Korn - Korn (1994)

First off, that's a truly menacing album cover that manages to convey so much, that many death metal bands could only wish they had an album cover as realistically unsettling as this. Brilliantly uneasy.

Sure, they can be both credited AND blamed for the creation of nu-metal, but back in the day, these guys were on some shit that was more evil-sounding, and less "AAARGGHH HIGHSCHOOL NEVER EN- is that Donnie Darko on Blu-Ray?!" than some of their other shit, and more "I'm about to lose my fucking mi- is that Donnie Darko on Blu-Ray?!" which is jolly good fun!

The instrumental side of this is held down pretty damn well, focusing less on technicality and more on the groove of it all, which a lot of metal bands need to take influence from. Guitarists Brian "Head" Welch and James "Munky" Shaffer do a good job of providing eerie sounds (the "shit, the serial killer is in the forest with me!!" kind) while also laying down catchy riffs, perfectly complimented by the slap bass skills of Reginald "Fieldy" Arivzu, with drummer David Silveria there to add the final touches to every song instrumentally, quite gracefully.

The vocalist, Jonathan Davis, sometimes leaves a little bit to be desired, with his voice and range getting across the feeling of being emotionally vulnerable, along with a slight grunge influence in some of the songs, but when he screams on this album, it can sound pretty damn angry! Just listen to "Ball Tongue" (with great backing screams by guitarist Brian "Head" Welch!) or the chorus of "Lies", in which Jonathan Davis sounds angry as shit!

Of course, nothing can prepare the unprepared listener for the final track, "Daddy", in which Jonathan Davis describes being raped by his father, and naturally, it's very unsettling. Even just listening to him cry at the end sounds heart-breaking. This was a real, emotional performance of a song and I have nothing but respect for him because of it. Oh, and stick around a few minutes afterwards for a genuinely creepy hidden track consisting of a found cassette in an abandoned house, which has a recording of a man arguing with a woman. Very eerie-sounding.

And of course, "eerie" is a great word to describe the general atmosphere of the music on this album, especially in the case of "Shoots and Ladders", but is the album any good? You bet your [insert insult directed at nu-metal fans] ass it is!! There are some classic songs on here, and there are a few duds. It has more hits than misses, with some of the tracks sounding similar to others, but I guess you can't blame them for that, when it's a sound/genre of music they basically invented.

Oh yeah, and you can use this album to justify having Korn liked on Facebook when some angry internet metalhead tries to use it against you in an argument, by using the defense of "Their first album is pretty good" because it is! It just isn't GREAT, you disgustingly filthy entry-level plebeian piece of shit! Listen to some 64kbps Sunn O)) like a REAL man!!

7/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!