Saturday 14 April 2012

Old Dogs Learning New Tricks

I have been a Korn fan for many years. I like their moody, angsty lyrics and Jonathan Davis's gruff, growly voice (surprising from such a soft-spoken man). There is nothing better after a particularly bad day than singing along to Korn, just to vent.

Path of Totality is different from any Korn album I've heard before. It incorporates a genre of music called "dubstep", which, until very recently, I'd never heard of before. Let me take a minute to explain what dubstep is for those of you who are unfamiliar with the genre. uDubstep.com describes dubstep as an electronic form of music that combines heavy bass with samples, synthesiser, keyboard, turntables and "hard hitting drum tracks". I won't lie to you, this means next to nothing to me. Usually anything vaguely "electronic" has me wrinkling my nose and changing the channel.

But oddly enough I think this odd couple, metal and dubstep, work out fabulously. There have been mixed reviews with a couple of metal-heads shuddering at the idea of fusing electronic dance music with their beloved heavy metal. I can see where they're coming from on this one. I normally hate it when bands move off of the awesome beaten path and experiment with a new sound. Take Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight for example. The results are were not pretty. But I think that Path of Totality still sounds"Korn-y". My favourite songs on the album are Narcissistic Cannibal featuring Skrillex and Kill the Noise, Get Up featuring Skrillex and Fuels the Comedy featuring Kill the Noise.


Path of Totality will not be for everyone. Many loyal metal-heads and dubsteppers will consider this album an abomination that must never be spoken of again. But I like it. Give it a listen if you're in the mood for something different. 

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