KORN

[wayved]

Im gonna pick up the new KORN thorns. Im a KORN Poseur (I dig the first two albums and Issues) but I think I need some KORN in my life right now. I will review it soon (no negatives--cos there wont be any to be found......)

[Thorngrub]

Sweet, wayved ~ !

Well dude, I'm dyin to hear what you think of it -- but only your bare, honest opinion. Don't pull no punches on my account ! I'm pretty durned serious when it comes to music appreciation, and I want the truth & nuthin' but the truth, ya hear ?

I played that album into the dirt. Needed a break. Haven't listened to it in over a week. Been spinnin DAX RIGG's brilliant new post acid swamp blues garage rock album We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love, and it slays me.

[Thorngrub]

I think after cranking Untitled a million times over in the space of a three weeks, one of the strongest songs to emerge from that fallout is the bonus track on the Deluxe Edition, "Sing Sorrow". It's a veritable post-Zeppelin KoRn Klassic ~ !

[Thorngrub]

~I Will Protect You I believe deserves recognition as another post-KoRn classic, w/Terry's astounding assistance on his massive drum kit, that song really pushes the KoRn EnveLope into fringe -progressive territories, and the lyrics are especially meaningful when you consider its a ballad sung to his two year old son. Extremely heavy, and meaningful, song from Korn.

The other high points that are vivid in my mind right now are:

~ Do What They Say - a strange hybrid of musical themes I'd describe as 'Alt-doom' w/a tinge of industrial; a song super-saturated in hopeless despair yet injected w/a quirky, hopeful chorus and then knocked out of the park by an extended, post-doomy, slow clanky guitar passage that captures a nearly 'ambient metal' sound that really propells it into very dark and deep musical waters.

~ Hold On - The next single, and I'm glad, because it features a very basic yet totally rocking riff, and a singalong chorus w/a positive message, something unusual (but not unheard of) for KoRn, and it makes for what I personally feel is the next perfect single.

~ evolution - This is a prime cut exemplifying Korn's insane ability to come up w/overtly catchy commercial radio fare. I mean, after hearing this song a few times on the radio, how anyone could get through it without turning it up at least once, is beyond me. Startling vocal delivery replete w/perfect lyrics, its a song I really find almost impossible to get tired of, despite that very stigma that most radio songs suffer from. i.e, I sure as hell should be sick of this shit by now . . . but I ain't. Go figure.

~ killing - Another strange hybrid, "deathmetal ballad" is about as close as I can sum it up. With its enigmatically alluring lyrical intro, "Birds are circling above / they've come back to a waiting glove / Why don't they / Fly away -?", the song instantly hooks the listener in and proceeds to drag them through its turbulent undertow without once allowing you to come up for a breath. It's melodic first half is relentless up until the song segues on a dime into total chain-off-the-wheels, zero-gravity ambience, for a few sunny spinning moments it baits the listener into a temporary blissful lull, then suddenly unwinds into a crushing onslaught of pseudo-deathmetal that is as suprising as it is effective. Before you've figured out the rug has been pulled out from beneath you, the song then kicks into serious blast beat double bass territory, with Jonathan unleashing his impressive vocal capacity into all-out cookie monster. The moment is brief, and most assuredly anti-climactic "too little too late" for the real, seasoned deathmetal veterans; however, KoRn is not and never will be "deathmetal" in its proper form, so instead the heaviness testified in the song comes across like a breath of fresh air.

[Thorngrub]

[Thorngrub]

As the date of Korn's Salt Lake City show approached, I considered why I hadn't gotten my ticket yet. Oh yeah, cuz I seen em fifteen fukkin times already. I did my time. Let me in.

Yesterday was a beautiful bright full moon against a slate blue sky. As plain a statement of ripe possibilities as the period at the end of a sentence. A sentence that says, anything goes tonight.

I called my friend Andy and asked him if he was doing anything, or if he was bored. He was on his way home to just sit around and play his new guitar. I said "I don't have a ticket, but I'm bustin' in on that Korn show tonight. You wanna come along?"

After explaining to him the plan, which was, we show up at the venue and see if the cards are aligned for us to get into the place; if it wasn't meant to happen, we'd go drown our faces in a beer up the street. A win - win situation you see.

Thursday night, October 25th, the "Bitch We Have A Problem" Tour mutated into "Halloween Havoc with KORN", and there was an extra-special guest supporting band on this single show only. When Andy and I strolled up to the E-center, up the steps to the Will Call entrance, we were asked by two middle aged hippies -- I swear they were Jan and Rainey from Into The Wild -- if we wanted tickets. Lucky for us they let em go for twenty bucks each, cuz they were GA/Floor tix, exactly what we wanted; and the only available tix at the Box Office were more expensive seats in the back of the arena. We gave em our twenty bucks and presto!, we had our golden tickets in our hands. I looked up at the fat full moon and thanked it.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Man, when things like that happen, it makes the world feel okay.

[Thorngrub]

No doubt skvor.

So we're standing out there, realizing we had succeeded -- when I say "Dude, let's head back to the car and get rid of our accoutrements." It was 8:00, the first band had already played by then, and we knew KORN weren't hitting the stage until 10:00. Back at the car I got rid of my watch, necklace, wallet, cellphone, and key-ring. I removed the car key alone and Andy had a zippered pocket to keep it safe. All I had in my front pocket was my ID, a twenty dollar bill, and the ticket. We were good to go.

But then, I says to Andy, "Dude, we gotta think before heading in. It's kinda early still. The night is young, maybe we should head over to that Ruby Tuesday's for a nice cold brew, relax and then head into the venue in a more timely fashion." So we did just that.

It turned out the timing could not have been more perfect. After enjoying the enormous steins of cold draught beers (and the requisite slices of garlic bread that constitute the minimum food required in Utah to be served alcohol), we wiped the foam off our lips and walked back to the E-center. When we were ushered in to the GA floor area, it turns out the 2nd opening band, whose name I can't remember -- they were so generic -- had just finished, and Sixx Am was about to hit the stage.

I spied the bass drum head w/the SIXX AM logo - this wicked smiley face reminescent of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac -- and it hit me. The 2-XX's ~! This was NIKKI SIXX's band ! Fuck yeah !

[Thorngrub]

So right before SIXX AM hit the stage, this announcer comes on, and tells the crowd that we are one lucky group, cuz SIXX AM is about to perform for the first time ever, and quite possibly - - THE LAST TIME. ^*

Then Nikki Sixx comes out with the rest of his bandmates, and they begin playing this hybrid of modern rock/metal with true shadings of roots going back to the old hairmetal Crue days. I guess you could call it "post-hair", but unlike post-rock, it truly merited throwing devil horns, which the crowd responded to with mass enthusiasm, moshpits starting up almost immediately to the metal riffage and eloquent vocals provided by James Michael.

SIXX AM is the official band and album for THE HEROIN DIARIES. I would really have loved to buy their CD and stand in line with the rest of the fans, after they played, so I could meet Nikki and have him sign it, that would have truly been worth it. Turns out I'm hurtin for money so I was determined not to spend the $15 I had left. I am going to hunt down and get this CD eventually, though -- SIXX AM really did put on an excellent show, and the crowd loved it.



^* I looked SIXX AM up on Wikipedia, and according to them, "The band made their live debut at Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007." So I'm not exactly certain which claim to believe - perhaps the announcer last night meant the first real available-to-the-general-public show outside LA, I don't know really

[Thorngrub]

Then finally the time came when Korn's road crew started setting up their stage, first came down the gigantic Untitled banner featuring the amazing cover art by Richard A. Kirk. Then someone wheeled H.R. Giger's stunning Nubian Queen sculptured mic-stand "Majesty's Voice" onto front stage center, covered over with a black cloth. After everything is set, one of the crew heads over and yanks that covering off with a magician's flourish, revealing the Nubian Queen in all her hardcore chrome erotic glory. That familiar sensation begins in the pit of your stomach, knowing the time has come for the hardest rocking band in the world to take the stage.

And I'll be good god damned if KoRn didn't hit that stage with more ferocity than either of the two previous shows I caught earlier in this tour. This is not some "Salt Lake" bias; I'm not even from here (although I do confess to loving it here), but I gotta say with perfect honesty the Salt Lake show devastated the Reno show - -by contrast I'm almost ashamed to admit the Reno show practically SucKed before the polished tightness and heavy hitting of every single song in Salt Lake. And yes, it was definitely a better performance all around than the Portland Maine show (w/the singular exception of not getting "Ever Be", a damn shame and a painful loss to the setlist). I think the reasons for this are pretty much twofold:

~They are obviously building up steam as they progress further into this tour; &

~Playing after Nikki fucking Sixx is enuff to get anyone stoked out of their gourds !

So yeah, despite KoRn belting out the same damn setlist night after night - - there can be no complaints, because essentially, the further into this tour they go, THE BETTER IT GETS, period.

Huge props to Shane Gibson for stepping up to the plate and keeping the songs going; apparantly he couldn't get Ever Be quite right (just a guess), but he sure as hell hit those chords hard as fukk for every other song on the setlist.

If anything, the fact they could keep on going - -stronger & better than ever, actually -- despite having to replace Clint Lowery (Sevendust) just a few shows ago, goes a long way towards showing me that the 3 guys left in Korn (Fieldy, Munky, and Jon) obviously don't really need Brian or David, thank your asses very much.

I'll be the first to admit that I am dying to have those 2 cats back in the band for an original lineup reunion, and honestly I do believe in my heart that will happen, in fact I know it. Any true korn fan will probably tell you the same thing, and its not just wishful thinking. But in the meantime, I swear to god KoRn is doing just fine without them.

The highlights of this show were:

~Starting Over: It was impossible not to go crazy in the pits for this. Whoever out there is trying to make any claims that the new stuff ain't up to snuff has obviously either gone completely deaf or is stone cold retarded. (Of course these yahoos never even bothered going to a recent Korn show, so it goes without saying they do not know of what they speak) Starting Over = 100% undiluted Klassic KOrn, period. It holds up to anything they ever released in their canon, and it serves perfectly to represent the clean slate they now stand upon. Here's to another 12 years of KOrn dominating the hard rock scene as the true uncrowned Kings. In fact I'm willing to bet they will actually ceremoniously receive this Crown in the years to come; give it another decade and it will be a well known fact that nobody rocks as hard as these guys do, and they will easily have surpassed Led Zeppelin and any other band you care to mention in carrying that Torch for Hardest Rocking Band That Ever Existed, period.

~fake: Never dreamed I'd see the days when I'd get to hear this song performed with Joey fukkin' Jordison, of all people! Reason I say that: I used to cite this very song as ammo against SlipKnot, back when all the lil maggots were tryin so hard to prove themselves against Korn's legacy. Ah the sweet tang of irony never tasted so good . . . or felt so right.

~Dead Bodies Everywhere: The familiar 'music box' tones were actually translated through Fieldy's bass this time, and I could tell most of the audience didn't recognize it. I turned to the kids next to me with a wicked grin and said "Dead Bodies Everywhere! Fuck yes!" and they kinda looked at me curiosly. Then a few moments later when the song began in earnest most everyone caught up with it and total mayhem ensued.

~faget: It just never gets old. How Jon can possibly provide the same level of bodybangin' intensity & vocals to this song, I'll never know. All I can do is stand back and be amazed.

~Kiss: Zac provided an extensive piano intro to this one (this seemed longer than I remember on the previous shows, if they did that at all), and when Jon started singing it all I could think was, "A fukking Korn Ballad!" and I gotta add that it is the hardest hitting ballad I've ever heard. A deceptive song because it isn't all "soft", in fact it provides some really hard hitting moments and overall is what I consider one of the most classic new Korn songs in their catalogue.

~blind: It's blind. It's the closer. Whaddaya expect, sheesh

~aw fuckit they practically knocked every song out the park, but those were standouts, and I'm sure there's at least 3 more that deserve notice, but


Sure all the metalheads can cite dozens of heavier, harder bands but I got one thing to say to y'all. Headbanging is fine and dandy, but Korn go way beyond that. What defines what they do musically cannot be sufficiently captured by mere "headbanging". Korn = bodybanging, full stop.

I said this way back in March of 1999 -- almost nine years ago, when I saw my 5th KoRn show in Lewiston, Maine - - I said "Long Live Korn my favorite musicians. Their banner will unfurl over our cracked skies for a LONG time to come. HAIL KORN--WE LOVE YOU!" -- and I'm sayin' it again, here in 2007: LONG LIVE KORN!!!

[Proud]

Wow! I just found Staind's 14 Shades of Gray in thorn's CD collection!

[Thorngrub]

LoL . . . *makes Gary Coleman face* . . . What'choo been rootin aroun' in my CD collection for, Willis ?

[Thorngrub]

Well, It Is Accomplished.

I have just purchased 2 Orchestra Seats, Row Q, seats 45 & 47,
for the Orpheum Theater, in Los Angeles California,
for Tuesday, December 4th, 2007, to see

Jonathan Davis "Unique (semi)Acoustic Performance"
w/ supporting artists GODHEAD and SHENKAR.


I am so stoked for this very special moment in the history of korn.
Jon's solo show is primarily fixated on him singing The Vampire Lestat's 5 songs (featured in the crappy movie Queen Of The Damned) plus 2 more previously unreleased Lestat songs. In Anne Rice's novel about The Vampire Lestat, his band is called Satan's Night Out, hence this evening is analogous to seeing the vampire Lestat perform with his band.

Those songs, by the way, when sung by Jon, are killer. They were meant to be sung by Jonathan and no one else, really.

And then there's the fact he has included Shenkar into his band. Shenkar is the extremely talented violinist who performed on peter gabriel's exquisite THE PASSION soundtrack for The Last Temptation Of Christ -- simply one of the greatest pieces of music of my lifetime. Now I get to meet Shenkar & hear him perform live, not only w/Jonathan's band, but Shenkar has his own set he will play, before Jon goes on. Shenkar's music is the polar opposite of Jon's stylings; I have yet to hear it, but from what I understand it is positive-vibe, poppy music w/his particular middle-eastern-tinged qualities, I suppose. I'm almost certain I will appreciate his performance, and am definitely looking forward to hushing the "Boos!" and catcalls that at least one fourth of the dipshits in the audience apparantly are throwing his way, for each show on this tour.

And I'm interested in checking out Godhead, although the chances I'm down w/them are 50/50.

In other words, JOnathan's solo tour here will showcase quite an eclectic variety of instrumental music, Satan's Night Out, Godhead, Shenkar's solo stuff, not to mention the fact that Jon is far more relaxed on this tour, sitting in his red velvet throne for most of the songs, and providing the audience with a lot of in between song chatter.


Oh yeah I'll be dressed to the nines for this night out.

[Thorngrub]

almost forgot about this board - - - -


listening to the new just-ripped demo of jonathan davis's upcoming solo album
with the SFA's -- the song is called "basic needs" and it is truly a audial palette
to behold. can't wait for the fully produced version when the album drops this
november. *at the 3:44 second part of the song, it breaks into an interlude
w/this sartori soundin lute playing before picking up once again into majestic
dark beauty at the 4:30 mark. Here is true musical evolution of pushing ideas
forward. Most eagerly anticipated album of '08 left now, 4me.

[Thorngrub]

Listening to the new rip of the new This Broken Soul demo,
total old skool koRn sounding great, what an intro and
buildup to a completely original kind of korn sound which
incorporates, beginning after the one minute mark, these
cool drum-beats that sound like hand-claps accompanying
the deep clickly bass and driven guitar riff... then at
1:30 seconds the scary warbly munky guitar effect creeps
in and at 1:45 jonathan's truly strung out scarecrow is in
full effect . . . i can't deny this broken soul is one of korn's
lost greatest recordings. @2:30 you're only halfway thru
this haunted junkyard shack of a song. jon's vocals after
the 3 min mark really resonate beyond the harrowing and
into the sort of painful confessional territory so seldom
captured authentically on tape. After the 4 minute mark
jon's rage reaches a level of proper intensity through which
to deliver the final hammering crescendoes. classic korn!