Motion for Reconsideration
Nu metal. The name itself is enough to gag any metalhead over the age of 35, and embarrass those between 25 and 35. As we all know, the genre started with Korn
's self-titled debut in 1994, and it has been cause for revilement ever since.
But the album isn't all that bad. In fact, I have fond memories of loving it as a teenager. So I tried to listen to it with fresh ears.The guitar tone is the first thing that jumps out at me. It's crunchy, and the 7-string guitars let them get heavier than most metal bands of the time. Same thing with the clicky 5-string bass. It sounds dirty. And the drums, truth be told, are quite interesting. The vocals, not so much, but most of the time they're not bad.
If you took someone who had never heard Korn before, and played "Predictable" for them, you could (possibly) convince them this is a new sludge metal band. That's how heavy and dirty this sounds. And that's how the riffs groove.
came out back in December. I understand the album cover is really neat, with blacklight art. But that definitely wasn't enough to get me to jump right on this album as I usually do with Mudvayne. But after 2008's lackluster 
(to which I gave a very generous 3 star rating), I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to hear this one.
, they have almost managed to latch onto that progressive streak they had on 2002's 
. In fact, "Heard It All Before" may be the most progressive song they've ever done. A few other strong tracks are here, such as "Burn the Bridge," "Closer," and "I Can't Wait."
over a year earlier. I give it a conservative 3 out of 5 stars, but they still haven't restored my faith.