Korn CD Review

Korn
See You On The Other Side
(Virgin)

Nu metal pioneers sell their soul to Avril Lavigne’s songwriters.

It seems even Korn are getting tired of Korn’s sound. Who can blame them? Since 1994’s impressive self-titled debut, they’ve pretty much released the same record five times. So the group’s decision to bring in some songwriting help isn’t all that surprising, but brining in The Matrix, the paid assassins behind acts like Shakira, Hilary Duff, and Ricky Martin, might have caught fans off guard. As advertised, The Matrix provide the same distorted bubblegum stomp that tricked us into believing Lavigne was a “rocker” and give See You an incredibly commercial shine. The album’s other collaborator, Atticus Ross (a frequent Trent Reznor collaborator), buries the band under chirping effects and grinding industrial beats. Ross’ influence is even harder to ignore, especially because a few of these tracks — “Throw Me Away,” “Seen It All” — sound so much like NIN you wonder if Ross simply threw Korn some With Teeth scraps.

To the band’s credit, they sound far more inspired here than they have in a long time, and the members, especially vocalist Jonathan Davis, sound like they are having fun with material like “Twisted Transistor” and “Open Up.” But while their “new sound” may be fresh to them, we’ve heard it before.

5

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Spins, Weekly