Essay About Dynamic New Species And Fans Of Old-School Korn

Essay Preview: Korn
Report this essay
In the early 90s, heavy music looked to be going the way of the
dinosaurs: Well-heeled Brit-pop and well-scrubbed pop-punk were
thoroughly dominating the guitar-rock landscape, and the few surviving
old-school metal acts seemed hopelessly unable to adapt.
But somewhere within the vast, murky Southern California wasteland, a
dynamic new species was being born, a forward-thinking beast that
disregarded the mistakes of heavy bands past while meshing dark, urban
rhythms and low-tuned guitar sludge with violent, expressionist blasts
of hip-core noise. That and the wildly emotional vocals of JONATHAN,
which alternated between a bourbon-smooth croon and a viscerally sharp
howl, made for a revolutionary mix that redefined heavy rock better than
anyone had in a decade. The result was a monster 1994 self-titled debut
album that went solid platinum, and by the time 1996s Life Is Peachy
was released, this beast had a fanbase over two million strong–and a
legion of musical imitators so large it threatened to saturate the
planet.
It was time for a change of rules.
Hence KORNs latest, greatest slab, aptly titled FOLLOW THE LEADER. From
the broadened musical and emotional scope to the much beefier production
values to the stunning cover art courtesy of Spawn-creator Todd
McFarlane, FOLLOW THE LEADER is indeed an ambitious and deeply
satisfying outing for the band. And while there is considerably more
hype surrounding this rightly anticipated disc, JONATHAN is quick to put
things in perspective.
“Our only goal was to take our time on this album,” he says. “Because I
knew we had it in us to do something great. To full integrate both
(previous) albums and put out a record we could be proud ofwe wanted
to do some phat shit.”
“I think working with a new producer and going into a new studio helped
us grow musically as a band,” adds guitarist MUNKY. “All of us really
have that fire again about being excited about a record…We all feel
like we grew, like when you grow out of some old shoes; your feet are
all crammed in forever and you know you need to buy a new pair, but you
need to save up the money to do it. We kind of saved up our confidence
and made that leap into our new shoes.”
Fans of old-school KORN neednt despair–the new shoes kick just as much
ass as the old pair. “Freak On A Leash” is a molotov cocktail of
scathing, psychedelic guitar runs, hypno-groove bass grind, hip-hop
jungle drumming, all sliced in two with an ingeniously placed scat line
reminiscent of PEACHY opener “Twist.” Then theres “Children Of The
KORN,” title courtesy of legendary gangsta rapper Ice Cube, who
contributed an arresting series of verses to the tune, as well as a
mallet-blunt mantra that speaks for every fed up kid in America: “Stop
fuckin with me!” Check the epic closing track, “My Gift to You,” one of
the bands heaviest songs to date, rife with the sort of lyrical honesty
thats earned JONATHAN true street cred with the kids–and dismay from
the parents. Which is just fine with him–KORN, after all, speaks
directly to those disenfranchised with a world of spent opportunity and
violence, due in large part to the short-sightedness of generations
past.
“Yeah,” says JONATHAN, “I am pissed off that I inherited it. I wish
sometimes that I was born back in the day. But todays society is so
fucked up…we gotta thank the parents for doing that to the kids.”
Yes, they still rock. But FOLLOW THE LEADER also illustrates just how
much JONATHANs vocal and lyrical abilities have broadened from the
“straight fuckin cathartic rage” of KORN and PEACHY to a level that
communicates a full range of human emotion, from regret (“Its On!”) and
empathy (“Justin”), to lighthearted if incredibly vitriolic banter (“All
In The Family”). The bands musical growth is also well evident–from
drummer DAVIDs successful integration of D-Drum sampling to FIELDYs
ever-more-percussive bass playing. Meanwhile, twin guitar towers MUNKY
and HEAD have made