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Paganbasque
Metal freak

Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:28 am
Posts: 4027
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 2:41 am 
 

The band is set to released a new allbum called "Serenity in Suffering" next October 21st.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/korn-to-release-the-serenity-of-suffering-album-in-october-rotting-in-vain-video-premiere/

They have posted two new songs and I think that those are their best song in many years!





Thoughts?

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Sepulchrave
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:29 pm
Posts: 1994
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:36 am 
 

Some of the songs from their debut have a kind of depressing, urban type atmosphere, which is cool and not always something you find in this genre. Blind and Divine are pretty nice li'l ditties but otherwise no Korn bores me just like any other big nu metal band. Not a fan.
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raspberrysoda
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:51 pm
Posts: 1076
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:53 am 
 

A huge fan of the debut and Issues. The rest is meh
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Paganbasque
Metal freak

Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:28 am
Posts: 4027
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:33 am 
 

raspberrysoda wrote:
A huge fan of the debut and Issues. The rest is meh


In my case I also like Untouchables (probably my fav) a lot but I agree that those albums are the best.

Check out these new ones, they sound heavy and dark like the old stuff.

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schizoid
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:35 am
Posts: 1602
Location: New Zealand
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 6:57 am 
 

There's a certain appeal to their big, dumb, bassy groove, but on the whole it just sounds a bit silly and gets boring fast.
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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 8:56 am 
 

Korn - Never was big into this album, supremely overrated imo. It's too whiny even by Johnathan Davis standards and the riffs are boring as fuck with the lame slappity slappa slappa bass. Only thing of worth is the dissonant and atmospheric melodic sections.

Life Is Peachy - Better production, still overly slappity bass but more defined approach in terms of song writing although there's still the repetitive loud/quiet sections as previous, there is some good catchy choruses like on Good God and ADIDAS. TBH the overdone spastic nu metal vocals are what ruin this album.

Follow The Leader - Song writing is much more on point here, many more slow paced songs and the choruses shine. Johnathan Davis is still the bane of these songs but in choruses he attempts some anthemic melody and as such all the songs have character. 'Got The Life' is still one of the best songs imo.

Issues - Much more sombre and atmospheric album, an abundance of lullaby verses but at the forefront are these loud mid-tempo symbol crashing choruses which really suit the melodic and very layered vocals, bass slapping is very minimal and/or mixed better. They hit their stride here.

Untouchables - This album sounds heavier, perhaps due to the production or good fine-tuned layering and a very noticeable echo/reverb throughout. Davis attempts a mixture of dissonant out of tune vocals, his golfing 'FORE!' stuff and harsher than usual guttural vocals. This is my favourite of their discography, it's their heaviest, most layered and most anthemic. The album sounds like it was recorded in a football stadium but I think it adds a strange atmospheric charm that the other albums lack.

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~Guest 98976
Metal Pounder

Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:08 pm
Posts: 8000
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:01 am 
 

Yeah, Untouchables, to me is probably their absolute best stuff and holds up the most out of everything they've produced. I'll spin up Untouchables once every couple of years and dive into a few of their other songs, but that's as far as I go. I actually enjoyed that ridiculous dubstep album they made a few years back because it was so... unexpected and different, but I don't revisit it that often. I've kinda been waiting for them to go the Papa Roach route and just turn into an alternative rock outfit, but it hasn't really happened yet.

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Paganbasque
Metal freak

Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:28 am
Posts: 4027
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:26 am 
 

volutetheswarth wrote:
Korn - Never was big into this album, supremely overrated imo. It's too whiny even by Johnathan Davis standards and the riffs are boring as fuck with the lame slappity slappa slappa bass. Only thing of worth is the dissonant and atmospheric melodic sections.

Life Is Peachy - Better production, still overly slappity bass but more defined approach in terms of song writing although there's still the repetitive loud/quiet sections as previous, there is some good catchy choruses like on Good God and ADIDAS. TBH the overdone spastic nu metal vocals are what ruin this album.

Follow The Leader - Song writing is much more on point here, many more slow paced songs and the choruses shine. Johnathan Davis is still the bane of these songs but in choruses he attempts some anthemic melody and as such all the songs have character. 'Got The Life' is still one of the best songs imo.

Issues - Much more sombre and atmospheric album, an abundance of lullaby verses but at the forefront are these loud mid-tempo symbol crashing choruses which really suit the melodic and very layered vocals, bass slapping is very minimal and/or mixed better. They hit their stride here.

Untouchables - This album sounds heavier, perhaps due to the production or good fine-tuned layering and a very noticeable echo/reverb throughout. Davis attempts a mixture of dissonant out of tune vocals, his golfing 'FORE!' stuff and harsher than usual guttural vocals. This is my favourite of their discography, it's their heaviest, most layered and most anthemic. The album sounds like it was recorded in a football stadium but I think it adds a strange atmospheric charm that the other albums lack.


Awesome review of each album man, I mostly agree with you. Your description of Untouchables is pretty accurate.

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PhilosophicalFrog
The Hypercube

Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 7:08 pm
Posts: 7631
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 12:09 pm 
 



FUCK YEAH DUDE. skip to 3:40
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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:27 pm 
 

It's very easy to make fun of Korn, even as someone who likes 70% of their stuff I totally get why they're 'the butt of jokes'. Much harder to try their music despite their very obvious nu metal aesthetics. I think their album covers and music videos are mostly terrible, there's that lame teen angst meets Tim Burton aesthetic but I personally disregard everything apart from the music.

Paganbasque wrote:
Awesome review of each album man, I mostly agree with you. Your description of Untouchables is pretty accurate.
Thanks, Paganbasque. They've done some decent stuff so I think it better than a passing mention.

Take a Look in the Mirror - A step down but there's still a 50% continuation of the Untouchables style/approach prevalent which makes it decent enough, there's some headscratching songs that should have been designated to B-Side like 'Y'all Want a Single', overall not a bad album, 'Counting on Me' could have been one of their best, but the songs feel stripped and bare bones with riffs that meander between OK to MEH which is possibly due to a rushed production.

See You on the Otherside - This album has a handful of good quality songs and crisp production but it really sounds like the Johnathan Davis show. There's too much electronics, filters, and very few memorable riffs and not surprisingly Brian Welch wasn't on this one. Barely any discernible core instruments here.

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Oxenkiller
Veteran

Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:42 am
Posts: 3613
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:44 pm 
 

I just listened to "Rotting in Vain" to give it a chance. It definitely sounds like Korn, maybe with a few more keyboard touches than usual. All the usual elements are there- the wallowing, low-tuned riffs, Jonathan Davis's typical vocals and "oombbattabbattaa" lyrical stuttering, loud heavy parts followed abruptly by quiet vocal sections, etc. The reason I never liked this band was, the riffs just aren't catchy or interesting. Heavy, aggressive and low tuned, yes- but they just all kind of wallow around and don't really do anything for me. And you have that thwappy bass sound, which is annoying, and Davis's singing- again, unique and recognizable, but.. sorry but not really my thing. Also, their songs never flowed that well with all the abrupt loud-then-quiet dynamic transitions. The new stuff is good for what Korn does, but if you never liked the band, it won't really convert you.

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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:50 pm 
 

^ For what it's worth I'm not impressed with the new songs either.

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Erotetic
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 8:05 pm
Posts: 1367
Location: New Zealand
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 8:08 pm 
 

when Rotting in Vain started it reminded me of Zeromancer's Something for the Pain

the verse just bores me. same reason I hate all the post-Whoracle In Flames stuff, it's like they can't find enough good material for a whole song anymore.

same problem with Insane. it started off promising (not sure what it reminded me of, but I can't pin it down), then just pusses out into fuckin' nothing and gets worse by the chorus with those vocals.
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JohnTheDrummer
Metalhead

Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 2:25 pm
Posts: 590
PostPosted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 12:11 am 
 

KoRn was a band that I really was into growing up... but for some reason could never listen to an album from beginning to end until Untouchables (probably because I just liked listening to the songs I knew). I stopped listening to them after "Untitled", which at the time I really loved.

I used to LOVE the song "Wake Up Hate". Think I used it in some old wrestling video games where you could import your own music

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Paganbasque
Metal freak

Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:28 am
Posts: 4027
PostPosted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:08 am 
 

Oxenkiller wrote:
I just listened to "Rotting in Vain" to give it a chance. It definitely sounds like Korn, maybe with a few more keyboard touches than usual. All the usual elements are there- the wallowing, low-tuned riffs, Jonathan Davis's typical vocals and "oombbattabbattaa" lyrical stuttering, loud heavy parts followed abruptly by quiet vocal sections, etc. The reason I never liked this band was, the riffs just aren't catchy or interesting. Heavy, aggressive and low tuned, yes- but they just all kind of wallow around and don't really do anything for me. And you have that thwappy bass sound, which is annoying, and Davis's singing- again, unique and recognizable, but.. sorry but not really my thing. Also, their songs never flowed that well with all the abrupt loud-then-quiet dynamic transitions. The new stuff is good for what Korn does, but if you never liked the band, it won't really convert you.


I understand your point of view about the riffs, which are simple, but this one is a main characteristic of nu metal. I think that the songs(and videos) are great(its seems that I am alone here haha) but yes, its typical Korn so if you didnt love the band before, you wont love them now either.

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Blort
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 3:23 pm
Posts: 14
Location: United States, Houston, Texas
PostPosted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 11:41 pm 
 

I remember hating this band so much when I was in high school, but now that I'm older I was Right.

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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:06 am 
 

JohnTheDrummer wrote:
I used to LOVE the song "Wake Up Hate". Think I used it in some old wrestling video games where you could import your own music
Wake Up Hate is a great track. Same with the slow and crushing No One's There and Hating :headbang:

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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 9:09 pm 
 

Untitled (2007) album - This was where Korn unintentionally/intentionally went progressive. It's a real departure from their classic sound with drumming and guitar tones that barely resemble what they were. The lyrics are sometimes imaginative and thought provoking, certainly some difference to their 'teen angst ridden' earlier output but overall the album lacks energy and never hits hard enough. Excellent album artwork by Richard A. Kirk though.

Remember Who You Are - Trying to go back to their roots (didn't ya see 'the title' hurrr hurr), only it essentially sounds like demos of the untitled (2007) album, so essentially nullifying their whole intention. It sounds bare bones/unfinished and is mostly forgettable.

The Path of Totality [aka the DUBSTEP album] - Say what you will about dubstep and the Korn/dubstep hybrid but this album has ENERGY. It feels refreshing and fun compared to the last two, it also helps that the dubstep featured isn't overly "dubsteppy" and thus not excruciatingly annoying. Anyone looking for the classic tone/sound/riffs should skip it.

The Paradigm Shift - With Brian Welch back so to are the inspired riffs. The (post-Untouchables) experimental qualities seep in so there is a weird juxtaposition between old and new but honestly the choruses throughout have rarely been better. However there is still the use of electronics (dubstep leftovers) which can feel unnecessary and distracting at times, like let's fill every single second with some filter and the lyrics are kind of whatever but it feels like they are on the cusp of something great again.

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Odovacar
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 4:31 am
Posts: 187
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 11:27 pm 
 

I was a pretty big Korn fan back in high school around '98. I love their first four albums (with Life is Peachy being the weakest) and then fell out of favor of them once my musical tastes fell deeper and deeper into extreme metal.

I haven't kept up with them but they hold a soft spot in my heart and they do make some solid songs despite some of the criticism they get.

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Luvers
Writes generic (and possibly meandering) posts

Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:34 pm
Posts: 542
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:04 am 
 

Issues is the only album I found interesting and that is for like 3 or 4 songs all found earlier in the material. Otherwise, everything they have done is whiny, forgettable at best and insipid dreadful noise at worst. "4 U," and "Beg for Me" go together very well.

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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:06 pm 
 

New song with Corey Taylor

It's another one of those songs with a very mediocre chorus and a kinda cool riff verse.

At least it doesn't have a shitty music video to go with it.

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lost_wanderer
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun May 22, 2005 4:59 pm
Posts: 312
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 12:09 am 
 

I like my Korn flakes krispy.

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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 6:39 am 
 

I like my Varg flakes non racist, homophobic and sexist but I don't see that happening.

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Paganbasque
Metal freak

Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:28 am
Posts: 4027
PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:28 am 
 

volutetheswarth wrote:
New song with Corey Taylor

It's another one of those songs with a very mediocre chorus and a kinda cool riff verse.

At least it doesn't have a shitty music video to go with it.


Not liking this song that much, I dont like Corey´s parts but the riffs are cool. Anyway I love the other two songs so I have a good feeling with the new album.

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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:44 am 
 

Just as I suspected, the decent songs on the album aren't the three singles.

The Hating and Please Come For Me are some of the stand outs. Easily their most worthwhile output since See You on The Otherside although the production is far too bricked to be compared to their best albums.

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