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Reviews
Korn: Untitled
26/07/07 || Lord K Philipson
“See you on the other side” was so shit it actually entered a whole new dimension of shit. Statik Majik strongly disagrees though. Then again, he’s from Finland, what does he know? Over to my opinion, which is what counts anyways. With that album I seriously questioned the future of KoЯη as they obviously had lost exactly all touch with reality. What a fucken stinker that album is, to put it mildly. Fuck KoЯη and that goddamn Matrix team for handing us such a cesspool of vomit. This disc completely took me by surprise for a few reasons; I had no idea a new album was coming nor did I know they had entered the studio, obviously some time ago. And I thought I read Blabberpenis on a regular basis. Yay me for being up to date.
To say that my expectations for a new KoЯη album were high after the last fluke would be like saying that Ken Shamrock was the most humble individual ever in the MMA-scene. It’s not exactly true. I have always liked what KoЯη‘s done up until that gigantic sperm bank disguised as a cd that I mentioned in the intro. Now I’m having a little more faith in them again (I’m sure born again christian and fuckwit ex-guitarist Head would be fucken all jolly about reading “faith” in a KoЯη review), and it’s thanx to this one. In a few years they might be back on track, actually creating memorable music instead of trying to be so fucken special and innovative. It doesn’t sound like the KoЯη of old, fuck no, but it’s definitely a huge step up from “See you on the other side”. As they are once again working with that hideous Matrix team (people involved in creating material for cunts like Avril Lavigne), it’s safe to say that I feared another “See you on the other side”. My fears were a little unjustified as this one redefines the sound of KoЯη a bit, allowing them to show an evolution in their material without trying to re-live the days of old. It sounds KoЯη, but it sounds like a “newer” KoЯη. I guess that’s what “evolution” is…
Talking about “evolution”, the very track with the same name is the absolute highlight on this piece. Including über-catchy vocal lines with a groove that is irresistible makes me tap my foot and grin out of joy quite a bit. A lot of times KoЯη lose focus though in the desperate need of trying to make something memorable, as in the song “Do what they say”, a piece too effect laden for its own good. “Hushabye” is not only a incredibly cheesy title, it’s also a 4 minute endeavor of crap. But it picks up with tunes such as “Bitch, we got a problem”, a quite grooving piece of work that reminds me a bit of Faith No More in the vocal-department at times. Opener (fuck the useless intro) “Starting over” and “Innocent bystander” are 2 tracks that passes for all fine without living up to any of their old classics. “I will protect you” displays a very nice chorus in the midst of all its weird drum-patterns and loops. “Love and luxury” is another one of those “memorable chorus” songs where the rest of the tune is easily forgettable. “Killing” is smack full with weird background sounds but eventually it ends up being yet a song that isn’t going to make it into the history books of Korn’s best material.
“Ever be” follows the formula with its slow pace, tasteful drumming and catchy vocals but makes another addition to the “easily forgettable” list even though the ending riff (for some reason it’s reminding me a bit of Deep Purple’s classic riff in “Perfect strangers”, I don’t really think they sound anything alike though, explain that) is very nice. “Kiss” is showing off some small, tasty strings and piano which I like, but the drum-patterns kinda stop this tune from being as good as it could be. Something more basic drumwise would have been far more suitable. “Hold on” is one of the stronger tunes and it wouldn’t have been misplaced on an album like “Follow the leader”. Killer work, and this is how KoЯη should sound. They should cut down on the weird beats, bring in some aggression from the past, fuck the Matrix team and get back to basics a bit more. “Hold on” shows they still got some of it in them. This is how I want KoЯη to sound. This is the KoЯη I used to love. Melancholic and catchy as fuck.
So, out of 12 tracks we got 2 absolute killers. That’s not enough by a long-stretch. The other 10 tracks pretty much give me nothing. They are all kinda slow, full of misplaced electronics and in the end, quite boring. But no matter what, the material sticks for some reason. KoЯη really knows how to write memorable choruses and it all passes for a decent listen with a few, very strong, highlights in “Evolution” and “Hold on”. Is it a co-incidence that those songs are right after each other on this album?
Oh, and by the way, 3 more things… 1: No, the trademark KoЯη bass sound has not returned. 2: How irritating is it that it says “KoЯη” thruout this review? And last off, I absolutely fucken love the cover.
6 cocks out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Virgin
- Website: www.KoЯη.com
- Band
- Jonathan Davis: vocals
- Munky: guitars
- Fieldy: bass
- Terry Bozzio: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Intro
- 02. Starting over
- 03. Bitch, we got a problem
- 04. Evolution
- 05. Hold on
- 06. Kiss
- 07. Do what they say
- 08. Ever be
- 09. Love and luxury
- 10. Innocent bystander
- 11. Killing
- 12. Hushabye
- 13. I will protect you
