Korn
Take A Look In The Mirror

THE REVIEW

After the misstep of "Untouchables," the "bad boys" of nu metal, Korn, in an effort to counter the irritating expansion of crossover/pop groups like Linkin Park, have released an aggressive and powerful album that takes a step back toward their original sound, reminiscent of their fantastic first album. A great success, it's certainly not on par with the already mentioned and splendid debut album, but it shows no weakness and proves to be one of the band's most compact and aggressive albums.

It starts off strong with a track like "Right Now," where Fieldy once again asserts that he is a phenomenon on the instrumental level; it's truly a beautiful song with a very gritty groove and has indeed become a classic in their live repertoire. The following track, "Break Some Off," is an excellent blend of melodic lines and violent growls that Davis hasn't presented in a while, at times reminding me of something from Pantera, one of the best tracks on the album with robust and tough guitar work. Another great track is "Counting On Me," with an attitude reminiscent of that masterpiece "Clown" (from "Korn"), with an engaging chorus. The riff of "Here It Comes Again" is really well-structured with a slapping bass that is a pleasure to listen to, the chorus features Davis showing off violent growls and at the same time melodic phrases, another great song.
I am increasingly glad I purchased the album when I hear the epic riff of "Deep Inside," a typical Korn-style song that, despite carrying some remnants of "Untouchables," is really well-played, with a driving and charged rhythm and scary growls in the background! The post-thrash riff of "Did My Time" has one sole purpose: to get fans headbanging beneath the stage! A great song, with an excellent chorus and (as always) fabulous bass work, David behind the drums is always very precise and syncopated. A more banal song is "Everything I've Known," which is quite aggressive in the main riff, but the chorus is more in the style of "Untouchables" and therefore somewhat pop/rock-oriented, yet it remains a good song. The only misstep is "Play Me"; while the musical structure is fairly decent, the presence of rapper Nas is the most inadequate addition for an album tending towards a more "metal" sound; however, Davis's final growl outburst improves the song's direction.
Simply a masterpiece is "Alive," a song that dates back to the writing period of their first album and indeed aligns closely with that legendary album, with tasty growls in the chorus. It's time for bagpipes in the intro of "Let's Do This Now," very well-structured with an impactful chorus featuring the frequent album growls always front and center! Close to the sound of the beautiful "Issues" is "I'm Done," with an introduction displaying industrial shades, shades that linger throughout the song, there is a certain new wave influence, and although it doesn't quite fit with the album, it's very good too! Here's the other masterpiece, with the thrash/rap/metal of "Y'All Want A Single" mocking the music business (even though Korn is part of it by now), with outstanding chorus and song pacing, and a chilling scream in the final part! "When Will This End" is fairly good (though it might fit better on "Untouchables") followed by a live ghost-track "One," the classic by Metallica played during the MTV Icon episode dedicated to the "Four Horsemen" and it's very well executed, especially because Fieldy's technique highlights bass lines that are rarely heard in Metallica's performances, suitable to close an excellent album like this one that seeks to win back longtime fans, disappointed by their idols' commercialization (which occurred after the success of "Follow The Leader"), and in my opinion, they succeed magnificently because, despite somewhat repetitive songwriting, "Take A Look In The Mirror" is solid, compact, and complete!