Korn
Untouchables

THE REVIEW

I was 14 years old and having discovered Nu Metal years earlier thanks to Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory," I was dedicated to discovering every type of band that was part of this great movement that had tremendous success at the turn of the '90s and 2000s.

It didn't take long to discover (and love) the band of Jonathan Davis & Co., a seminal band for me, especially up to this album, "Untouchables," perhaps their least appreciated work from their first phase, which is the period between 1994 and 2003, when "Take a Look in the Mirror" was released.

"Untouchables" is a fantastic album for me: it's heavy, melodic, excellently produced (perhaps their best production up to that point), powerful, and above all, less introspective and delirious than "Issues" but more distinctive than something like "Follow the Leader" or "Korn": strong influences of Grunge/Rock and even Pop in the choruses are felt, while the usual thunderous rhythm section combined with gigantic guitars (one of my favorite guitar tones of all time, yes) do their dirty work, weaving a truly interesting foundation where a voice more unique than rare in the genre (and not) lends itself to a truly impressive performance, at least in my opinion.

Aside from "Here to Stay," an instant classic, there are many truly remarkable tracks on this album, not necessarily "heavy," on the contrary ("Alone I Break"), but I especially mention the final track "No One's There," dramatic and solemn, with a pre-chorus and chorus truly incredible for power, dynamics, and evocativeness.

The Hip Hop/Rap influence is drastically reduced to move in a more introspective direction, indeed, contaminating the monolithic guitar riffs with really tasteful electronic parts and arrangements that are nothing short of spatial.

Not an immediate album, to be clear, quite the contrary; it might absolutely bore the average listener of the genre and not, but a valid and underrated album in my opinion, absolutely better than many contemporary "Nu" releases, previous and subsequent, of which I have a beautiful memory also because it was the first Korn album I ever bought in my life.