Just a fee months ago, Jonathan Davis released his debut full-length solo album, Black Labyrinth. Since the nineties, Davis has fronted Korn, a band whose raw aggression popularized heavy music as the world broke into the new millennium. 

The work draws influence and imagery from the Ganzfeld Experiment, a parapsychology phenomenon that Davis is quite fond of. Fundamentally, it’s a simple form of sensory deprivation.The participant enters isolation in a room with red light, covers his or her eyes, and listens to white-noise

Davis has battled his demons in many ways. After giving up recreational drugs and alcohol almost 20 years ago, he’s continued to struggle with chronic and debilitating anxiety and depression — and consequently a reliance on prescription drugs.

I’ve dealt with anxiety for a long-ass time. I got prescribed Xanax, benzodiazepine, a long time ago. Benzos are the f***ing devil. They’re horrible drugs. They feel good at the moment and are a quick fix to get you out of a panic attack, but they’re not designed to be taken long-term — especially Xanax. I started taking it for anxiety. I’d take a piece in the morning and a piece at night, then go to bed. You start to build up a resistance. Two years later and I was trying to kick it. The song is about me dealing with common regrets, that I need this pill to be happy or stay sane. Anxiety is debilitating. I don’t wish it on my worst enemy. You can’t even function. After I did that song was the first time I kicked it. It was my first of three times. It was very intense.  more