Review Summary: Roughly 33% less misery.
“Requiem” is defined as “an act or token of remembrance”. After nearly thirty years and a baker’s dozen of albums documenting countless chapters of drama, Korn returns with
Requiem, a collection of lean, punchy songs that acknowledge the shadows of the past yet keep focused on hope for a brighter future.
For those unfamiliar, recent previous releases,
The Serenity of Suffering and
The Nothing, were clouded with an almost suffocating aurora of despair and grieving. The former carried temper tantrums such as “The Hating” with lyrics such as:
”I feel it all come crashing down on me/I feel alone and torn apart/A wasted time to let it get to me/An angry mouth with a broken heart”, while the latter record basically served as a session of primal scream therapy for singer Jonathan Davis in the wake of his ex-wife’s unexpected death. While Korn’s music has never been considered an oasis of optimism, these two releases nearly eclipsed any potential for perseverance.
However, on
Requiem, Korn pivot - albeit slightly - trading their meditation on misery for a few pinholes of light. This cautious hope is found primarily on the more melodic songs of the album: “Start the Healing”, “Let the Dark Do the Rest”, and “Disconnect”. Lead single “Start the Healing” stops and starts with a chugging verse reminiscent of Deftones’ “Diamond Eyes” before breaking out into a soaring chorus featuring the lyrics:
”I should’ve withstood/I shouldn’t bow down/What could I do/I can take it all away, the feelings/Break apart the pain and start the healing”. “Let the Dark Do the Rest” is arguably the least threatening offering here, with an increased emphasis on Davis’s singing particularly on the extended dreamy and disarming bridge where he croons:
“I just want to see if the future holds”. Davis’s struggle for strength continues on the dramatic, dynamic “Disconnect” which feeds reserved verses where Davis contemplates grappling with lightness and darkness into yet another massive, brooding chorus. All three of these songs find Korn leaning into a softer, moodier side of their songwriting which acts as a well-suited complement to the band’s typical, heavier material.
For those who yearn for the classic components of a Korn song, namely wild verses featuring odd, angular guitar riffs, giant singalong choruses, and sudden breakdowns of the mental and instrumental sort,
Requiem will not disappoint. “Lost in the Grandeur” unfolds with a stutter-stop guitar riff that sounds simultaneously aggressive and progressive. Album standout “Hopeless and Beaten” lurches from bludgeoning riffs and growling to a peculiar chorus that could be best described as upbeat despite the lyrical histrionics. Spanning nine songs and clocking in at just over thirty minutes,
Requiem benefits from the absence of excess which enables the melodrama to be a little more tolerable than on previous releases.
Despite the increased emphasis on melody and the continuation of the band’s tried and true musical blueprint,
Requiem should not be considered a classic Korn album by any means. “Forgotten” limps out of the gate with one of the most underwhelming opening songs in the band’s catalogue and critics will argue the band’s songwriting formula has never been this predictable. Yet, on the eve of the group’s fourteenth full length release, that formula seems to be a successful one.
Requiem rushes to a close with the raging “Worst Is On Its Way” which, ironically, is Korn saving their best song for last. Davis goes face to face with his demons one last time, muttering on the bridge:
”It makes me sick/But I deal with it/Set it all aside/My confidence overrides”. Moments later, Davis unleashes his trademark scatting above furious guitarwork slashing underneath before an ominous bass line winds the album to a close. What could have easily been viewed as a cheap overreliance on musical tropes ends up becoming a captivating and memorable fusion of artistic callback and a glimpse into a potentially brighter chapter of life for the Bakersfield quintet.
