “Locust”).

6. Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries by Jon Kristiansen In late-’80s and early-’90s Scandinavia, one zine ruled the scene: Slayer, a thorny DIY mag dedicated to only the darkest of underground metal. Showcasing bands like Mayhem, Emperor, and Napalm Death long before they were big names, Metalion made Slayer a huge sensation among extreme metal’s forerunners; now, these awesome relics of extreme metal’s history can be yours in one fat, badass volume. (Recommended Listening: Ash Borer, “Rest, You Are The Lightning”)

7. Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead by Joel McIver McIver, author of books about Slayer, Cliff Burton, Randy Rhoads, and a number of other metallic subjects, here takes on the tale of the original speed-metal band, chronicling their rise to stardom in the ’70s and ’80s and the high-octane life and habits of its frontman, one Lemmy Kilmister. Full of humor and insight, Overkill is an intelligent and well-worded telling of a band’s life outside of the spotlight, accentuating the seamless merge of hilarity and personal drama that too often epitomizes the life of a band. (Recommended Listening: Skeletonwitch, “Of Ash and Torment”)

8. Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss The author of Hammer of the Gods and The Dirt takes you on a whirlwind tour of the rock climate, pulling unpublished excerpts from interviews with everyone from Lady Gaga to Slayer’s Tom Araya. Ride dirty with Snoop Dogg, rants mindlessly with Clown from Slipknot, take a white power walkabout through Skullbone, Tennessee, or just kick back and listen to Julian Casablancas from the Strokes give The Worst Interview Ever. It’s all right here, in this hyperactive ransom note of rock’s favorite reporter. (Recommended Listening: Necrocomicon, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”)

9. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver In this exciting and saddening family drama, we follow the unfolding story of Eva, a woman trying to get a glimpse into the mind of her son Kevin, who has just committed a brutal school massacre. The book looks into the horror and insecurity of being near, but unable to reach, a sick and terrifying mind, and let’s the reader get a bit more tangible grasp on the inner workings of both a poisoned family and a sociopathic killer. (Recommended Listening: Tombs, “To Cross The Land”)

10. Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath by Tony Iommi and T.J. Lammers In this tell-all volume, the guitarist who invented heavy metal tells the story of how it all began. Though a little light on the journalistic facts and sometimes maybe too forgiving (Iommi’s cocaine use in the ’80s is often written off as a little bit of fun), Iron Man is a familiar and engaging story about the all-too-human life of one of metal’s gods. (Recommended Listening: Hammers of Misfortune, “The Grain”).

An author, filmmaker, and journalist working in the horror genre, Jovanka Vuckovic is

What better way to ring in the New Year than with a little godless onscreen violence? As always, last year there were plenty of pointless-yet-entertaining big-budget remakes (The Thing, Fright Night 3D, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Straw Dogs), sequels (Paranormal Activity 3, Scream 4, Wrong Turn 4, Final Destination 5), and other genre-bending fare at the multiplexes (127 Hours, Super 8, Attack the Block, The Darkest Hour, Contagion). Then there were the big misses (Season of the Witch, Priest, The Rite, Red Riding Hood, Apollo 18, Dream House), which came and went like a fart in the wind. The original horror films–the ones that made this list anyway–lurked around the independent scene. Of course, that, too, is a mixed bag. There were movies I really wanted to like but didn’t (Red State, Burke & Hare, The Ward) and others I wish I could un-see (The Human Centipede 2, A Serbian Film). Then there was the abysmal straight-to-DVD drivel, which you should take care to avoid entirely (Hellraiser: Revelations, The Howling: Reborn). I’ve waded through the good, the bad, and the ugly to bring you a list of the year’s finest genre films. Here they are, in no particular order. Happy New Year!

The Skin I Live In
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Spain
Antonio Banderas stars as a research scientist who has developed a synthetic skin that he’s using on a guinea pig whom he alters to look like his dead wife. Obvious comparisons to Eyes Without a Face aside, The Skin I Live In is a unique, melodramatic art-house horror film that reveals its shocking secrets slowly. Not since David Cronenberg have surgery, sex, and violence frolicked in the same stained bed so skillfully. A must see.

Martha Marcy May Marlene
Directed by Sean Durkin
USA
Elizabeth Olsen (yes, the younger sister of the Olsen twins) walks the line between sanity and madness in a breakthrough performance as Martha, an ex-cult member who tries to re-enter polite society after having been brainwashed to ignore social values. Told in a style that’s reminiscent of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games, Martha Marcy May Marlene divided critics at festivals due to its ambiguous ending. Powerful and unsettling.

I Saw the Devil
Directed by Jee-woon Kim
Korea
A serial killer (played by Old Boy’s Min-sik Choi) gets more than he bargained for when he kills the fiancée of a prominent special agent in this highly stylized, savage thriller from the director of A Tale of Two Sisters. Seeking vengeance, the grieving cop kidnaps his wife’s murderer, tortures him a little, then frees him only to track him down and torture him over and over again. Worth the price of admission for the wildly creative (and brutally bloody) taxicab scene alone. Merciless, uncompromising, and unforgettable.

The Woman
Directed by Lucky McKee
USA
Feminist filmmaker Lucky McKee (The Woods, May) examines the horrors of misogyny is this incendiary intellectual revenge film (co-written with Jack Ketchum) about a handsome family man and successful lawyer who kidnaps a feral woman and chains her up in the cellar. Beautiful, bizarre, and barbaric. As a primer, you can watch this video of a viewer’s extreme reaction to The Woman at the Sundance Film Festival.

Troll Hunter
Directed by André Øvredal
Norway
What do you get when you combine Cloverfield with Nordic Trolls? This very funny monster mockumentary. I know what you’re thinking: Trolls? Really? Just see it. And when you do, watch it with Norwegian subtitles lest you miss some great voice performances in this foreign creature feature. Great fun.

Cold Fish
Directed by Shion Sono
Japan
A teenaged girl takes a job at a fish store owned and operated by a couple who turn out to be much more than fish mongers. If you’re familiar with Shion Sono’s work (Suicide Circle, Love Exposure), then you already know what to expect from Cold Fish. This is totally bent Asia extreme serial-killer cinema at its best–equal parts disturbing and blackly comic. Make time for it, though, because like Sono’s other films, it’s overlong.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Directed by Eli Craig
USA
In this, the Three’s Company of horror comedies, two redneck buffoons run afoul of a gaggle of teen partygoers on spring break who misjudge the hillbillies as a threat. Grave misunderstandings give way to fountains of unintended violence. Hilarity ensues.

Amer
Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Belgium
This film has been doing the festival circuit since 2009 but became available on Blu-ray this year, and, boy, is it ever a doozy. If the films of Mario Bava and Dario Argento could make a love child, Amer would be it. A dizzying, non-narrative, near dialogue-free art-house experiment in avant-garde filmmaking, Amer shares as much in common with Un chien andalou as it does Strip Nude for Your Killer. Lush eye candy or psychosexual nightmare? You decide.

Stake Land
Directed by Jim Mickle
USA
Director Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street) retrieves the vampire’s balls from the Twilight franchise with this gory apocalyptic road movie. It’s about an orphan who travels through a vampire-ravaged America with a hunter known only as “Mister” on their way to find the last place of possibly unspoiled humanity. Imagine The Road meets True Grit meets I Am Legend on a very low budget and you’re sort of there. (Read Revolver‘s interview with Stake Land actor and co-writer Nick Damici here.)

We Are What We Are
Directed by Jorge Michel Grau
Mexico
An impoverished family of cannibals struggles to find new meat when their patriarch dies. Sound familiar? Although obviously reminiscent of Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jorge Michel Grau’s We Are What We Are is its own beast. A thoughtful but flawed exploration of the collapse of familial roles amidst a landscape of social decay in Mexico, We Are What We Are is more than the sum of its, er…parts.

Snowtown
Directed by Justin Kurzel
Australia
One of the many feel-bad movies of the year, Snowtown is a true crime film that centers on the unusual relationship between sixteen-year-old Jamie and his newfound father figure, John Bunting, who happens to be Australia’s most prolific serial killer–bodies in barrels and all. This is his Jamie’s harrowing story.

The Dead
Directed by Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford
UK
Following a zombie outbreak in Africa, Lt. Brian Murphy tries to make his way home in this beautifully shot, slow moving road movie. The Dead evokes classic George Romero with its political commentary and pacing, but most importantly, it succeeds at making slow moving zombies scary again. Great visuals.

The Innkeepers
Directed by Ti West
USA
Ti West’s lighthearted spookfest about two employees (and amateur ghost hunters) putting in their last shift at a century old haunted inn was a crowd-pleaser on the film festival circuit last year. It isn’t actually being released in theatres until February 3, 2012, but it hit VOD on December 30th so I encourage you to order it. Support independent filmmaking. Please don’t torrent.

We Need to Talk About Kevin
Directed by Lynne Ramsay
USA
OK, so it’s not a horror movie per se, but it’s by far the most depressing film of the year. Tilda Swinton stars as a grieving mother who has raised a misanthropic sociopath (played by Ezra Miller) who tortured her and her family before going on a killing spree at his high school. A deeply disturbing dramatic thriller not for the faint of heart.

Honorable Mentions: Rubber, Absentia, The Last Circus, Wake Wood, Hobo with a Shotgun, Black Death, Insidious.

*All films were released in North America in the 2011 calendar year.

UPDATE: Find out the winners here.

10. Opeth, “The Devil’s Orchard”
The Swedish prog lords have long been regarded as true artists within their field, and in the gorgeous clip, they have the imagery to match their music.

09. Falling in Reverse, “I’m Not a Vampire”
Frontman Ronnie Radke’s struggles with addiction are well documented; here, he shows a winning willingness to laugh at himself, turning his issues with drugs into a hilarious spoof of Celebrity Rehab.

08. Suicide Silence, “You Only Live Once”
What do you get when your band rocks out right in the “range” part of a shooting range? Bloody awesomeness.

07. Asking Alexandria, “To the Stage”
These Brit metalcore maniacs live up to their party-hard image with this debauched, Trainspotting-esque clip, which ends with a twisted surprise cliff-hanger of a climax that suggests that maybe they understand that following in the footsteps of the Crüe ain’t all fun and games, after all.

06. Foo Fighters, “White Limo”
When your limo driver is motherfucking Lemmy Kilmister, you know you’re in for a bumpy ride–and in the best way possible.

05. Behemoth, “Lucifer”
As if overcoming leukemia weren’t epic enough, Behemoth main man Nergal then led his band to make this irresistibly lurid and disturbing video for the 8-minute closer to 2009 album, Evangelion. Warning: NSFW.

04. Mastodon, “Deathbound”
In this video, for a previously unreleased track from the Crack the Skye sessions, the Atlantan prog-metal mad men spoof Mister Roger’s Neighborhood to horns-throwing results. It doesn’t hurt, too, that the song is one of their heaviest in years.

03. Puscifer, “Man Overboard”
Tool’s music video are legendary, of course, and with this clip from his side band Puscifer, frontman Maynard James Keenan delivered surreal visuals worthy of his main outfit.

02. Rammstein, “Mein Land”
When not setting themselves on fire onstage, Rammstein consistently deliver some of the best music videos around, whether baring their bratwurst or not, and they did not disappoint this year with this brilliantly ridiculous retro surfing clip. Who said Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

01. Skrillex, “First of the Year (Equinox)”
Sure, haters will argue that–new Korn album aside–dubstep ain’t “rock,” but there’s no denying that this song’s glitchy breakdowns are heavy as all hell. Or that this video itself is metal as fuck. No wonder Beavis and Butt Head gave it a view–to add to its 23 million on YouTube. In the words of Beavis, “Whoa, that’s cool.”

Vote for your favorite video on this list in our poll here.

The Big Four
Although Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax jammed together for the first time last year, it was in 2011 they made it their calling card. Beginning with their performance of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” in April to their jams in Europe (which also featured members of Diamond Head, Exodus, and Sepultura), to their U.S. final performance of Motörhead’s “Overkill” in New York City, these bands have made history at each performance.

The Metal Masters
The night before the Big Four concert in New York City, members of Megadeth and Anthrax along with drummer Mike Portnoy gathered to give instrument tips to fans and musicians a like. What the audience didn’t expect was the closing jam, which featured Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Frank Bello, and Charlie Benante, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Mike Portnoy, and special guests Kerry King of Slayer and…Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down fame, who sang “Fucking Hostile” and “A New Level.”

Temple of the Dog
For Pearl Jam’s 20th Anniversary concert, Chris Cornell joined the band for a four-song set of the songs he recorded with the nascent band under the name Temple of the Dog in 2011.

The Revolver Golden Gods Awards
We may be tooting our own horns here, but even we were floored by the collaborations of Avenged Sevenfold with Vinnie Paul on Pantera’s “Mouth for War” and Duff McKagan on GN’R’s “It’s So Easy,” as well as Duff, Corey Taylor, and Steve Jones’ take on Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye,” Volbeat’s take on Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Wanna Be With You,” and Asking Alexandria and Sebastian Bach’s electrifying take on “Youth Gone Wild.”

Guns N’ Roses and Zakk Wylde’s “Whole Lotta Rosie”
At a recent Indiana gig, Guns N’ Roses invited Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde to join them on guitar for an electrifying rendition of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Love.”

Mötley Crüe with Cee-Lo
Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine, who had a massive hit last year with “Fuck You,” joined the Sunset Strip’s Kings of “Fuck You”—Mötley Crüe—at an L.A. gig in June for a rendition of his hit and the Crüe’s “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away).”

Drop in the Bucket Charity Event
At the Drop in the Bucket Charity Event, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor played a set highlighted by all of his famous friends. Together they played some of hard rock and metal’s greatest hits. Two highlights were Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”—performed by Taylor, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo—and AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”—played by Taylor, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, John 5, and Rob Zombie bassist Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish. For more from that night, click here.

Metallica 30th Anniversary
Nobody has ever thrown an anniversary party quite like Metallica’s 30th Anniversary shows, which wrapped up on December 10 in San Francisco. Over the course of four nights, they played with artists who influenced them, their peers, and past members of the band. These include everyone from Diamond Head to Mercyful Fate, Marianne Faithfull to Rob Halford, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell to Kid Rock, and, most impressive, original guitarists Dave Mustaine and Lloyd Grant alongside original bassist Ron McGovney for the first song the band ever recorded, “Hit the Lights.”

Sorry, the 72 hours of the stream are up.

UPDATE: Find out the results here!

REVOLVER How does it feel to have The Path of Totality named Revolver‘s Album of the Year?
JONATHAN DAVIS I’ve got chills right now. Man, that’s fucking awesome. Thank you. You have an open mind. The album is getting people to have an open mind and just accept that this is the future–accept the change. And once they do that, after we do our shows, ’cause we play a full set–we split our set up into three different sets, then we do a full set of the new record, we do five songs of the new stuff–and during that time they’re kind of like, What’s going on? But by the end of it, the last song, the whole place is going crazy. I’ve gotta take it to the people and they’ve gotta see it with their own eyes, or hear the record, and then they’re gonna be like, What the fuck?!

Are you surprised to receive this honor for an electronic album?
Yeah. It is fucking crazy, but it’s still rock. I executive produced it—that’s what they called it—and my whole job was to keep the integrity of both sides of the music intact and finding that balance. It’s still a Korn record–you can’t deny it’s a Korn record–but there’s those subtle, and sometimes there’s a lot of the dubstep influence, and drum and bass. It’s not that we were going for a dubstep record, there’s all styles of electronic music on this. There’s dubstep, drum and bass, electro, it’s all kinds of different kinds of music. My job was to fit the pieces in and arrange them into song form and then figure out how the fuck I was gonna sing over them and all that stuff. It’s a rock record, but it’s got electronic influences.

How did the process work of making the album, between you, the band, and the producers?
The only two people we didn’t work with in the room was Noisia and Feed Me, ’cause they were in Europe. Basically what went down is we’d get in a room together and the producers would just lay down a skeleton of beats and some wobbles, here and there. And then it’d go to Munky , Munk would do some guitar stuff on it and then it’d go back to them and their producers. We’re working in digital and in analog at the same time. We had, like, a crazy, mad-scientist thing going on. So we were kind of filing back and forth doing all this stuff. It was really…that’s how you collaborate, like you do with any band. But their instrument’s a computer.

You know, what’s so exciting about it is we didn’t know what the fuck we were doing. It felt good because we were just making music that we loved, open-hearted, not giving a fuck about what anybody thought. We just wanted to do something different and change rock again.

Is that why you wanted to make an electronic-infused album?
And it was my passion for electronic music. I know metal fans, or metal purists, aren’t into that so they call it “gay techno,” but there’s really heavy bass, it’s really heavily heavy-metal influenced. And it’s just, again, close-minded, and for me, because I’ve been out DJing, keeping up on all this stuff for a couple of years, I was excited to see DJs play their music, because it just takes so much talent to do that shit. People think it’s, Oh, you plug your computer in, you play some notes. It’s not–you have to have a vast knowledge of synthesis because all these sounds that these guys make are made out of thin air. It’s not like, you know, with a guitar, you plug it and , there you go, you can fuck with your tone a little bit, but you know what you’re gonna get. With their shit, they make shit out of thin air, and it’s difficult.

Do you see this electronic direction continuing on future Korn records?
I mean, I think it will continue in the future, I don’t see how it can’t. I don’t know, it’s like when we did Korn, the self-titled, we had [futureusgalleryRoland TR] 808s, we kept 808s–that was the hip-hop element. At that time hip-hop was coming up and was underground and doing all that. So I think there’ll still be some electronic elements in the music, but I don’t know what we’re gonna do next, I haven’t even thought of it yet, since I got done with this record. I’m sure I’ll think of something. At least in the electronic world, everything is evolving so fast and there’s so many subgenres coming out, it’s why I love it so much. People are so fucking creative and it influences me in different ways.

How difficult was this record to make?
This was the hardest Korn record we ever did–at least for me and the production aspects of it. And I think for Munk, too, just wrapping his head around what we were doing, and Fieldy and then Ray being a sport because we couldn’t use real drums–we did use real drums on some of the songs, but we had to take his kick and snare off because it didn’t meld right with the electronic kicks and snares.

And my hats off to him, ’cause, like, most drummers would be like, “Fuck you, I’m playing on this,” or like, you know, everybody would have attitudes. But everybody in the band was like, “I don’t care if this isn’t up here or if my bass is rolled off there because I just wanna do what’s best for the project.”

How have the new songs been received by crowds so far?
It’s really been awesome. It’s exactly like the crowds when we first came out, back in ’94. People don’t know what to do–they know that they like it, but they don’t wanna show that they like it because the hardcore metalheads, you know, they’re such purists. But I see ‘em in the crowd, like, shaking their head looking around, like, Should I be doing this? I like it, but I know I’m not suppose to like it. Shit, then there’s those fans who wild the fuck out, and then we’ve been getting some electronic fans, too, and they’re just going crazy. So it’s funny, man. I’ve been getting devil horns thrown up at me and heart signs.

Is it almost fun to try and win over the diehard metal fans?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, that’s why I’m probably hurting so bad. I knew there was gonna be bullshit, I knew there was gonna be haters, there’s haters in everything, there was haters back in—like, I say this is the new Follow the Leader album—there was haters back then. But you can’t deny it, and you can’t deny what’s going on in the electronic world, it’s happening and I’m a huge fan of it, I love it. I love going to those shows, they’re fun, it’s exciting. I think rock’s gotten so stale. Just because labels are just wanting to churn out, you know, same formula, bands sound all the same, and they don’t know any other way. Then it’s been in the Korn fashion to always experiment and push the envelope and I think we’ve finally nailed it.

How did you first get together with Skrillex for the album’s lead single, “Get Up!”?
First of all, I didn’t know Skrillex was Sonny to begin with. I mean, I listened to his previous EPs he did when he was starting to go kind of dubstep-y and electro, but I heard his EP before it came out, I was really blown away by it. And then I realized it was Sonny and then I just called him. Because back in the day, back at Revolver you had up-and-coming bands interview their heros, and yeah, Sonny picked me to interview when he was in From First to Last. And I knew him from that. And so I just called him–I got his number and I called him. And he freaked the fuck out. He’s like, “Whoa, what’s up, man?” I go, “Bro, we got this idea. We wanna know if you wanna work with us, like, on mixing, you know, dubstep and electro elements with what we do.” And he was all, “Fuck, yeah!” So he came out and we did three songs together.

The last [futureusgalleryproducer we worked with] was Feed Me. And I really love Feed Me–he was a guy named Spor back in the day, and he was a drum-and-bass guy. Now he goes by Feed Me. He’s, like, the most musical, ’cause he mixes all kind of genres in his music, so, like, electro, drum and bass, and dubstep all in one. And that’s when we did “Bleeding Out.” And that blew me away, ’cause I heard this song and it was the first time I wanted to put bagpipes on a Korn record in a long time, where I wasn’t forced. So I think I did the first ever bagpipe solo on a dubstep song!

What was the original intention when you first got together with Skrillex? Did you always have an album in mind or were you just testing the waters?
No, just was testing the waters if this would work. It started out as my idea, but I knew it would work. And once we got the three done with Skrillex and we were working with the other dubstep producers, I’m like, “Fuck an EP. What’s five more songs? Let’s make a full-length out of this.” ‘Cause we were having so much fun, it felt like we were doing something special, something completely different. And it reinvigorated the band, creatively. Now we’re all sitting in a room together just talking about how great this record is and, you know, rock had become so stale and we were chasing our tails trying to find something to change it again. And then we finally stumbled upon something that I think would do that. And we’re just beside ourselves. ‘Cause this isn’t suppose to happen–we’re an old-ass band, we’re coming up on our 20th anniversary, dude, that’s not supposed to happen.

Your last record, Korn III: Remember Who You Are, was a return to your roots, and now with this album you’ve really branched out. Is there a connection between the two?
Well, that album was an experiment, too. And I love the record, but it was hell to make–I needed a lot of hell and torture to be in, and I feel the album’s forced. And I feel a lot of kids picked up on that, because it was forced. It was tormenting me and torturing me and taking me backwards, because I was over it. Fucking 38, 39 at the time and, like, I’m over this shit, but, oh, the world needs to feel this. And I’m like, Ah, God…so it felt really forced. But I think we needed to take two steps back to go four steps forward, you know? We needed to go and do that record to get to this point, where we’re like, We’re experimenting and we’re doing some future shit. Fuck this going-back shit, we already did that. So it pushed us forward.

You’ve said that the title of the record refers to everything having to be in perfect alignment, as with seeing an eclipse, and that’s what happened with this record.
Yeah, that’s right. That’s exactly why I love the title because I asked Munk to come up with some titles, make a list of titles, and then he was reading about some eclipse shit and that term came up, “path of totality.” And I went, “What’s this mean?” I looked it up on Google and it’s, like, the path you must take to see a full eclipse. You have to be in the right place at the right time to see a full eclipse of the sun. And I go, “Dude, that’s perfect,” because everything had to fall at the right place at the right time, with the right skill, with the right people to make this happen. And the eclipse, to me, was the rebirth of this band.

Do you remember what your reaction was hearing the finished album for the first time?
I cried, dude. I did. I mean, this is like my baby. And, like, thank God I had people believe in me, thank God the band believed in me, and thank God the band embraced it and stepped up and did way beyond, you know, what they’d done before. Just everything, and all the hard work. And when I finally got the master and I got to hear it all the way through, I just cried. I was like, Oh my God, it worked. Because it could be totally set up for disaster. If we didn’t do it just right it would be fucking horrible.

There’s a song on the record called “Illuminati.” Do you share a lot of those ideas?
I saw this movie called Zeitgeist, and that started me out with the whole, you know, conspiracy theory shit, and I just got into it. And the whole Illuminati thing, I really believe’s going on.

It could be all fucking fake, and so what, but it intrigues me. Things I look around at, like this, the Department of Homeland Security–you know who did that first? Adolf Hitler, he created the Gestapo. And that was a secret police to secure the borders of Germany and protect the people. And those guys have all the power in the world, they can just take you out, stick you in a room, stick their hand up their ass, you have no rights. And that’s some of the shit we’ve given up.

You actually have some historical family connections, right?
I do. My son, ’cause he’s really into it, too, my 16-year-old son—I do ancestry.com as a hobby—well, he went through all my records and original Illuminati family was Davies and they came out of Wales and, I don’t know, it was like the 14, 1500s. Well, he found the Davies that came over to America, his name was Griffith Griffin Davies, and when they moved, the Davies was dropped and it became Davis in America. And he did all this research and shit and got all these records–my kid’s a really smart kid when he wants to be–and he showed me, he’s like “Look, Dad, we’re related to the Illuminati.” And I was like, “Oh my God.” It just freaked me out.

What’s your pick for Album of the Year?
Hyro Da Hero. That was really fucking good. So I’ll pick that one–Hyro Da Hero . That was really fucking good. It’s just so real and I love the way Hyro raps. It kind of reminds me of Rage Against the Machine, but different, with a band and the music. And it’s real, and this kid loves doing what he’s doing , ’cause I saw him in concert. And it’s real, it’s not made up.