drip... drip...
drip... drip...
Gave it a spin, nothing really memorable about it. I don't think this will be on regular rotation.
The End Begins - My most liked Korn record is probbaly See You, so I'm glad to hear those goddamned pipes again, even if I always skipped them. Whatever, decent intro I guess. Oh wow, he's actually crying...
Cold - A'ight, not AS bad as I initially thought, but there is a huge disjoint between the verse and the chorus, which makes this track unenjoyable. Either give me the heavy song which is in the verses, or the mellow, catchy song which in the chorus. It's just a mess in this form.
You'll Never Find Me - The breakdown is decent, but it's just so lifeless. I love industrial music (duh), but this is just empty, by the book. The second part of the song is interesting, I guess? I wanted more of that.
The Darkness is Revealing - At this point I have to say these titles are a bit embarassing. Jonathan is almost 50 - stop giving titles like you are 16. Anyway, this is the first actual Korn song on this Korn album. I like it, but nothing to write home about.
Idiosyncracy - These strong structures is how I imagine being coked up like. I really like the chorus, but jesus christ, these songs are so annoyingly random. Not a bad song overall, definitely a live staple.
The Seudction Of Indulgence - filler
Finally Free - The verses are catchier than the chorus. This song would barely be included as a B-side on a proper record.
Can You Hear Me - If you like Jonathan telling how he'll never be the same again, this is your song. They repeat the chorus 20 times in less than 3 minutes. It's embarassing, honestly.
The Ringmaster - This is Here to Stay's ugly little brother's even uglier little brother. Got some nostalgic vibes, but no... just no.
Gravity of Discomfort - This is good.
H@rd3r - /\/0w th1s 1s h0w y0u n@m3 @ s0ng wh3n y0u @r3 @lm05t 50 @nd 1t'5 2019. Can't wait to share this song on MySpace! The song itself is something that will either grow on you or not, it's hard to judge after one listen. It's not shit, but nothing amazing either.
This Loss - That intro is like a generic movie trailer soundtrack. The song is very good though. Jonathan's lyrics are not embarassing, and actually relateable to osmeone who passed 20 at least, and the strong itself follows the theme of this record, which is mashing 3-5 songs into one. Jonathan's singing is quite broad and experimental at places, the "I want I it, I want it..." parts are reminding me of Mudvayne, which is a good thing in my book. This is like the only song they actually succeeded with experimenting, and it sounds great, interesting and fresh.
Surrender to Failure - a not so happy outro
Well... just like Slipknot, Korn most certainly tried. Unlike Slipknot however, this record is very unpolished and all over the place. It's like a poor man's experimental record. I think there are enough decent to good songs (Darkness is Revealing, Idiosyncracy, Gravity of Discomfort, This Loss) so that we can't call this record bad, nor a disappointment, but the rest (and even some of these decent songs) are a mess.
I suspect that this record will be very popular among those, who really need to hear a 48 years old man wallow in pain, misery and hopelessness in a very primitive, childish language, so they can relate to. Sometimes it comes off as genuine (This Loss), sometimes as extremely melodramatic (Can You Hear Me). But hey, if you are in a dark place right now, and want to resonate with someone, definitely give it a spin.
I give it a 3/10. It's... KoRn by the numbers. All the songs just kinda sound the same. We've heard this record before. It's nothing new.
I would have rather them tried something new or outside the box. They played it safe. It's... What you'd expect from a KoRn record in 2019.
It's not unlistenable, but it's just not very memorable either.
Jon's solo effort last year was much more interesting than this.
Last edited by ManBurning; 09-03-2019 at 05:21 AM.
The production is weird on this one. It was semi-evident on lead singles, but exploring album it gets stronger
They probably thought it was a great idea to lump together so many elements and styles in single track.
"Idiosyncrasy", for example is made of:
1. clean, open singing,
2. short growls,
3. loud chorus,
4. clean vox again
5. growls again,
6. chorus repeated twice, second time with prominent backing aaaas and oooos
7. faster rhyming ascending into screams
8. chorus yet again, twice to boot
could it benefit from dropping some sections? maybe?
and the next song, Finally Free, skip to 2:50 and notice the lazy cut-paste. is it just raw or we-don't-give-an-f-raw?
i have to stop the record halfway to take a break.
Imagine still being surprised by a shitty Korn album in 2019....I bailed on these guys after Issues. Its been a long downhill slide into oblivion ever since for them
At this point, I just want a decent one. I know we're never getting a true "return to form" album. I actually liked the two singles. Thought the last album was decent as well. I don't see it ever getting better than this though.
At least we're getting rock instead of dubstep and the weird shit they tried and failed at.
Korn is in a weird spot. Deftones were able to evolve out of nu metal and continue evolving. Korn is just stuck. And I have a good feeling if Korn really wanted to get creative and break the barrier, they might make something pretty interesting. But, they don't want to. They rather be safe and keep doing the tired, same old shit.
I always say KoRn in the new modern version of AC/DC that just doesn't evolve or change their sound, lol.
However, I am in the EXTREME minority here, but I love, love, LOVED their dubstep album. Thought it was a nice breath of fresh air. There are a few tracks from that record I still jam with to this day.
Their previous record was pretty good. Nothing fancy, but it was heavy, melodic and - as always - kinda dark. I also liked the first couple of songs on Paradigm, + the later released Hater. Korn is best when they accept that they are a B-tier band, and do B-tier music. Heavy, dark lyrics, catchy - go on tour, release another one 2 years later, rinse and repeat. Kind of what In Flames has been doing for a while, though I like them much, much, much better.
I didn't mind their Skrillex record, because at least they went balls deep with it, and had a collaborator who was actually proficent in his area of music. This newest record stinks, because Korn, a band that couldn't change if their lifes depended on it, tried to innovate too much at once, while still playing it safe. Unlike One More Light by Linkin Park, they actually worked on this record, so I can't say they didn't care, and I guess that's a huge plus, and I don't even want to be too harsh with them... but it's just really meh.
At the end of the day, Korn fans will probably like it, they can hear some new stuff live, so there's no harm done. Though on their subreddit (which is cancer btw, just like every band's subreddit) I read something about their management being huge dicks with their album release or sth.
I dig the album and I wouldn't refer to myself as a "Korn" fan, as I only really listened to their first two albums + Issues and enjoyed them quite a bit, this was a very well produced record with plenty of heaviness, really nice melodies, really great performance from Jonathan, he really seemingly put his heart into this, really nicely done.
For me personally the album goes from "good" to "great" by the point when Idiosyncrasy kicks in. Even though I really like Cold and Darkness Is Revealing, You'll Never Find Me is okay. After that the album gets even better.
Maybe I'll dwelve further into them after this
Not as good as their last one, not as bad as their worst. If they were to stick to certain parts for longer and not rely on "soaring" choruses so much, it would be a lot stronger.
Its definitely not bad. Just don't go in with expectations. Not as good as the last one. Has its moments though.
I finally decided to listen to it after seeing so many glowing reviews published. As a full album, it's actually way better than I expected it to be after the first two singles. Just after one listen, I can instantly pick at least like 3 songs that would have been better choices. But yeah, definitely not their worst album.
The AMG gave the new album a 4.5/5--tied only with the debut for the highest rated KORN album.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-nothing-mw0003297068
Perhaps I should give it another listen. First impressions for me were that the album was mostly average pop-Korn. Not bad, just nothing too mindblowing.
Had some time to digest "The Nothing". It's not bad, not as good as the previous album SOS.
Is it me or does the intro and riff of "Idiosyncracy" sound like Pantera's "A New Level" ?
Time for the mandatory ETS ranking of albums lol..
1. Follow the Leader
2. Untouchables
3. Issues
4. KoЯn
5. The Serenity of Suffering
6. Life is Peachy
7. The Paradigm Shift
8. The Nothing
9. Untitled
10. Take a Look in the Mirror
11. See You On the Other Side
12. The Path to Totality
13. KoЯn III: Remember Who You Are
1 - Untouchables
2 - S/T
3 - Issues
4 - Follow the Leader
5 - Life is Peachy
6 - The Serenity of Suffering
7 - Take a Look in the Mirror
8 - See You on the Other Side
The rest are all kind of trash with a song or two worth anything on most.
1. Korn
2. Life Is Peachy
3. Follow The Leader
4. Issues
5. The Nothing
6. Serenity of Suffering
7. Take A Look In The Mirror
8. The Paradigm Shift
9. Untitled
10. Untouchables
11. Remember Who You Are
12. See You On The Other Side
13. Path To Totality
I looooooved it. It is my favorite Korn album. I'm dead serious.
I started listening to Korn again two or three years ago and also felt this way. However, on repeat listens, it's not that bad. Davis' vocals are almost absurdly wacky (just listen to It's On!), which I gather is due to the band being incredibly not-sober at the time. The last four songs are fantastic (especially My Gift To You).
The only song I feel is just plain awful is All In The Family.
I'd argue that despite the fact that it was made at the height of their popularity, FTL is more appealing than their last few albums as they still seem to be having fun making the music and aren't churning out stale pop tunes for the sake of it.
Korn still has at least one excellent album in them if only they would throw away the shackles of the pop formula.
The Nothing has grown on me after weeks of listening.
Idiosyncrasy and This Loss are my standout tracks
I stopped listening to Korn in about 2000. but i heard Ball Tongue randomly the other day and it blew me away, absolutely pounding, the funk element stood out to me, Jonathon ranting and raving speaking in tongue, all very odd, its like Bad Brains meets Captain Beefheart, i then listened to their first album and found it really powerful.really dark, slightly disturbing. Say what you like about what this band became in later years and who they were associated with and some of the stupid shit they did, the debut album is brilliant.
their first two albums are the only ones that stand out for me. Life is Peachy is probably their best musically but its less coherent.
i agree with what someone said about Follow the Leader is does not hold up as well.
For me Issues is where I stopped listening. Untouchables had a decent track or two. Nothing has connected with me since. I remember drummer Dave coming out and saying how they started playing more to a click and recording their parts separately from each other and not being in the same room. I believe it comes across in the later albums. Around Issues/Untouchables, you can hear a change. Being a slave to the click is something that I feel has affected many bands that I've listened to, not just Korn, where that natural push/pull feeling that makes the songs sound alive is missing. I think Deftones is the one band from the 90s whose newer albums are still pretty damn good. I'd love to hear a new System Of A Down album, but I'm afraid that it will suck and not have that edge, especially since I do not like any of Serj's solo work.
I tried listening to The Nothing in full again recently, and I found myself skipping through most of it. "You'll Never Find Me" is the only song I consistently enjoy even though the entire ending of the song is almost identical to "Blind" in construction.
As far as favorite albums go, Issues still holds that spot for me. I listened to it yesterday and I don't know if it was just nostalgia, but I think it's one of their best albums.