Author: Primož Novak
Artist: Korn
Label: Universal Music Group
Release: year_month
Runtime: 42:54
Rating: 3/5
Korn are one of those bands that have been kicking up dust on the commercial scene ever since their self-titled debut (1994). They’ve proven it above all with a musical style that moved away from metal, with their music videos, and with their experimental albums. You could hear that best on their last record, The Path of Totality, where they brought in the virtues of dubstep alongside plenty of big-name dubstep acts like Skrillex, Noisia and others. That made them even more hated, but on the other hand they picked up quite a few new followers.
A lot has changed in the Korn camp over the past year. Guitarist Brian »Head« Welch came back after leaving the band in 2005 over drugs and a religious conversion. During the time Welch was praising Jesus, Korn changed quite a bit. You couldn’t feel that yet on See You On The Other Side, but with Untitled the band slid into experimenting (the original drummer David Silveria was no longer on that album either). Untitled itself sounded atmospheric, at times even psychedelic. After that, though, the band decided to go back to its roots with Korn III: Remember Who You Are. The talented Ray Luzier took the seat behind the drum kit, and the band wanted to pick up where their first two albums, Korn and Life is Peachy, left off. Still, the response wasn’t good. Why does that matter? With Welch’s return, Korn didn’t actually go back to their roots; they wanted to revive the golden days when Follow the Leader, Issues and Untouchables were making noise.
In 2011 came the rather provocative The Path of Totality, which they also promoted at Metalcamp 2012, stirring up plenty of controversy among the crowd. Still, it has to be said that Korn left their mark. After all, modern industrial bands love to hook up with all sorts of electronic subgenres, and Korn just happened to pick dubstep.
For The Paradigm Shift, the band promised to dial back the dubstep elements and take their golden-era albums as a model. When Korn released the first single, Never Never, the opinions were mostly negative. The track was boring and too commercial even for Korn. Luckily, though, Never Never isn’t a reflection of the whole record. With the opener Prey For Me, Korn definitely redeem themselves. The track has the typical punchy guitars, a powerful rhythm section and Jonathan Davis’s unique vocals. Love & Meth sounds similar and stands out with an infectious chorus. A handful of hard-hitting tracks pop up across the album, like What We Do, Mass Hysteria, Paranoid & Aroused and Victimized. With What We Do and Spike In My Veins, you can sort of see where the real heart of the matter lies. Korn have brought electronics back, but they don’t overdo it like on the previous album. That’s partly down to working with a producer named Nightwatch, who is otherwise known as the dubstep act Noisia. This is where the album’s true face shows, with the band trying to offer listeners a mix of punch and electronics. In short, modern Korn.
The album is bearable up to Never Never, but with Never Never, which is already way too commercially minded, it loses its common thread. Over time they try to get back on track with a heavier tune here and there, but pretty unsuccessfully. Some tracks just aren’t distinctive enough. You could really call them »fillers«, especially when you get to Lullaby for Sadist, which is dark and emotional, sure, but pretty dull. The album does wrap up on a fairly promising note with It’s All Wrong, which combines punch and electronics well, but even so it doesn’t leave the best overall impression.
You have to give Korn credit: despite some flaws, they’re still a well-produced band. There’s nothing to complain about in the overall sound. Every instrument gets its moment, although Fieldy’s bass is pushed a bit into the background this time, so his trademark sound doesn’t stand out the way it could. Ray Luzier’s drumming definitely deserves praise, though it still feels like the other members don’t let him show everything he’s capable of. With his skills, Luzier could make Korn rhythmically more demanding, but that would be a problem for the rest of the band. Luzier definitely has an incredible sense of groove, while the others don’t stand out much. Hand on heart, guitarists Head and Munky have never shown anything overly difficult. But with all the effects, samples and other trickery, the guitars can sound plenty interesting. And that’s always been the charm of Korn. Singer Jonathan Davis also proves himself repeatedly with his unique tone and certain vocal lines.
With The Paradigm Shift, Korn haven’t gone back to the old ways. Honestly, they didn’t have to, since they haven’t lost much popularity. Despite Head’s return, Korn haven’t managed to make an album that can stand up to their first five records. It’s only a near miss. Maybe it’s high time the band took more time, because they simply churn out albums too fast, and as a result these are just average albums, only a shadow of the good old Korn.
Lineup
Jonathan Davis – vocals, keyboards, samples
Brian “Head” Welch – guitars
James “Munky” Shaffer – guitars
Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu – bass
Ray Luzier – drums
Production
Don Gilmore
Tracklist
1. ‘Prey for Me’
2. ‘Love & Meth’
3. ‘What We Do’
4. ‘Spike in My Veins’
5. ‘Mass Hysteria’
6. ‘Paranoid and Aroused’
7. ‘Never Never’
8. ‘Punishment Time’
9. ‘Lullaby for a Sadist’
10. ‘Victimized’
11. ‘It’s All Wrong’
12. ‘Wish I Wasn’t Born Today’ (bonus track on the special edition)
13. ‘Tell Me What You Want’ (bonus track on the special edition)
