Did Blizzard just drag Korn out of retirement for Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred?

I know I know, I told you all I was on a total media blackout for Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred. I muted the keywords and dodged the updates, but the marketing just took an unexpected turn that I simply cannot ignore. Mephisto himself seems to have dragged Korn out of retirement to drop a brand new track, "Reward the Scars," inspired directly by the expansion. Yes, really.

A fitting tribute and the first new song in four years for Korn

Reward the Scars - YouTube

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If you can cast your mind back to the launch of Diablo 4, the base game, we had the collaboration "Lilith" with Halsey and Suga. While I get that Blizzard wanted to reach a wider, more commercial audience with the partnership, it definitely felt a lot more corporate despite Halsey declaring herself a fan. It really split opinion, as polished as the track was (and I still have it on rotation), it didn't really scream desperate struggle against the Prime Evils.

Seeing Blizzard pivot back to metal feels like a homecoming. Diablo is a franchise built on gothic dread, grime, and aggression (from and against demons)!. Korn and their sound feel infinitely more appropriate for the tone of Lord of Hatred, and match the aesthetic perfectly.

It also dovetails perfectly with the new Warlock class arriving with the expansion, which the devs describe as the "metal" class. This couldn't be more on theme.

As announced on today's Diablo 4 Developer update by Biran "Head" Welch, Korn's guitarist, (filmed from... his car), the song will also get an accompanying music video on April 27, 2026, at 10 a.m. PDT, which you can catch on the YouTube Premiere page.

This will be timed perfectly with the launch of Lord of Hatred which actually comes a little earlier to the US to rollout across the world at the same time.

Where have Korn been?

Reward the Scars is a significant moment for the band, as it's their first new music since 2022, ending a four-year sabbatical since the band released Requiem (hey guys, have you considered a Resident Evil collab next?)

According to Kerrang this is also the first studio recording since the official departure of founding bassist Fieldy, who stepped away due to touring complications and personal choices regarding the covid vaccine.

Not Jon Davis' first rodeo with Blizzard

While on the face of it this might look like a standard marketing deal, Jonathan Davis actually has quite a long history with Blizzard.

In a classic interview with Ultimate Guitar, Davis revealed he used to run his own World of Warcraft guild called "Children of the Corn" on the Stonemaul server. He played an Undead Warrior tank. He famously noted that he preferred playing a tank because he felt like one in real life, constantly "taking all the s***" emotionally and physically while on the road. Although I'd like to be a mage 'cause I'd like to be able to cast spells and do cool shit like that too."

Fun fact: he also had something to say about the creative exploits of our very own Jez Corden when he judged a song competition at Blizzcon 2005. He thought Jez's World of Warcraft tribute was "meh."

Knowing that the lead singer of the band providing the soundtrack has spent hundreds of hours tanking raids in WoW does give this collaboration a level of gamer cred you just can’t manufacture. Now, what I really want to know is what Davis' main is in Diablo 4.

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