.png)
Korn have been a band for almost as long as I have lived on this planet, and hardly need an introduction, or a review for that matter. There is something very daunting to write about a band of such reputation that has just released their 14th studio album, I am lost in the grandeur, so to speak. As we slowly approach their 30th anniversary in just few years, and are about to mark 20 years since the release of Untouchables, with Requiem Korn once again remind us why they are widely regarded amongst the greatest rock bands in decades, grandfathers of an entire generation of equally important outfits, and gateway to heavy music to millions of people who now claim to be tastemakers.
I tend to approach every new Korn album as their last, and considering its symbolic title and marking the official departure of veteran Fieldy (yes, hiatus), it might really be this time. There is something finite in the album, its short running time of barely over half hour aside, although the band has defied expectations and risen above personal issues more than any other living artist that I know of. The departure of the iconic founding members David Silvera and Brian Welch was seen as the end of the band and yet, the prodigal son 'Head' did return, and drummer Ray Luzier has more than proven to be a phenomenal replacement, arguably better than the original if not as charismatic. I won't go in details with Jonathan Davis and his inner demons, but even he managed to pull through all past traumas, and the personal loss that consumed him before their previous The Nothing (2019). And yet here we are, 14th record out now against all odds, so who is to say how many more are we to expect from them.
In a nutshell, Requiem is just straightforward Korn being Korn. I cannot say that the record susprised me and it does lack a memorable standout single, but it just works perfectly well as a whole and delivers everything I love about the band. Vocals, guitars, bass, drum parts, it all sounds 100% unmistakably Korn from the very first seconds of 'Forgotten' all the way to Davis' signature scatting at the end of 'Worst Is On Its Way'. iKorn have built their legacy upon all those uneven patterns, weird time signatures, psychotic melodies, low tuning, bouncy riffs, and manic singing, backing dark lyrics soaked in pain, fear and anger, and although it is more restrained and shorter than usual, Requiem has all of them shining in sporadic moments of brilliance.
Korn have suprised us more than once, their greatest trick being their first, taking the scene by storm in 1994 with their legendary self-titled debut. They shocked us again by completely changing the game with Follow The Leader (1997) and by risking everything with See You On The Other Side (2006). They once again broke the rules in The Path Of Totality (2011), only to deliver a fierce comeback to their best form in The Paradigm Shift (2013) and The Serenity Of Suffering (2016). They even surprised us with Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010), although this was a negative one. Now, 14 records later, Requiem is not a surprise, but it still deserves the same attention and recognition as all its predecessors.
There is something uncanny about the fact that Requiem's premiere coincided with the release of the latest album by (Hed) P.E., just few months after Limp Bizkit's surprise comeback, a year after Deftones' Ohms, and amidst the anticipation of new records by SlipKnot and Rammstein. The giants of the era are almost all still alive and kicking, albeit many just grasping at straws at this point. Korn did break the wheel by inventing nu metal, although they never really fit into the framework later developed and commercialised by their contemporaries. To an extend, not all of the others mentioned above fit that either (arguably why they survived the inevitable collapse of the genre) but Korn are one of the few that remained ahead of the curb and always let their imagination run wild.
No strangers to change of record companies, Korn have now signed with Loma Vista - a fairly new label established in 2014 but ran by people with immense experience and influence, and boasting a powerful roster, covering the likes of Ghost, Rise Against and Iggy Pop, expanding to Denzel Curry, St. Vincent and Acton Bronson, and previously associated with Soundgarden, Damian Marley and Marilyn Manson (now dropped for obvious reasons). The band have also replaced producer Nick Raskulinecz for Chris Collier, known for his work with Fear Factory, Prong, Stillwell and Lynch Mob, although this raises some questions over certain production shortcomings in Requiem. What remains the same is their iconic line-up, led by the true force of nature Jonathan Davis alongside the reliable and ever-present Munky, the irreplaceable and now firmly involved Head, the perfectly integrated Ray Luzier, all bidding farewell to one of the greatest bass players of our time Fieldy.
At the end of the day, the record isn't trendsetting on genre-defying, but can you really blame a band that has single-handedly given birth to one of the most commercially viable trends in rock and metal, for not doing so again 30 years later? For me, it is more than enough that they are one of the very outfits of their generation to consistently produce good music that always remained true to its roots and yet frequently expanded their own creative boundaries. In 2022 Korn sound like an unbrakable family of musicians who truly love their art and have dedicated their life to it, stubbornly refusing to let go and move on, but continuing strong with dignity and the same raw energy that changed the way heavy music is written, performed and perceived forever.
Here is to me being wrong and eagerly awaiting their 15th.
Korn - 'Requiem'
Country: United States
Released: 4 February 2022
Label: Loma Vista
Tracklisting:
1. "Forgotten"
2. "Let The Dark Do The Rest"
3. "Start The Healing"
4. "Lost In The Grandeur"
5. "Disconnect'
6. "Hopeless And Beaten"
7. "Pennance To Sorrow"
8. "My Confessions"
9. "Worst Is On Its Way"
Comments