Among the throng of nu-metal bands that sprung up in the wake of the alternative era some 20-25 years ago, not many would have pegged Korn as a band to carve out a long career, especially considering they basically started this whole movement way back in 1994; by the time they were on their sixth album in 2003, they were thought of in most circles as washed up and irrelevant, dinosaurs whose sole purpose was passing the torch to the Linkin Parks of the world.
For a while, that was pretty much the story: trail blazing band blazes trail, then stumbles and lays helplessly in said trail. Somewhat of an identity crisis ensued, with Korn spending about a decade struggling to break into new sonic areas while being pulled back to their core sound by their most closed-minded fans, then being derided for rehashing their glory days. This is literally what happened to them when they dabbled in dubstep for 2011's The Path of Totality then returned to familiar ground on 2013's The Paradigm Shift. From the wider view, at one time or another Korn had alienated most of their devotees and were essentially being thanked for their service, patted on the back and shown the door.
And then, a funny thing happened; when they turned a corner and released 2016's The Serenity of Suffering, a record that was hued with their core aesthetic but filtered through a more organic and mature hard sound, a bit of a renaissance was triggered. The acclaim expanded with 2019's The Nothing, a record that continued down the same path, albeit punctuated by profound sadness due to the deaths of Jonathan Davis' ex-wife and mother; The Nothing was the most haunted Korn has ever sounded, and the ironic result was the most critically acclaimed of their thirteen records to that point.
Which brings us up to date, with their fourteenth; Requiem is immediately distinguishable as their leanest offering to date. At nine tracks and just over 32 minutes, it's their shortest record by a sizeable margin; that said, this makes for an effectively concise listening experience. This is to Requiem's benefit, as there's not much deviation from the intended blueprint sound, which means you're getting a hefty helping of thick, down-tuned riffage and layered, hooky choruses. At 45 minutes or an hour, their onslaught would have no doubt become tedious.
It would also be more of a detriment if the songs weren't up to snuff, but by and large Requiem offers a solid case of quality over quantity; lead singles Start the Healing and Forgotten see them in prime "pummeling melodies" mode, as does deep cut Penance to Sorrow, while they balance those melodic tendencies with a more metallic feel on the harder hitting moments such as Let the Dark Do the Rest, Disconnect and Lost in the Grandeur. Hopeless and Beaten adds a hint of a Tool vibe, but I want to be careful not to oversell this despite it being the most sonically adventurous song on the record, incorporating time changes and tonal shifts. It rips, but it doesn't rip like Tool, just so we're clear.
As Requiem draws to its conclusion, Korn decides to employ a little more nostalgia; My Confession throws off classic (or, at least, early '00s) Korn vibes with its stomping rhythms and dynamic multi-tracked vocal performance that's arguably Davis' highlight on the record. Closer Worst Is On Its Way, meanwhile, mostly acts as a suitable distillation of the overall tones of the album, Davis crooning and wailing over an absolute guttural twin guitar attack before exploding into a noisy mid-section that suddenly throws an old-school Davis scat in as a special treat. Complete with a little extra Fieldy noodling at the end, it's the song that most closely recalls the band's heyday and, though it may have been regarded as trite attempt at recapturing the old fire before, the way it's executed here at the album's conclusion made me feel a lot more welcoming toward it.
While its overall lack of range and heavily streamlined tracklist can't help but mark it as a step down from an incredibly strong release such as The Nothing, Requiem recognizes Korn's strengths and plays firmly within them; even if you can practically judge it by its cover, there are delights here for both old fans and new that raise it above a mere Korn-by-numbers experience.
February 4, 2022 • Loma Vista
Highlights Forgotten • Hopeless and Beaten • Worst Is On Its Way
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