Korn - See You On The Other Side

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.

(Originally published on FasterLouder)

Pissing with Korn

These days Korn are dismissingly lumped in the clichéd, repetitive genre of nu-metal. A little unfairly since this genre consists largely of bands imitating the bands who made their careers imitating Korn. While it has been an influence in the shaping of this genre, Korn’s early music was something new on a dying heavy scene. They chose to create their own sound rather than imitate another. It’s been five years since the band last came to Australia, and three albums in that time. These albums have varied from decent, to plain ordinary. Unfortunately all of them seem to have been created on auto-pilot rather than forging the unbeaten path which made this band so great in the first place. But for those of us who remember having our definition of heavy music changed by Korn (1994) or Life is Peachy (1996), a few dud albums weren’t going to stop us descending on Rod Laver Arena and moshing our little hearts out. The addition of Fear Factory and Static-X to the bill merely clinched the deal.

Most people would associate Fear Factory with Dino Cazares. So the pressure was on for them to prove that they can still pull it off without him. New bassist Byron Stroud (from Strapping Young Lad) was a welcome addition, allowing Christian Olde Wolbers to move from bass to replace the departed guitarist. Although they put on a solid set, and played everything spot on, it must be said that at the end of Fear Factory, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Two main factors contributed to this: volume level, and crowd interaction. Neither of these can be (entirely) blamed on the band, but nonetheless they were a significant barrier to my enjoyment. Although the volume was far too loud by the time Korn were to arrive on stage, Fear Factory were forced to play at what must have been half that, making those of us who couldn’t reach the front feel largely detached from their performance. The lack of crowd interaction therefore cannot be blamed on Fear Factory, but the way they dealt with it can. Singer Burton C. Bell chose to berate the audience for their lack of interest, telling us to wake up, and rechristening our town “Mel-bored”. It is one of rocks oldest tricks for the singer to yell at the crowd for not being excited enough, in order to whip them into a frenzy. Only in Bell’s case he really seemed disappointed and annoyed with the crowds response… and didn’t let up, or show any sign of satisfaction no matter how hard we yelled. His cause would’ve been better served by playing to those faithful who were screaming themselves hoarse, and winning over the rest of the with their blistering songs, instead of drawing attention to the weakness, and in turn pissing off some of us who had been really looking forward to seeing the band. This disappointment was doubled by the fact that I had been so blown away by the bands performance two weeks earlier as surprise openers at the Big Day Out, where they tore through their set and had the crowd captivated. Ah well, I suppose everyone’s allowed to have their off days. Fear Factory will be back in power, just not tonight.

Next up were Static-X, with an accompanying increase in volume. They also benefited hugely from some backdrops, stage costumes, and far more active lighting than Fear Factory. Their set ranged widely from their debut Wisconsin Death Trip (1999), through the two follow-ups, but Static-X were still the newcomers of the night. Nevertheless, Static-X have also had some line-up changes since their last album, but guitarist Tripp Eisen (Dope, Murderdolls) seems to have found a home. Not only can he play guitar, he can entertain. Running around the stage and pulling poses, clearly belonging to this band. Wayne Static’s voice if anything is harder in concert than on CD, and the hair remains as immovable as ever. Highlights of the set were mainly older songs such as opener Push It, Love Dump, Cold and Black and White, but songs off the new album were also given an airing. In the live arena, songs such as title track Shadow Zone and Destroy All, carry a heavier feeling than on record.

Up next were the band of the night. Korn powered through a set which seemed to show that they knew why their fans were there. Newer songs were delivered with a power which seems to have been lost in production on the album, but the set relied mostly on older tracks. Indeed they played as many songs off their debut as they did the current effort. This may have only been four songs a piece, but with six albums to choose from, most of the others got only two. Highlights included Shoots and Ladders (which ended in a brief section of Metallica’s One), Clown, A.D.I.D.A.S., Falling Away From Me, Freak On a Leash and the uncontrollable rhythm of Faget. Lowlights included the horribly predictable current single Y’all Want a Single, and surprisingly Blind, which sounds like they’ve gotten bored with it over these years. As with Static-X before them, Korn’s arrival heralded an increase in the volume. Now I love live music. And I know that live music needs to be loud to reach it’s full potential. But I also know that you cannot listen to music, let alone enjoy it when your ears are in pain. Somehow we managed to go from being too soft, to being far too loud in the one night. Static-X seemed to be the happy medium, and I think the staff at Rod Laver should seriously consider keeping volume at this level in future gigs. Overall though, Korn delivered a great set. Their enthusiasm throughout the night matched that of the crowd, and when Faget hit they really did remind us why we’ve been there with them for so long.

My night was not over yet though. Around 1am I arrived on Chapel st to meet a friend who had just finished work for some drinks. His place of work was directly across from Strike Bowling bar where it turns out Korn had taken up residence in the private room, but were making frequent trips through the rest of the premises. So we took up residence on the couches to sit back and wait. The place was pretty empty, as you would expect on a Monday night. But word had obviously got out, as there were a few tell tale Korn shirts floating around. I managed to have a chat with Tony Campos from Static-X as well as Tripp Eisen. Both of these guys were quite friendly walking around unescorted and generally enjoying themselves. Tripp in particular seemed very drunk, and spent most of the time in a Captain America mask, but stopped to have a fairly decent chat (in length… questionable in content. His response to a mention of his work in Dope consisted of “Dopey-dope”, but he seemed to have some real pride when I told him how much I loved the Murderdolls album). A few glimpses were made of Korn members, but they were escorted everywhere by some pretty huge security (who showed one guy in no uncertain terms what happens if you try to get too close). But even the most seasoned of rock stars and drinkers (of which Korn surely qualify as both) need to go to the toilet. I was on one of my own journeys to the toilet when who should walk up the stall next to me but Fieldy, the man with the lowest pants in rock. I decided against having a talk to him while he went about his business, and instead headed back out to the main bar to wait for him to leave. While still in the bathroom I did however overhear his conversation with a friend about how they should both ditch their girlfriends and hook up with some 34 year olds. So all you young fans, sorry.

On his exit Fieldy turned out to be pretty cool. He ignored his bodyguards suggestion to just move on, and stopped to have a talk to a few of us fans, holding out his fist to anyone who approached him and demanding they “pound it” before showing off his tatts and signing a few things. A fine concert, with the night perfectly rounded off by meeting the people who made it happen. Goodnight.