Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org
Jonathan Davis and the boys from Korn are once again back in the metal scene with a new album that hinges on the verge of death metal. As known by most people, the band has been experimenting with dubstep for the past years and delving into almost EDM-like territory- which will surprise fans when they hear the band returning to their original sound.
Although Korn is still capable of playing emotionally hard-hitting angsty music, they directly show their talents by creating some of the sickest/twisted songs put to date. Lyrically, the subject matter in “The Serenity of Suffering” like most of the themes Korn touches upon heavily, is as dark as it can be from songs about isolation and death.
The album’s darkness shines specifically on the second track, “ Rotting in Vain” since it oozes with creepiness and morbid tones that stem from the guitar beatdowns from guitarists Head and Munky. However, the band, unfortunately, makes the mistake of having the same beat/sound for every song, leaving the creativity that was once there to be lost and breaks the album’s potential from reaching greatness to being just another great Korn album.
There are enough spare moments of clarity and levity from the already hard-hitting album that makes the emotional beatdown from listening to the songs a bit more relieving, such as depicted in “The Hating” (even though the end/breakdown finishes off with an off-putting death metal scream.As a metal fan myself, I would compare this to Slipknot’s recent release, “Vol. 5: The Gray Chapter, because it is significantly darker to previous albums and has similarities to death metal bands instead of nu-metal bands which the two groups are closely associated with.
It is quite ironic that I mention the similarities of both albums, as Corey Taylor from Slipknot has a guest spot on the track “A Different World”- which is one of the only highlights from the collection. Corey shines through his small guest spot on the song, ranging his vocals from his signature style to fitting with the tone of the song that is already backed by booming bass and drums incorporated with the slamming guitar tones Korn is known for.
