News |

Guitar World Column |

Interviews |

Pictures |

Album Reviews |

Gig Reviews |

Release Dates |

History |

Articles |

Setlists |

Upcoming |

Contact

Average rating points:

Track Listing: Uber-Time Oildale (Leave Me Alone) Pop A Pill Fear Is A Place To Live Move On Lead The Parade Let The Guilt Go The Past Never Around Are You Ready To Live? Holding All These Lies

After a rather unsuccessful 'Untitled' album three years back, Korn return with their ninth studio effort. In the meanwhile, Ray Luzier has become a permanent member and makes his studio debut. In his interviews Jonathan Davis promised a return to the early Korn vibe and no usage of Pro Tools or editing. So leading into the release, there were a lot of things to be excited about.

'Uber-Time' is nothing but a build up to 'Oildale (Leave Me Alone)'. As a fan you would feel the excitement growing within you as you spin the CD for the very first time. As soon as 'Oildale' starts, I feel the raw and heavy sound that was promised by Jonathan. His vocals ooze with passion and aggression. Fieldy's 5-string bass as well as Munky's guitar are both solidly heavy while Ray's drums blend well together with all of this. Although it's a slow song, the first impression of the new Korn is a good one, and it gets the listener curious about the rest of it.

Things builds up further with 'Pop A Pill'. "Feeling things crawl on me; I need my fix today. This is way beyond me; I can't live without you today" are lyrics that a lot of people might be able to relate to. Music-wise, the drumming picks up pace a little more as compared to the previous track and the overall energy is greater. 'Fear Is A Place To Live' is another song with aggressive and thought-provoking lyrics that are delivered with effortless aplomb by Jonathan. 'Move On' is pretty similar in terms of the music and lyrics, and is rather easy on the ears. Although the first four tracks are all good songs, I can't help but think that they are too similar to each other and there's a feeling of sameness and monotone to the top half of the album.

The attitude and expression seems to be the most important aspect here, as is evident in the next song 'Lead The Parade' where the variety in vocals is very, very interesting. You get the entire range of it within one song. 'Let The Guilt Go' is another tune where you'd find the lyrics easy to pick up and relate to. The only other thing noteworthy here is the slow interlude during which Jonathan goes about belting out the words "thinking ... and thinking" repeatedly with aggression that rises to a crescendo. The tempo drops further with the following song 'The Past' but for the first time the instruments are in the foreground, even though it's rather short lived.

'Never Around' sounds like every other song on the album, but only for the first few seconds. Jonathan's laughs, a clearly greater prominence of guitar and bass into the mix, along with some acoustic (clean) guitar fills thrown in there, make this the heaviest, most diverse and the best track on the album without a doubt. Having said that, 'Are You Ready To Live?' is not bad at all as a follow-up to it. The clean guitar parts are delightful. It excites me to no end when bands use little snippets of clean guitar every now and then, attempting to utilize the entire range of sounds that the beautiful thing called guitar is capable of generating rather than just the down-tuned, muddy chug-chug riffs. 'Holding All These Lies' serves as a fitting end to this effort, having the depth, diversity and raw emotion that decorate its two predecessors.

The songs that I would instantly recommend from this are 'Oildale', 'Pop A Pill', 'Never Around', 'Are You Ready To Live?' and 'Holding All These Lies' while 'Lead The Parade', 'Let The Guilt Go' and 'The Past' seem to me like the kind that will grow on you. Overall, this album is a great comeback of sorts. This is how you do a 'raw' album without making it sound like utter crap (St. Anger anyone?). Jonathan Davis and co. have come up with their most emotional, yet intensely raw and aggressive effort in a long time. Korn definitely remember who they are.

To buy the CD and for more information, check out their official website.

Korn III: Remember Who You Are is the ninth studio album from nu-metal pioneers; Korn. Korn III was recorded without using pro-tools or any kind of extensive digital editing. It was released on July 13, 2010, and is very reminiscent of some of their earlier albums.

The album begins with the track "Uber-Time" which is ... interesting to say the least. It seems like a hodge-podge of instrumental twiddling at first, with a man talking about absolutely nothing in particular. It leaves the listener wondering why it's on the album at all, but it serves a very important purpose; a launching pad for the next track, "Oildale".

"Oildale" is an explosive track that seems very thin on the surface, but contains a lot of emotion, soul, and substance. The musical aspects of this track seem to be a reversal of most heavy metal music. Instead of the guitar being the instrument of attraction, this track features the bass as the instrument at the forefront of the music, with the guitar behind it. The drums seem to be pretty buried under all the other instruments, except during the verse sections of the song, where it's just drums and bass. Jonathan Davis really showcases his unique voice on this track, and it seems like he's been exploring his vocal range a bit more. The song as a whole has a great vibe to it, and it isn't too overbearing or over the top.

This album is interesting in the fact that it isn't overproduced, but still maintains great production values. Everything seems stripped down and raw, but with insane clarity. As with any album, there are some forgettable songs, some incredibly memorable songs, and some songs that you don't know how to feel about. Korn has had their share of problems, which I'm sure, have a lot to do with some of the content and overall quality of Korn III. They were once a five-piece band and they are now a four piece. Integral members have left, and new blood has come in. This album seems to be more of an exploration of sound than a regular Korn album. Jonathan Davis seems to have a lot more emotion in his voice now, in comparison to albums from their past. The music isn't as heavy anymore, and everything just seems a lot slower than it used to be. Whatever the case may be, Korn have delivered an incredibly interesting album, but there seems to be something missing that I just can't seem to put my finger on. Maybe it's the absence of Head and David, or something entirely different, either way, this album is one of the most interesting and enthralling Korn albums I've ever listened to.