Korn
Requiem

LA RECENSIONE

In the review of the previous "The Nothing," I wrote about how I had lost hope regarding a decent album from the godfathers of Nu metal after years of disappointments, mediocre albums, and half-successful ones, given that following the departure of their historic drummer David Silveria, who accompanied them during their golden age, they experienced a free fall in quality.
They return after three years from a "The Nothing" that already left a bitter taste but was more elaborate and enjoyable, with predictions confirmed by yet another misstep that now equates successful works with the ones to discard; now we have 7 against 7 since they never stopped their production for too long.
As per the script, starting with the few positive sides, it's not all to be thrown away; some successful solutions can be found, so much so that the first single presented ("Start the Healing") was nothing exceptional but indeed showed a glimmer of hope, always if you appreciate this type of sound that rehashes an outtake style from "Paradigm Shift" (2014) this time more melodic than usual, shaping a record with the duration of a rather flat EP, also due to the "radio-friendly" production, with the voice highlighted compared to the rest which brings to mind the enormous question: Where is the band? The guitars have not much to say, buried at some points by production, effects, and even by the drums, orphaned of Silveria's groove which has long been lost, we know, but here on a rhythmic level even the bass is not very present, perhaps because the bassist Fieldy has left the band (Momentarily? For now, he is not even present in the booklet photo). So, no interesting rhythmic section, but I believe few expected (if they noticed) an album that so blatantly confirms what's been happening for over a decade now and that fans already know, it's the singer Jonathan Davis who leads the fleet deciding the musical directions to take, reminding us of his solo albums and with a voice in great shape that nonetheless often clashes with a composition not entirely effective, so much so that melodic and heavy parts often seem forcefully pasted together, which did not happen in the past, besides the fact that he doesn't stay quiet for a moment, filling with his voice almost every second.
In contrast with the musical criticism that lately forgives them everything and doesn't realize they are facing one of their least pleasant works, I don't like to speak ill of what is probably my favorite band and I'm not even one of those who wants the "old" Korn back, after 28 years it's also right to change. I consider "Untouchables" with which they began to experiment a masterpiece on par with the previous ones, and I very much appreciated "See you on the other side," in that case, they crossed new boundaries but succeeded in the endeavor (something that did not happen with the subsequent Unplugged and Brostep of "Path of Totality"), this time, however, we are facing the "Requiem" of their inspiration, with all due respect to the demons and egocentrism of J.D.

Rating 5/10

1. Forgotten

2. Let The Dark Do The Rest

3. Start The Healing

4. Lost In The Grandeur

5. Disconnect

6. Hopeless And Beaten

7. Penance To Sorrow

8. My Confession

9. Worst Is On Its Way