NASHVILLE |FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/ AMANDA CAGAN
`KORN'
CRITICAL SOUNDBITES
"Korn's self-titled debut is of the raging-earthquake school. Ominous, predatory guitar lines slash across a deep funk groove, as murky as a shallow grave, while anguished vocals tell dark tales of abused kids and methamphetamine addicts."
–Daina Darzin, Request, January 1996
"Davis and his band mates don't pull any punches with their unrelievedly harsh, hammering metallic rock. In `Faget,' a protagonist deemed insufficiently macho by his peers is harassed and taunted to the point of explosion. `Daddy' is an unsparing primal scream of a song in which Davis makes uncomfortably palpable the rage and grief of a young incest victim confronting his parents."
–Mike Boehm, Los Angeles Times, January 19, 1996
"The band is not just a vehicle for Davis' particular brand of weird, rather they're a solid outfit that trades on their hammering intensity and fervid lyrical doses of anxiety and rage. Davis has a compelling vocal style; he seems to breathe out his lyrics, wavering somewhere between vituperous rage and solemn regret, singing on such topics as sexual abuse, the cruelty of high school, and painful personal experiences. This band has taken their psychic traumas and transmuted them into an art form, framing their early pain with slashing guitars and barbaric drumming."
–Jaan Uhelszki, Addicted To Noise, February 9, 1996
"Over the last year, Korn has pummeled audiences with brutal combination of dissonant, tuned-down 7-string guitars, gut-rumbling bass, concussion-inducing drums and cathartic, primal-scream vocals."
–Chris Gill, Guitar World, March 1996
"On the Surface, Korn–the quintet from Huntington Beach, California whose confrontational calling card was presented to the music world last October in the form of their eponymous Immortal/Epic debut–are an undeniably ugly proposition. Everything about them is abrasive, from the shadowy, foreboding figure that graces the album's controversial cover to the barking acridity of Jonathan Davis' vocals to the ominous lurches and violent outbursts that define the band's drum-tight dynamics…Upon closer inspection, Korn's brand of rage proves to be more cathartic than malicious."
–Tim Keneally, Guitar School, February 1996
"It's passionate, but not exactly pretty. Their eponymous debut album is full of bickering guitar lines end eloquently awkward rhythms. The song structures, often stubbornly asymmetrical, at times flat out refuse to settle into any pattern whatsoever. Then there are Jonathan's vocals to contend with–a kaleidoscope of croaking, crooning, bellowing and shrieking that trickles and surges, sometimes spewing words and sometimes merely sounds evocative of anger, pain, malice. `Shoots and Ladders' is downright eerie with its mournful bagpipe strains (courtesy of Jonathan) and warped snippets of nursery rhymes. The 17-1/2 minute `Daddy' is a composition that, during the recording process, spontaneously combusted into an improvisational experience so intense that the band refuses to play it live…On stage, the music swells into an even more explosive tug-of-war between emotional chaos and iron-willed control–one that transforms Jonathan's affable expressions into a contorted mask as he channels the sonic conflict around him."
–Anthony Artiaga, Bikini, January 1995
"There is an industrial element to the band's melodies and a funk/hip-hop sensibility to its rippling rhythms…The band's self-titled debut album is a bizarre listening experience. The guitars, played by J. Munky Shaffer and Brian, grate against the ears like steel wool. Meanwhile, bassist Fieldy and drummer David pound out rhythms that combine punk fury and hip-hop snap. Most intriguing is vocalist Jonathan Davis, who mutters and whispers during quieter instrumental passages and affects a ghoulish roar when the music gets more intense."
–Bruce Britt, Star (Ventura/Thousand Oaks/Simi Valley, CA), May 26, 1995
"Korn's sound embraces elements of hard rock, with a few nods to Goth-style gloom. Davis' impassioned vocals and the quirky rhythms supplied by drummer David Silveria and bassist Fieldy are the unit's signature. The band also wins serious style points for avoiding the self-indulgent guitar solos that bog down so many outfits. Guitarists Brian Welch and James `Munky' Shaffer mesh like a great double-play combination."
–Claudia Perry, San Jose Mercury News, December 29, 1995
"While many groups now boast repertoires that defy pigeon-holding, Korn effortlessly stands out by instinctively knowing how to channel and focus those diverse influences ranging from hard-core to hip-hop and back to classical and metal. And this is one band that has never had to worry about coming up with a distinctive image scheme…Korn's distinctive amalgamation of heavy guitars and vocals backed with intricate rhythmic patterns and offbeat instrumentation impressed doubters from every faction, as did Davis' no-nonsense lyrics on tracks such as `Daddy' (about child abuse, whereby Davis' actual vocal booth sobbing was recorded without his knowledge) and `Helmet In The Bush' (tackling amphetamine abuse)."
–Pollstar, September 4, 1995
"Hard-core monger Korn finished the night with a rousing set of dynamic doom. The Huntington Beach quintet gave the people what they wanted as it assaulted all in earshot with tunes such as `Daddy' and `Blind.' The audience chanted the band's name during the breaks and chaotically slammed around when the powerchords cranked away…Guitarists Brian Welch and James `Munky' Shaffer, hunched over in angst, gunning out loud friction leads and rhythms as bassist Fieldy and drummer David punched out well-timed starts and stops."
–Scott Iwasaki, Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), March 11, 1996
"With two guitarists sporting 7-string electrics, a rhythm section that lays down rap and funk grooves, and a lead singer who is an accomplished bagpipe player, Korn is not your ordinary thrash band…Korn's music is heavy, quirky, and controversial. Singer Jonathan Davis' dark lyrics and tortured delivery, already disturbing, are given added punch by the band's aggressive grooves."
–Chris Gill and Karla Rivera, Guitar Player, January 1996
"KORN, the Huntington Beach, California band's maiden offering, attests to the judicious nature of the band's decision. Though there's not a triplet or flashy scale run to be found, there's no shortage of scorching intensity, thanks in large part to Munky and Brian `Head' Welch's unique style of interplay, a fiery concoction of seismic chordal riffing and scratchy squalls…"
–Tim Kenneally, Guitar World, December 1995
"If you go by the name alone, it's easy to mistake Korn for either a down-home country group or a highly processed snack food…But once you listen to the chunky bass lines and furious guitar riffs of this intense band, you'll never look for them in the chip aisle again…The crunchy-thumpsy sound bassist Fieldy and drummer David achieve when they work together is something to behold, a true jam experience that could stand alone on any dance track playing in any disco on any given night. That makes it even more interesting in the context of the guitar cuts laid down by Welch and Munky…Then adding Davis' evocative lyrics to this mix-smash is almost asking for trouble."
–Marisa Lencioni, Sun (San Bernardino, CA), February 20, 1996
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