After guitarist Brian “Head” Welch left last year in favour of a life dedicated to Jesus, many people questioned whether Korn, now twelve years on from the release of their debut album, would continue on. Welch’s departure was the first line-up change in the bands career, which most critics feel has passed its peak and 2005 had also seen the completion of their contract with epic records by the release of a greatest hits album (even if it was sub-titled Volume 1).
When it was announced the band were going to continue, the new question was how would Welch’s absence affect the Korn sound. The answer is, it didn’t make a difference. See You On The Other Side certainly sounds different to the Korn albums of the past, but the sound is of a band attempting to make their sound more accessible to recapture an audience rather than a band trying to fill a void. The biggest sign of this is that for the first time ever, every track is co-written with people out side the band. But not just any people. For See You On The Other Side Korn have worked with The Matrix, the writing team behind the hits of Avril Lavigne and Hillary Duff, amongst others. That’s not to say that the bandhave gone all teen-girl-pop-ballad-y on us, but it would lead you to expect an album with more than the usual amount of hooks designed to reel the listener in.
Sadly this is not the case. See You On The Other Side largely falls flat. Part of what made the band so brilliant to begin was the rawness of their self titled debut and the follow up Life Is Peachy. These albums had an immediacy and passion which gave them their edge. The heavy involvement of The Matrix as production team leaves the new album with more in common with a release like Untouchables, which suffered from an overuse of studio trickery. This is same mistake made by many of the bands such as Static-X and Linkin Park, who tried to follow in Korn’s footsteps. There is not the depth or contrast between parts which made things exciting at the beginning, instead everything sounds flat and cold.
Lead single and album opener Twisted Transistor is a great example of this. Remaining guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer’s main riff is based more around a guitar effect than the actual notes played, while the vocals are heavily chorused. Perhaps the biggest departure from the early Korn sound is mixing Jonathon Davis’s scream into the background, so it sounds more like a grumble. Also lacking is the more percussive tones which were the signature of bassist Fieldy.
Second track Politics is also pretty disappointing. Aside from the music being as forgettable as any other track on the album, it has the added bonus of a stupid chorus.
Don’t wanna talk about politics
Refuse to talk about politics
Don’t make me talk about politics
Don’t give a shit about politics
What Korn seem to have missed is that in this day and age, even writing a song about political apathy is making a political statement. As Davis himself sings:
it’s in religion, sex and everything we do and say.
Without any sense of irony, the next track is called Hypocrites. This may have the most interesting and actually memorable chorus of the album. Says Davis, “I’m telling a story, and it’s very fucking Broadway – I love that shit, it’s what I grew up on, and those influences have finally come out. The reason I got into rock ‘n’ roll was because of the Jesus Christ Superstar.” And for once, the press release that accompanied this album was actually accurate.
Not so accurate was its description of the new Korn direction as “an industrial-strength alter ego that’s been suppressed – until now.” The album is often referred to as an industrial Korn album, thanks to the band also working with Atticus Ross for a number of songs. Ross has previously been a member of 12 Rounds, Error, and most recently was the right-hand man to Trent Reznor for the recording of Nine Inch Nails’ With Teeth. But sadly Ross’ influence seems to have been restricted to the soundscapes between songs, rather than adding a noticeable industrial tint to any songs. Sure there’s weird noises and programmed sounds, but again it lacks the harshness of industrial music, everything is just too smooth.
Even the final track Tearjerker fails to stir up any real interest, despite being co-written with The Matrix, Atticus Ross AND his brother Leopold Ross, also a member of Error. This is truly surprising and a little disappointing since Error’s self-titled EP in 2004 was one of the most vitriolic and exciting releases in years, which took punk and hardcore music and made an industrial electro version which sounded like the ultimate battle between man and machine. Had these two worked with one of the most innovative modern metal bands during their prime, it could have been scary. But now it just sounds like wrapping paper on a not so interesting present.
No band should ever be expected to re-release their same album over and over again – although many would argue that’s what Korn have tried to do from Follow The Leader through to Take A Look In The Mirror. Even See You On The Other Side maintains many of the old Korn tricks. But when a band abandons what made them good, and ends up in a space occupied by the bands who made careers from copying them, the results are no more innovative or interesting.
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