Korn, The Nothing – A Review

Here we are folks, the new Korn album is upon us.

Let’s be honest though, us rock and metal fans have been spoilt rotten this year (2019). From Rammstein, to Slipknot and most recently Tool, there have been some superb albums released so far. Each one has taken the essence of each band, distilled it down to its component parts and brewed up music which in some cases is the best that band has ever produced. All in my honest opinion of course. (Seriously though, I think Pneuma is the best song Tool have ever recorded and Weit Weg is right up there for Rammstein.)

Aside from the big players, personally, I’ve had some cracking albums released that really resonate with me. From the Barbe-Q-Barbies (Borrowed Time) which keeps getting better and better, to Sabaton’s latest (The Great War) way back and February’s Have Another by The Lounge Kittens (I love those girls).

2019 has been an absolute stellar year for me music wise.

And now to Korn.

The Review

Where to begin?

‘The Nothing’ is Korn‘s 13th studio album, unlucky for some (especially those that choose to listen to it).

My main problem with Korn is that they don’t seem to change for the better. Jonathan Davis is still miserable, he still sings about all the problems in his life. We can all look at the bad stuff, but it’d be nice to look at the positives once in a while, especially when you’re a multi-millionaire.

The musicianship is alright. Again, they haven’t really moved on since the late 90’s and early 00’s. To be honest, 1999’s Issues, was the last Korn album I got into. In my life, this was peak Korn and from then onwards I started trying to look for more positive music not just constantly being depressed about shit that no-one can change.

From the opening of the first song, bagpipes what a novel surprise, Korn seem to have cornered the market in generic nu-metal sound. Boring. Bland. Unappealing. Disappointing. Pointless. These are all words I considered using to describe the album, however after much deliberation I decided to use Korn’s own word. Nothing.

There is nothing on this album that would make me want to listen to it again.

There is nothing redeeming about the songs (aside from the first 30 seconds of “Cold”)

There is nothing that makes me excited for what Korn do next.

There are several songs on the album that seem to have ‘borrowed’ from other songs. I don’t have an issue with being influenced, but stealing an entire chorus is another matter.

Conclusion

The best thing about the album is the artwork on the front, If they removed the word Korn it’d be much better though.

I understand some Korn fans are going to like if not love this album. I’m not one of them. By the time this review gets published I’ve already deleted the music from my phone and my laptop.

Originally it was going to get a 1/10, but I’ve decided to be nice as there’s about 30 seconds of one song that I quite like.

Score 3/10

Track Listing

Release Date
13th September 2019
Label
Road Runner

For all things KoRn, click HERE and to purchase the album, click HERE