Is it really realistic or fair to expect any surprises from Korn some twenty years and eleven albums into their career? Notable, not only for being the pioneering force behind nu-metal, but also for being one of the few bands to evolve their sound over the years thus avoiding the slide into irrelevancy that saw many of their peers vanish from the radar, Korn have maintained their position as a genuine force in heavy music thanks to a mixture of savvy decisions (drafting in Atticus Ross to bulk up the industrial elements of the band’s sound, embracing dubstep on an album that should, by rights, have been terrible) and always electrifying live performances.
Korn have not, however, always had it easy. The loss of guitarist Head in 2005, followed by the departure of drummer David Silveria saw the band flounder and whilst the four piece (Jonathan, Fieldy and Munky augmented by talented new boy Ray Luzier) rose creatively to the challenge, filling the Head shaped hole with electronica and atmospherics, it was hard to escape the notion that the band keenly felt the absence of their guitarist and friend. Given the baggage that surrounded Head’s departure, it was hard to imagine that he could ever return to the fold, and yet, earlier this year, the band announced that the prodigal son had returned home and that a new album, ‘the paradigm shift’ was in the works. With ‘the path of totality’ having taken the band in a dub-step orientated direction, the fear was that the band would repeat the same trick, but from the moment ‘the paradigm shift’ blazes from the speakers it’s immediately apparent that the band are more inspired, more enthused, more engaged with the process of making music than they have been in some time and whilst it would hardly be fair to say that the last few albums have been weak, this latest effort just sounds bolder, brighter and more adrenalin charged than anything the band have put out in years.
Opening with the blistering ‘prey for me’ the band have thankfully kept faith with the electronic flourishes that first seriously appeared in ‘see you on the other side’ whilst simultaneously piling on the guitars with glorious abandon. The song sounds simply huge thanks to the production efforts of Don Gilmour and as the guitars rage you realise that Korn have not sounded this thrillingly fresh in many a year, with all of the members of the band turning in a tight, impressively vital performance. ‘Love and Meth’ neatly harks right back to the band’s debut, complete with rattily intro guitar riff and twisted funk groove, whilst Jonathan turns in a satisfyingly brutal vocal performance, even indulging in a few deathly growls on the pre-chorus. ‘What we do’ is a classic Korn track bolstered with an uber-modern production and neon-lit chorus, whilst ‘spike in my veins’ is a satisfyingly atmospheric change of pace that shows that, even eleven albums into their career, Korn are not afraid to take risks with their sound, the song drawing a line between the dub-step insanity of ‘the path of totality’ and industrial metal. It provides a welcome dynamic shift form the more full-on approach found elsewhere, and it suggests that Korn are feeling both creative and confident in their current incarnation.
‘Mass Hysteria’ is a sludgy, heavy metal demon that opens with the guitars dredging the depths before the track slips into a song that would not sound out of place on breakthrough album ‘follow the leader’ capturing, as it does, the band’s haunted melodies on the verse and juxtaposing it against a chorus that sounds like slabs of concrete crashing into one another. ‘Paranoid and aroused’ is equally violent, the guitars slamming up against layers of ambient electronica and the whole song swinging with an almighty groove that belies David Silvera’s claims that the infectiously enthusiastic Ray Luzier is ‘merely’ a heavy metal drummer. Indeed, over the course of this album Ray Luzier repeatedly shines through, the powerhouse drummer proving that he has both the stamina and the innovation to make his mark in a band renowned for their rhythmic power. One of the most interesting songs is ‘never never’ a song that initially sounds like it’s been torn, kicking and screaming from a dance remix CD only for Head and Munky to tear it to shreds with their thuggish guitars. Yet, for all the heavy metal clothing, the excess electronics and Jonathan’s strangely vulnerable vocal suggest that Korn really pushed themselves on this track to do something really different, even if they do resort to ‘path of totality’ tactics on a crushing dub-step mid-section, and it comes off well, giving the album a comfortably varied feel. An easy highlight of the album, ‘Punishment time’ is one of the heaviest cuts and it features some beautifully discordant guitar from Munky and Head who sound like they faced off in the studio, laying down the most evil riffs they could think of, while the rest of the band simply tried to keep up. Again, it seems odd to think of a million selling rock band getting ‘back to basics’ but the song really does just sound like the band were in the studio having a blast rather than worrying about the tawdry necessities of recording something commercial. That’s not to say the track doesn’t have a huge chorus – the band can’t resist those pop-infused melodies these days – rather the band sound like they LOVE what they’re doing on this album and its hard to resist the call of those grinding, downtuned guitars when they’re unleashed with such enthusiasm.
Sticking in familiar lyrical territory, ‘lullaby for a sadist’ is an atmospheric musical treat that shows Korn indulging in an uncharacteristically mellow track that, once again, highlights the brave, varied nature of the album. Shifting between the weird, acoustic introduction, and the rhythmic pulse of the verse that recalls nothing so much as ‘shoots and ladders’, long-time fans of the band will be particularly sure to enjoy this track. ‘Victimized’ pulses with speaker destroying life, flinging dubstep elements into the mix with aplomb, the band clearly buoyed up by the unexpectedly positive reactions which met ‘path…’. ‘It’s all wrong’ closes the basic version of the album on a furious note, opening like Depeche Mode on a bad trip before flinging some of the album’s heaviest guitars into the ring for one final groove ‘n’ grind guaranteed to thrill all but the most ardent of Korn haters.
With nu-metal very much loitering in the realms of the past tense thanks to the ludicrous over-exposure afforded a limited genre, Korn have stayed ahead of the game album after album thanks to the various band members’ eclectic tastes and smart choices of producers. There have been misteps along the way, and, as with most large bands, pretty much every Korn fan will have at least one album they can point to as an example of ‘when it all went wrong’ but, in truth, Korn have remained remarkably consistent in their delivery of heavy, funky, often thrilling albums and even a cursory glance at their live set lists underscores just how many mosh-pit filling classics the band have released over the years. Of course, with success comes hatred, and there are many who will tell you that Korn ceased to be of interest after their first (second if they’re feeling generous) album, but such musical snobbery is, exactly that, snobbery, and Korn are justifiably huge. Korn have always done (and, one suspects, will always do) what they want (both pre and post success) and the simple truth is, if you like Korn then ‘the paradigm shift’ will leave you sweaty, satisfied and once again confirmed in your belief that Korn are an energetically exciting band to rock out to. If, on the other hand, you hate Korn, then nothing the band is likely to do will alter your view and both the album, and this review, will only serve to fuel your ire. For this reviewer, at least, ‘The paradigm shift’ is an album that pulses with a newfound enthusiasm and it marks a highlight of Korn’s latter years. ‘The paradigm shift’ is an unexpectedly powerful album from a band who continue to confound their critics – Long live korn!
Special edition notes
The now ubiquitous special edition comes with two bonus tracks – ‘wish I wasn’t born today’ and ‘tell me what you want’, both of which complement the eleven tracks on the basic album, as well as a DVD which contains a detailed, hour-long documentary that covers the return of Head to the band. Informative and genuinely insightful, for long-term fans it not only provides a much greater degree of access to the band than you might expect from a bonus feature, but it also offers valuable insight into the band’s recording process, greatly humanising a band who can appear somewhat aloof. Funny, detailed and with some excellent clips of the band in action (including one of Head’s first public appearance with the band) the only area where it slightly falls down is the absence of complete tracks. Nonetheless, this documentary perfectly captures a pivotal moment in the band’s career, and their obvious excitement at the return of a friend thought to be lost to them for good is genuinely heart-warming.
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