NASHVILLE |
KORN
‘UNTOUCHABLES’
Critical Soundbites
“…their best, most expansive album…The only band currently playing is Korn’s league is Metallica…”
—Blender, Neil Strauss, August/September 2002
“An undeniable elegance lurks in the music’s palpable panic and aggression…Untouchables radiates nuclear sizzle, from the distortion-driven ‘Here To Stay’ and furious ‘One More Time’ to the industrial din of ‘Wake Up Hate’….Jonathan Davis’ acidic vocals and seething resentment serve as first violin in Korn’s purgatorial symphony.”
—USA Today, Edna Gundersen, 6/18/02
“…a gripping, visceral and uncannily original work. Sonically, the disc expands upon Korn’s booming, rumbling sound with industrial beats, new-wave textures, near-orchestral arrangements and pop hooks, masterfully weaving torrents of aggressive noise with layers of previously unexplored melody. Vocally, Davis has never sounded so beautifully, injured…he sings with more finesse and acuity than ever.”
—Pulse!, Jon Wiederhorn, August 2002
“…producer Michael Beinhorn helps Korn’s vicious rhythm section pound harder while expanding the band’s higher frequencies with electronics and symphonics, even as its famously down-tuned guitars buzz away. Nowhere are the contrasts more pronounced than on ‘Hollow Life,” which flip-flops between twinkly verses and slow-burning choruses of enthrallingly peculiar chords and stranger harmonies.”
—Rolling Stone, Barry Walters, 7/25/02
“The grimly triumphant Untouchables won’t be mistaken for Celine Dion. It still has the bottom heavy gnashing of James (Munky) Shaffer and Brian (Head) Welch on guitars and Reggie (Fieldy) Arvizu on bass, all grinding in their lower registers; it still has the Jonathan Davis wrenching his throat for a death-rattle growl. But now he also lifts his voice regularly for arena-anthem choruses….Korn’s songs on Untouchables (Epic/Immortal), as usual, stake out a lonely, embattled position that happens to be shared with countless tormented adolescents and post adolescents. In ‘Here to Stay,’ Mr. Davis barks a quick summary: ‘The hurt turns into hating’… The lyrics grapple with betrayal and disappointment from others and doubt and guilt within. There are suicidal longings in ‘Alone I Break,’ vindictiveness in ‘Thoughtless,’ sadomasochistic kicks in ‘Beat It Up Right,’ raw fury coupled with self-loathing in ‘Embrace’ and ‘Hating,’ on which Mr. Davis growls ‘Why do I create just to be swallowed?’…. Korn has left behind nearly all vestiges of hip-hop and it burnishes harsh noises into hooks. Now that it has accepted melody as central, Korn reveals new skills and ideas in every song.”
—New York Times, Jon Pareles, June 9, 2002
“Untouchables demonstrates Korn’s trust that somber, severe perspectives on life coupled with relentless, infectious sounds will continue to touch adolescent rock fans.”
— Los Angeles Times, Lina Lecaro, June 16, 2002
“Davis’ vocals have a more melodic edge to augment his signature wailing, and the arrangements are more expansive, notably a use of strings and synth-pop textures on ‘Alone I Break’ and more synths on ‘Hollow Life.’ But the core of the disc remains the buzz-saw rhythm section of bassist Fieldy and drummer David Silveria, along with the savage roar of down-tuned guitars from Shaffer and Brian ‘Head’ Welch.”
—Boston Globe, Steve Morse, 6/16/02
“The disc is loaded with deft arrangements, loops and keyboard textures, as well as Jonathan Davis’ usual self-loathing lyrics and the patented rhythmic attack of bassist Fieldy and drummer David Silveria.”
—Alternative Press, June 2002
“Davis, a former assistant coroner, has been the guiding force behind Korn’s raging confessionals about alienation and abandonment since the quintet’s 1994 debut…Untouchables continues in that tradition, melding Davis’s gritty, anguished wail with the low, guttural roar of the group’s signature seven-string guitars, which often mask moments of lyrical profundity. ‘Sometimes I feel it chasing me/All the hate that’s breaking me/I realize I’m taking everything/And the kids seem to follow,’ Davis ruminates in a distorted growl on the spooky, slinky ‘Make Believe.’ The heavy guitars and even heavier themes deftly tackled by this much-imitated band are definitely not pop-Korn.”
—People, Sona Charaipotra, 7/8/02
“Combining visceral grind with eerie, contagious melodies, the disc might be Korn’s moodiest, most personal offering to date…Davis sings with more passion, confidence, and virtuosity than ever, and his band provides an impressive range of atmospheric variation and stylistic nuance…Lyrically, Untouchables touches on themes of exploitation, abuse, and anti-authoritarianism. The title is a reference to the caste system in India, in which the lowest strata of society, the untouchables, are often spat upon and mercilessly attacked. Davis compared many of the bands fans with these outcasts of society.”
—Penthouse, Jon Wiederhorn, October 2002
“There’s nothing cute about Davis’s approach: In the middle of a maelstrom, he throws back his head and lets it rip. When the band drops out, with Silveria continuing to play clever figures on this cymbals, Davis’s voice turns melodic and almost endearing. As a singer, he finishes his lines, his falsetto is true and, wailing profane, venomous lyrics not for the fainthearted, his rage is palpable. …Untouchable is an explosive disc, and Davis’s fury lights the fuse.”
—Wall Street Journal, Jim Fusilli, 9/19/02
“Boasting a dazzling and downright titanic sound, Untouchables is an immense progression… Right now, Korn is truly untouchable.”
—Sound & Vision, Jeff Perlah, September 2002
“…over the course of eight years and five albums, Korn has consistently taken the genre to new places, remaining one step ahead of contemporaries while spawning scores of copycats…This is the craftiest Korn sampling yet.”
—Orange County Register, Ben Wener, 6/21/02
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