Review Summary: Can Korn return to their earlier glories?
This is an album I wouldn't usually bother reviewing if I'm totally honest. Although when I was younger Korn were a huge band for my generation, as time wore on the lure of the nu metal sound has somewhat worn off, where as Korn continually try to inject new life into the genre by releasing album after album with 'back to the roots' promises written all over it. So why did I bother with this one?
The return of Head was a big factor for me, It always intrigues me when bands decide to reform the 'classic' line up or reunite for a tour. It either smacks of desperation to return to their former glories or they have just taken enough time apart from each other to realise that life and music apart was kind of rubbish. I have dipped into Korn's releases since Head left after 'Take a Look in the Mirror' and none of them have really excited me. The tiresome 'Self Titled' release in 2007 and the forced attempt at a return to their earlier sound (even the title of Korn III was a bit ludicrous) of their 2010 Korn III album were both the last nail in the Korn coffin for me. The dubstep cash in of 'The Path of Totality' was, albeit quite fun, just a stop gap until they decided where the hell they were going. The only logical step for them was to reunite with former guitarist Head and attempt to re capture the excitement and fan base of their past glories. To me this all seemed quite interesting and I was looking forward to listening to the results.
The first song I heard from this album was the single 'Never Never', which has taken quite a critical tongue lashing from some areas of the media and fanbase. When I first heard it, I admit I wasn't exactly blown away by the "return" of Korn. Its a decent enough tune which never really delivers what the early riff promises, the slight dubstep influence is still apparent no matter how many times Jonathon Davis claims that "the dubstep has gone" but it's not offensive and works well instead of sounding forced. Then I heard 'Love and Meth' and was really hooked, the old Korn chunky riff was present, reminiscent of a cut from 'Follow the Leader' and Davies gives one of his best vocal performances for a long time, growling and soaring to equally pleasant results.
Opener 'Prey For Me' is a choice cut from the album and is a no brainer as the first track with its machine gun drum intro and stomping riff. In fact the first half of the album is loaded with choice tracks, 'What We Do' and 'Spike in my Veins' are both excellent examples of where Korn are on this album, large choruses, occasional dubstep influences and huge riffs. Also sandwiched in the middle of the album 'Never Never' becomes one of the more interesting tracks on here and is now one of my favourite tracks, it seems to bring a light relief after the downtrodden 'Paranoid and Aroused', not in the lyrical sense but it adds a certain airy feel to what can be a very sludgy album.
The album does falter a bit after 'Never Never' and it is apparent that the album is very top heavy. 'Punishment Time' is a throwaway track for me, its a Korn by numbers self deprecating track which neither offends or excites. 'Lullaby for a Sadist' on the other hand is one of the most interesting tracks on the album, schizophrenically switching between a dark ballad and a mighty chorus, Davis vocals sounding huge. 'Victimised' is probably the worst song on the album, resurrecting a riff that's been used thousands of times before and skipping along to a short sing along chorus, it doesn't really add anything to the album. Album closer 'Its All Wrong' is decent enough and could easily be picked from one of the first two Korn albums, which is by no means a criticism.
The criticisms I would make are that it isn't exactly obvious what Head has added to the overall Korn sound apart from seemingly bringing the old spirit back with him, which if that's the case then its a successful move. But it isn't always obvious what they have done with the dual guitar attack, mostly both guitars echo each other while the electronic influences offer a different layer of sound. Davis lyrics are the usual self pitying and self deprecating fare and are as personal as ever but his singing has never sounded so good. Not as whiney and nasally as recent albums and certainly he's pushed himself again to achieve the right sound
In my eyes this is a fascinating album and a real return to former glory for Korn, I was one of those who was convinced that Korn would never produce anything noteworthy again but I'm thankfully proved wrong. Hopefully this can be the shape of things to come.
