Korn

A lot has changed in the Korn kamp since the last time these nu-metal innovators released an album. Founding guitarist Brian “Head” Welch decided to leave the popular group to pursue a life dedicated to God and Christianity. The details of the breakup have been well documented and while Head seems like he’s gone insane, the remaining four members of Korn (Jonathan Davis, Munky, Fieldy, David Silveria) have decided to soldier on and keep rocking out. The musical result of this messy breakup is the seventh studio album from Korn titled See You On The Other Side. The new disc sees Korn venture into more experimental territory thanks to the production help of the duo known as the Matrix as well as Trent Reznor’s buddy Atticus Ross. See You On The Other Side might catch you off guard at first, but it really is an excellent album.

Like most other Korn releases, the fourteen track album begins very strong, but starts to drop off towards the last few songs. The best songs include the first track, the disc’s first single “Twisted Transistor,” a song that sounds influenced by the band’s recent remake of Cameo’s ‘80s funk hit “Word Up.” The song moves along quickly and powerfully and the “poppyness” of it may catch some fans by surprise. “Politics” is evidently a song about politics and it is one of the more traditional sounding Korn songs of this collection.

One thing that is lacking on See You On The Other Side is Korn’s classic heaviness. Even when the band goes heavy on this album such as on two of the album’s standouts “Hypocrites” and “Souvenir,” it still somehow sounds softer than even Korn’s last album let alone their early stuff. The industrial influence of Ross starts to show through on track five “10 or a 2-Way” and it lasts for the next few songs. While it’s kind of weird to find an industrial sound on a Korn album, it works well for the most part, especially on track seven “Love Song” and the slow moving but catchy “Open Up.”

The last few songs on See You On The Other Side have mixed results. One of the best songs is track nine “Coming Undone,” another different sounding song that has a very cool hard clapping beat sort of like Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” or Eminem’s “’Till I Collapse.” “Getting Off” sounds a little more like traditional Korn equipped with lots of hard grunts courtesy of Davis. The next two songs “Liar” (perhaps an ode to Head?) and “For No One” are both decent, but don’t quite match up with the first half of the album. One theme that seems to be consistent with Korn albums is the drop off in quality of the last couple of tracks and that trend holds true on this album. “Seen It All” and especially “Tearjerker” are just kind of boring and the disc could have really done without them.

Overall, See You On The Other Side is a fine record. The band should be applauded and praised for having the guts to attempt a more experimental sound and they should be given even more props for actually making it work. I did at times miss the insane heaviness that Korn has always been known for, but the band surprised me with its creativity and versatility. Don’t believe some of the critics and hardcore fans, See You On The Other Side is an awesome disc.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Twisted Transistor
02. Politix
03. Hypocrites
04. Souvenir of Sadness
05. 2-Way
06. Throw Me Away
07. Love Song
08. Open Up
09. Interlude #2
10. Coming Undone
11. Getting Off
12. Liar
13. For No One
14. Interlude #3
15. Tearjerker

Run Time: 61:00