It’s been 22 years since Korn’s self-titled debut clawed its way out of Bakersfield. Twenty two years since nu metal became a ‘thing’. Their contemporaries, copycats and detractors have faded into obscurity or turned into U2 cover bands, but their new album, ‘The Serenity Of Suffering’, is a big ol’ middle finger to all that.
This is obnoxiously heavy, bouncing metal music. There’s scant regard for trends, something that ‘The Path of Totality’ was accused of having too much of. This is essentially Korn revisiting ‘Issues’ and ‘Untouchables’ with a healthy dollop of 2013’s ‘The Paradigm Shift’ thrown in to undercut any notions of nostalgia.
Insane and Rotting In Vain, the first two tracks, bludgeon with the force of ‘Untouchables’ jacked up on protein bars.
Brian ‘Head’ Welch and James ‘Munky’ Shaffer trade inimitable call-and-response guitar lines and chunky riffs, while the rumbling low-end of Reginald ‘Fieldy’ Arvizu intertwines with the ridiculous, satisfyingly crazed scatting of Jonathan Davis.
It’s reminiscent of past glories but, thanks to crisp, crushing production and modern-age electronics, it very clearly represents Korn wanting to be in 2016.
And that heaviness is unyielding. The Hating’s crescendo is proof that Ray Luzier is the drummer for Korn – despite whatever David Silveria bangs on about – while Take Me and Next In Line treat us to slices of heptadic heaviness we thought men in their mid-40s just wouldn’t be bothered about anymore.
Given that this is Korn’s 12th LP, though, there’s sometimes a bit too much familiarity. The lyric, “No more secrets, no more lies” from Everything Falls Apart was shoved through the nu metal grinder in a much catchier way by Papa Roach over a decade ago, as was When You’re Not There’s “I love the way you hurt me” cry.
Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, meanwhile, pops up on A Different World to deliver some sickly sweet melodies and screams of, “harder! harder!”. It amounts to late-’90s aural porn but as far as the record goes, it’s something of a lull. These songs are by no means bad, but when you compare Next In Line and Die Yet Another Night’s soaring-yet-boring choruses to the album’s opening couplet, they can’t compete.
But even when the quality dips, Davis’ vocals carry ‘The Serenity Of Suffering’ above oceans of mediocrity. His warbled, signature melodies during Black Is The Soul’s verses save the track from becoming a Counting On Me rehash, while his guttural, nigh-on grindcore grunting has been nurtured through countless live shows, taking the severity of Lies from their debut and injecting it into this newer Korn concoction. Please Come For Me’s climax of, “They! Are! Co! Ming!” proves that Davis possesses one of the most recognisable intonations in heavy music.
This is a good Korn record. There are too many middle-of-the-roaders for it to rival their classic albums, but when it gets going, ‘The Serenity Of Suffering’ stretches the neck muscles in just the right way and ensures the band won’t be short on new live material.
Korn Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon December 12 2016 - MANCHESTER Arena
Wed December 14 2016 - GLASGOW SSE Hydro
Thu December 15 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Barclaycard Arena
Fri December 16 2016 - LONDON SSE Arena Wembley
Sun December 18 2016 - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
Mon December 19 2016 - NOTTINGHAM Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
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