By Brian Welch
240 pages, HarperOne
ISBN ‎ 978-0061431647
Goodreads rating: 3.98 out of 5
It would be safe to say that not many of the readers would be familiar with the term nu metal. But if you were a fan of contemporary music in the mid-nineties (especially of the heavier genres), you would likely be familiar with this subgenre of alternative rock music popular at the time, which is now retrospectively known as nu metal. At the pioneering front of this new movement is the band Korn, led by their Adidas tracksuit-wearing lead singer, Jonathan Davis. Their music, typical of their contemporaries, featured down-tuned guitars and angry lyrics about alienation, childhood trauma and betrayal. You know, the usual stuff.
Korn as a band was one of the first and probably the most successful of the era – selling 40 million records worldwide. A little less known than Jonathan Davis is original guitarist, Brian Welch, and this book is his story of fame, excesses, hitting rock bottom and finally finding God.
The book tells of Welch’s upbringing in Bakersfield, California where his father’s violent temper and school bullying led him to taking refuge in alcohol, repressed anger and an addiction to horror movies. Alcohol soon gave way to hard drugs, and in a matter of a few years he had become an addict. Welch does a great job showing the contrast of his life – on the one hand, his rock music career with a band formed with his school friends started to find success. But on the flipside, his addiction and other vices were slowly eating him away inside. In this, he displays very typical behaviour of an addict – failure to acknowledge the problem, thinking that you are in control and can stop anytime, and ultimately, the opiates are a means of escaping whatever you do not wish to face in real life.
As the both trajectories of his life diverge, Welch tells of how God laid seeds of change in his life even from when he was kid. It all comes to a head during a period of his life when he seemed to have lost control, and God sent agents to him in the form of his two managers and some old friends, who led him to his realization that God was the only one that could change his life. And without any spoilers, the change was a rather significant one.
The latter half of the book details his spiritual journey since his salvation and his second career as a Christian musician. He also blatantly exhorts his readers to consider Christ if they haven’t already. While Brian Welch may not be the only celebrity to have beaten his own addictions and personal demons through Jesus, he is one of very few to openly admit his testimony of Christ for the world to hear. You may not be a fan of loud, screamy music, but this loud, screamy musician’s story is a worthwhile story to share.
📖 This book is available to be borrowed from the PJEFC Library.