For its current 'Hell'-ish tour, Korn turns to some old kernels

GREAT NEWS for vintage Korn fans - as well as fans of vintage Korn:

When the band stops at Camden's Susquehanna Bank Center tonight in support of headliner Slipknot on the "Prepare for Hell Tour," expect a lot of the older songs from the catalog, said bass player Reggie Arvizu, known to fans as "Fieldy."

"On this leg, we're only doing two new songs from 'The Paradigm Shift,' " Fieldy said in a recent telephone interview, referring to the band's 11th studio album, released in late 2013, on Prospect Park Records. "[We're doing] 'Hater' and 'Love & Meth,' and that's it. Everything else is classic bangers."

That won't change any time soon, Fieldy said. The bands will team up again in the new year for a short tour in Europe. Korn - which formed in Bakersfield, Calif., in 1993, and includes lead singer Jonathan Davis, guitarists James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch, and drummer Ray Luzier - then will soon begin preparing for a spring tour marking the 20th anniversary of its debut record, "Korn," which the band will play in its entirety.

"We'll probably be rehearsing to learn those songs, because we don't know them," Fieldy said. "We haven't played 'em in 20 years."

Speaking of vintage Korn fans, Fieldy said he's noticed a change in fans' demographics at shows.

"It seems like a lot of fans are my age, which is 45, but they're bringing their kids, so it kind of mixes it up and turning it into a family affair," he said.

Korn's latest songs are among its best. Fieldy said he thinks that's the case with many artists in or near their 40s.

"All my friends out here that are in bands that I've known over the 20 years, their newest albums are my favorites; they're better than they've ever been," he said.

Asked why he thinks that's the case, he said, "Because I think they're finally realizing who they really are, and what they were always trying to get out of their system, and it becomes their best work, because they've established who they really are."

Korn is a pioneer of nu metal, which blends hip-hop and rap with more traditional elements of metal. Fieldy has some side projects that go beyond those boundaries, including playing guitar for the rock band StillWell and working on a bass solo album, which, he said, "takes you on a musical journey, from jazz, fusion, funk, Latin, blues, rock, reggae - every type of music that you can think of."

Fieldy, who became a Christian and turned his life around several years ago after his father's death, in 2005, also said he has worked on a daily devotional, but preferred not to go into much detail because it is in an early stage.

For now, though, he and his bandmates are enjoying touring extensively with the high-powered Slipknot for the first time.

"It just never kind of lined up [before], because everybody's always touring, doing this and that, but it finally worked out," he said.

"We kinda know, Korn going out with Slipknot, it's a no-brainer, that this was going to be good. And it is."