Korn See You On The Other Side
Virgin/EMI 2005
By Russell Garwood
Ill start this off by saying that, unlike James Ive never been a huge Korn fan. Their first album was listenable, but I rapidly lost both interest, and the ability to look at a dog-collar without giggling, as they forged their way through the land of teen angst and South Park episodes that is nu-metal. The band have never been the happiest bunnies... In fact, theyve always been about as miserable as a bulimic in a pie-eating contest, and nothing has changed this time round. New album See You On The Otherside sees more moping, with a slightly reinvigorated, highly polished sound courtesy of producer The Matrix. Simple guitars are nevertheless catchy, melodic, and everything youd expect from the band clearly the loss of Brian Welch to Jebus has had little effect on the song-writing on display here. The drums are straight-forward, bass prominent but nothing special, and vocals very similar to previous Korn releases, although Jonathan Davis does seem to be trying extra-specially hard on this release. The obligatory bagpipes are entertaining as ever, and electronics crop up every now and then, adding a contemporary feel.
So, there you go, this was virtually everything I expected. The band can write a catchy track, and seemingly have done so, and then stretched this one song to a full length album. By half way through See You On The Otherside youve got the formula pinned down, and everything starts to get boring. Occasional subtle differences help alleviate such feelings, and its clear that the band are trying to do something a little different from their previous works, yet this noble aim is ultimately absorbed into a stream of samey, formulaic tracks. Polished production fits the pop sensibilities, and the presentation is of a very high standard, with pop-out scary little boys, clear slipcases, and cool artwork. There is also a bonus disc with three songs not featured on the album, a couple of remixes and two videos. So for fans of the band, this is worth a look in. For the more elitist factions of our readership (from whom Im expecting a long list of Why is this on here??? Theyre not even metal comments, as they wont have read down this far) its not going to do anything to change your views.
5/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Korn website
Virgin/EMI 2005
By Russell Garwood
Ill start this off by saying that, unlike James Ive never been a huge Korn fan. Their first album was listenable, but I rapidly lost both interest, and the ability to look at a dog-collar without giggling, as they forged their way through the land of teen angst and South Park episodes that is nu-metal. The band have never been the happiest bunnies... In fact, theyve always been about as miserable as a bulimic in a pie-eating contest, and nothing has changed this time round. New album See You On The Otherside sees more moping, with a slightly reinvigorated, highly polished sound courtesy of producer The Matrix. Simple guitars are nevertheless catchy, melodic, and everything youd expect from the band clearly the loss of Brian Welch to Jebus has had little effect on the song-writing on display here. The drums are straight-forward, bass prominent but nothing special, and vocals very similar to previous Korn releases, although Jonathan Davis does seem to be trying extra-specially hard on this release. The obligatory bagpipes are entertaining as ever, and electronics crop up every now and then, adding a contemporary feel.
So, there you go, this was virtually everything I expected. The band can write a catchy track, and seemingly have done so, and then stretched this one song to a full length album. By half way through See You On The Otherside youve got the formula pinned down, and everything starts to get boring. Occasional subtle differences help alleviate such feelings, and its clear that the band are trying to do something a little different from their previous works, yet this noble aim is ultimately absorbed into a stream of samey, formulaic tracks. Polished production fits the pop sensibilities, and the presentation is of a very high standard, with pop-out scary little boys, clear slipcases, and cool artwork. There is also a bonus disc with three songs not featured on the album, a couple of remixes and two videos. So for fans of the band, this is worth a look in. For the more elitist factions of our readership (from whom Im expecting a long list of Why is this on here??? Theyre not even metal comments, as they wont have read down this far) its not going to do anything to change your views.
5/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Korn website
