IN REVIEW: Korn - "The Serenity of Suffering"

To say Korn hasn't changed all that much over their two-plus decades is doing them a disservice; truth be told, they've tried lots of different looks over the course of their career, it's just that their experiments have more often than not been met by a combination of derision or indifference. Their ill-fated foray into dubstep, for example (2011's The Path of Totality), is considered by many to be a curiosity at best and an abhorrence at worst despite it being by and large successful in its intended purpose of dragging the band out of their comfort zone (this after their previous record, an attempted return to form, was dismissed by most as a stale and diluted effort). Having said that, there's an odd satisfaction to be had listening to The Serenity of Suffering, their twelfth(!) album and second since the return of original guitarist Brian "Head" Welch; at its core, it's the nostalgia trip promised but not delivered by Remember Who You Are, those guttural tones and intense performances unequivocally recalling the group's commercial peak. Lyrically and thematically, it's careful not to hit that period too on-the-nose, and it does carry a maturity and seriousness that runs counter to what made their first three records smash hits with kids but offered little in terms of long-term appeal. Think less Life is Peachy, more Untouchables, a comparably grown-up version of the pissed off young adults who outraged parents twenty years ago. This just makes sense, of course, not just for a band that's endured scores of slings and arrows since their inception but also for pissed off young adults like me, who grew up to be calm, reasonably well-adjusted(?) middle-aged people that may be somewhat embarrassed by the behaviour of our younger selves but also remember how good it felt to press play on a Korn CD back in the day when we needed to just blow off steam.

October 21, 2016 • Roadrunner
Highlights Insane • Rotting in Vain • A Different World

Comments

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

SOUND BITES

Search This Blog