Korn Guitarist’s Side Project Venera Drops New Album Featuring Big-Name Collaborators

Korn's James "Munky" Shaffer and composer/filmmaker Chris Hunt have announced their next Venera release. The duo will put out Exinfinite through PAN Records on September 12. Guest vocalists FKA twigs, Chelsea Wolfe, and Dis Fig add their talents to the mix.

"The follow-up to Venera's 2023 self-titled debut is darker, heavier and more percussive than its predecessor," the band said in a press release, as reported by Revolver Magazine.

The first taste of the album, "Tear," hit streaming platforms on July 10. It begins slowly with haunting guitar sounds, then shifts gears into electronic beats and rhythms.

The nine tracks pack a lot of star power. Chelsea Wolfe joins in on "All Midnights," FKA twigs lends her voice to "Caroline," and Dis Fig appears on "End Uncovered." The track list rounds out with "Flatline," "Asteroxylon," "uuu773," "meridians," and "decreation."

For the "Tear" video, EFFIXX and Samanta García mixed sci-fi imagery with the track's electronic pulse.

The seeds of Venera were planted in 2022 when Shaffer met Hunt. Their first album brought in Mars Volta's Deantoni Parks on drums, Queens of the Stone Age's Alain Johannes, plus bands VOWWS and HEALTH.

You can hear "Tear" on Venera's YouTube channel.