KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch has opened up about the backlash he has received from the Christian community for his decision to rejoin the band. Welch, who left KORN in 2005 after becoming a Christian and returned to the band eight years later, talked about the criticism he has received from the more conservative members of the Christian community for being a part of the secular rock scene, which many believe is dark and evil. In an interview with "The Conversation"'s Roxanne Grace, Welch said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "At first, I engaged with [the online detractors] and tried to change them. And you give scripture. But that doesn't work. And I feel like if they did it to Christ, they're gonna do it to us. So I learned the ability to just ignore and walk away and not to respond. Or a quick delete off your page — just ban the user and move on. Because all it is, it's, like, demonic activity trying to — they're trying to hit your insecurities, and they're trying to get you to feel the sting of the rejection, and they're trying to get you to respond. And there's not enough time in the day, with family, friends and work and everyting, to engage in negativity. So a quick delete and 'ban user.'" He continued: "Look, they're not in your tribe — they don't get you — so just go somewhere else. Go with your people, who you agree with or get fed by, or whatever. That's what's worked for me. "If you really wanna make demons mad, staying in rest and ignoring them is torturous for them. 'Cause they want attention and they want bitterness. So if you just ban the user and delete and move on, you send the message that you haven't fallen into the trap." Less than a month after leaving KORN, Welch — wearing a white robe and sporting a long beard — was baptized in Israel's Jordan River, along with about 20 other members of the Valley Bible Fellowship, the Bakersfield, California, church in which he spoke two weekends earlier. Welch officially returned to KORN in 2013, one year after joining the band onstage at the Carolina Rebellion festival in Rockingham, North Carolina to perform "Blind". Since his conversion to Christ 16 years ago, Welch has been very open about how God changed his lifestyle and restored his relationship with his daughter. In recent years, Brian has been preaching that people don't have to wait until they die to see if having an encounter with the presence of God is real. Both Welch and KORN bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu have had highly public, though separate, conversion experiences, ones that have been greeted with a certain amount of skepticism. KORN's latest album, "The Nothing", was released in September 2019 via Roadrunner/Elektra. The follow-up to 2016's "The Serenity Of Suffering" was once again produced by Nick Raskulinecz. Welch's LOVE AND DEATH project released its second album, "Perfectly Preserved", on February 12 via Earache Records.
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