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Korn's music may be labeled nü-metal, but the band itself is probably older than you realize.

Seriously, who would have guessed they got started back in 1994?

What say you, James "Munky" Shaffer — does it seem like your group has been around for 22 years?

"It feels like 20 — not quite 22!" the guitarist joked in a telephone interview.

Of course, that doesn't mean fans who turn up for Korn's "Return of the Dreads Tour" show with Rob Zombie next Wednesday at Usana Amphitheatre in West Valley City should expect a sedate, genteel performance. Twenty-two years in the business hasn't softened Munky's edge to the point that he now resembles Lars Ulrich discussing his fine-art collection.

That said, Shaffer acknowledges there have been concessions made to the demands of Father Time, though these particular changes are hardly inherently negative.

Maturity has demonstrated its benefits, Shaffer noted, as "each guy has gone through things with their own demons."

"I think [earlier in the band's existence], the priority was about partying. But consciousness has shifted the priority to our families. We all have families now, as opposed to when we started — it was just the five of us, that was the family. Now we all have kids, and we're married, and the priorities change," he added. "And it's just too cliché to go out like so many have before us, with addiction. I think that as we stay focused on staying healthy, like we have been, and make good changes in our personal lives, that's helped the longevity of this band."

Added maturity has also impacted the way Shaffer approaches songwriting these days. While some will never take seriously a man who goes by the moniker "Munky," or a band with such song titles as "Freak on a Leash" and "Narcissistic Cannibal," Shaffer maintains he does take a serious approach to honing his craft.

Korn have long been known as prolific consumers of others' music, forever on the lookout for different ways of doing things, always hoping to prevent their own music from becoming staid and stale. Asked what he's listened to lately, Shaffer rattled off newish UK band Hacktivist ("They're starting to get some traction over there, not so much here yet, but they will"), Eminem, Portishead ("Just figuring out the chord changes"), Rage Against the Machine and Trent Reznor ("He's a classically-trained pianist, and just one of my all-time favorite artists").

Shaffer isn't merely piggybacking on what other artists do, though.

"I'm just picking apart little stuff and listening to it and really studying tone. … I think as I get older, I'm listening more to the wood of the guitar, the pickups," he said. "All that stuff I'm really trying to refine as I get older, I didn't much care about it so much when I was younger. I was like, 'Yeah, that sounds cool and heavy! Now let's go party!' And now it's like, 'Let's make this better. Let's sit back and kind of refine it and make this the best we can.' "

That's been his motivation and his methodology with Korn's new album, Shaffer said, even if he was sparse with the details — revealing only that "it's almost to the completion point," confirming that "it is going to come out this year," and suggesting that, musically, "it's what people have been wanting to hear from Korn for awhile."

He was considerably more forthcoming about the upcoming "Return of the Dreads" show.

Shaffer is excited for Korn's latest pairing with Zombie, noting, "this'll be our third or fourth tour we've done with him" and that "it's always worked in the past."

The guitarist added that, for his band's part, he's trying to walk a fine line: giving everyone what they expect while still making the show unique.

"I always want to try to change the setlist as much as I can without angering everybody. There's five guys in the band, and you can't have one guy onstage during the set where you look over and know they're just hating playing that song. There's songs we've written over the years that not all of us love," he said. "So it's a challenge. It's a challenge to try to bring the fans the songs that they want to hear and the songs that we want to play. And we play these songs every night, so we want to keep it enjoyable for ourselves and enjoyable for the fans. So it's a mixture, basically, of 22 years of albums and catalog compiled into a 70-, 75-minute set. We try to give everybody something."

In the end, though, Shaffer says that while the band has embraced and benefited from change during its run, there are just some things better left alone.

"What we've tried to keep the same over the years is the music is always first with us," he said. "When the five of us get in a room, everything hinges on making great songs, and songs that we love to play."

So the plan, then, is to continue on making music indefinitely?

"Yeah, that's the plan!" he said. "That's always been the plan, and that's one thing that hasn't changed about us — the music will always come first."

Twitter: @esotericwalden —

Korn and Rob Zombie

With In This Moment

When • Wednesday; doors at 5 p.m., show at 6:30

Where • Usana Amphitheatre, 5200 S. 6200 West, West Valley City

Tickets • $25-$69.50; Smith's Tix, Usana box office