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That the future of Korn was not the brightest had been in the air for some time. First, a somewhat disappointing album like 'Take A Look in The Mirror,' then a 'Greatest Hits' for purely commercial purposes, and then the departure of one of the two guitars, "Head," who suddenly converts to Christianity.
Sure, this album is not entirely negative, you can still hear the quality of the sounds that the now "quartet" had accustomed us to, and there are clear and strong innovations, a willingness to explore new horizons, with some electronic experimentation. Korn has always been a group inclined towards innovation, expanding new boundaries, they had demonstrated it to us several times, showing us a constant evolution from the first album to the great heights of 'Follow the Leader' and 'Issues', then starting commercializing with 'Untouchables' and its successor while always staying firm on their power.
This new album can be defined as half a success, where Davis lets every trace of the old very aggressive raps that characterized him disappear. The guitars follow already traced paths, maybe with some experimentation directed at electronics, but the lack of Head is noticeable. The power seems to vanish to make room for something more "mainstream", but interesting works are not lacking. The album opens with the launch single, Twisted Transistor, one of the most interesting tracks on the album, trivial up to a point but supported by a rather pleasant and catchy chorus. It is followed by Politics, another beautiful song, with a purely political text, and a considerable power compared to the standards of the other tracks; Hypocrites, is the first track where you hear Korn's experimentation on this album; the main guitar riff is quite engaging, and Davis's vocal incisiveness makes the song very appreciable. Souvenir, a rather banal track, continues the series of positive songs saving itself in extremis with an enjoyable chorus even if the song as a whole turns out to be poor.
10 Or A 2-Way, a track that seemed structured to show us all the innovations that Korn included in the latest work, ends up being boring, even though the song has a rather well-studied structure; Throw Me Away is honestly a very poor track, where the drums are for the first time synthesized, and the sounds are between dirty and industrial - appreciable in some aspects, too dark and anonymous in others; followed by another quite slow and experimental song, Love Song, in which Davis's voice is somewhat out of tune with the context (the title says "love song"... bah); followed by Open Up, a song that is anything but what Korn should be; this is where you feel the group's excessive exposure to commercialization where the electronics that the group wanted to interpose in their metallic aggression ends in the most heart-rending banality; Coming Undone, with the simplest structure, is instead a surprise, because it turns out to be, along with the first three, one of the few pieces that doesn't seem to tire despite the extreme compositional simplicity; Getting Off, with a beginning that may leave a little to be desired, is another piece on the edge of decency, dominated by the use of aggression in voice and guitar riffs - this is where you feel the most the lack of Davis's raps; the next one, Liar, honestly leaves a little to be desired after recreating at the beginning the atmosphere of masterpieces like Freak On A Leash and Falling Away From Me, only to fall into the banality of almost all the songs of this album with a rather ugly and cliché chorus.
The third to last track, For No One, another piece strongly influenced by modern "mass nu-metal", which is so trendy lately, leaves much to be desired; Seen It All, is the most experimental piece, using keyboards and synthesizers as well, perhaps too long (6:19) for Korn's standards. It actually turns out to be rather boring and is perhaps the worst track of the entire album; Tearjerker, is the classic slow song that characterizes ALL modern metal albums, as a consolation for people who do not appreciate violence in songs; it has nothing particular or characterizing, a simple conclusion, in my opinion "unjustified," with a drop in power that could not conclude worse an already mediocre album.
In conclusion, I can only say one thing, the only way to recover this group with great ideas is for them to let 3 or 4 years pass before releasing another album, studying well and reconsidering their musical choices. In my opinion, it wasn't a very convenient choice to attempt to steer and change genres, but the album was not criticized by everyone, even though opinions were found on opposing meridians. Honestly, I do not recommend it to those who have heard a lot of good things about Korn, but I recommend it to those interested in hearing experimentation in this field, which many groups have or are trying and have or are failing.
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