Korn
Korn

THE REVIEW

Korn is one of the most significant albums of the '90s (1994).

The album virtually rewrote the history of Metal, featuring particular innovations. Fieldy's bass is probably the group's standout feature; it doesn't just do "simple" slap, but thanks to distortion, he can broadly reproduce percussion. Munky and Head's guitars are in perfect harmony.

The album practically serves as a backdrop for Davis's very meaningful lyrics, which narrate his adolescent psychodramas through music. The other members perfectly recreate those dark and dramatic atmospheres, enough to make Davis emotional in some parts of the album. "Blind" is the song that introduces the album, it features a very progressive rhythm, which then explodes with the famous words "Are You Ready?!". The lyrics of Blind are very implicit and speak of the period when Davis was abusing drugs.

"Ball Tongue" immediately starts with a grating, heavily distorted guitar riff followed by driving percussion. The uniqueness of Ball Tongue lies in the vocals, Davis introduces scatting into Metal for the first time (previously used only in Jazz), which involves babbling a series of words in a more rhythmic than melodic key. "Need To" picks up the riff from Alive (a song present in the '93 demos). "Clown" is the song that is most elaborately composed, the alternation of other instruments with Head's bends is the quintessence of aggression. The lyrics are very significant; Davis practically compares his high school peers to clowns.

"Divine" narrates Davis's attitude towards girls, featuring a rather fast rhythm compared to the others. "Faget" is the most aggressive, with dirty, grating, and brutally distorted guitar riffs that carry the song throughout its entirety. The lyrics tell of the psychological abuse Davis suffered from his schoolmates. "Shoots And Ladders" is the quintessential masterpiece of Metal, the song begins with a fantastic bagpipe intro. Until now, no one had dared to introduce even bagpipes into a metal song.

Up to "Helmet In The Bush", Davis reintroduces the sound that characterized Side A. Now we move on to "Daddy". Daddy perfectly narrates all of Davis's discomforts; it begins with an a cappella singing in which Davis asks his mother for forgiveness. The dark bass riff manages to recreate that eerie atmosphere, enough to give the listener chills. The guitars play simple riffs but are also perfectly in sync with the rest of the instrumentation. Davis sings almost in a whisper and also recreates a very gruesome atmosphere. The lyrics speak of the physical abuse he suffered during his childhood, recalling it through a very "dirty" but meaningful text. Midway through the song, he can no longer hold back and breaks into a long cry. Davis does not like to talk about this song; in fact, the only time it was performed live, Davis interrupted the song halfway after breaking into a long cry.

All in all, Korn is an album that deserves a lot of praise, perhaps it is the only album done with a minimum of decency that the Californian band has offered us. As mentioned before, it introduces innovations; this album completely rewrote the history of Metal. While there aren't any particular solos, it has given Metal a new face, for better or worse. The only flaw is having influenced musical abominations like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.