Korn returns with a record that, like the one that preceded it, brings the strength of its formula back to the forefront.

Calling it simply “heavy” is a slight misnomer, as the power of The Serenity of Suffering is in how it blends immediate melodies and hook-laden choruses with its pounding riffs like Korn’s best records (1998’s Follow the Leader is a predictable but apt choice, as is its even more morose follow up, 1999’s Issues).

In many ways, Korn should be commended for simply surviving the late 1990s Nu-Metal trend that it pretty much spearheaded through growling guitar riffs, hip-hop inspired beats and dramatic vocalizing.

While its peers are pretty much dead (Limp Bizkit is still doing festival appearances but hasn’t put out anything new in years), Korn is a gift that keeps on giving. Not only that, it has proven that the caricature depiction of its sound – of which I am guilty of above – doesn’t preclude it from trying different sets of musical approaches and sound.

Regardless of how you feel about the band, it is not afraid to experiment, evidenced through its collaborations with pop producers, a whole record inspired by dubstep, even slight moves into goth territory.

Admittedly, those aren’t exactly drastic changes, and plenty of it sounds like mere gimmick, but it has clearly worked in sustaining the band as being highly billed at rock music festivals. Not only that, it makes a “back to basics” album such as Serenity something that stands out.

While not many beyond those who were in their teens in the late 1990s may proclaim Korn as a band with good songwriters per-se, Serenity shows a band that has mastered its own formula of heavy verses and melody driven choruses.

Even the predictable flourishes — funky bass, theatrical vocals, space-horror lead lines — work in context. It’s easy to think that its sound will mesh all its songs into an in-differentiable blob, but it’s almost like saying that “A Hard Days’ Night” is a boring record because the songs are too similar
(I should probably feel much guiltier than I am for comparing Korn to The Beatles).

Really, even if tracks such as Serenity’s first single “Rotting in Vain” dabbles in everything you would expect a Korn song to contain, it is undeniably propulsive and better yet, instantly memorable.

Similarly, “Insane” busts out chunky down-tuned riffs, off kilter minor chord melodies, and the boneheaded (not always a negative) rhythm that the band excels at. The grungy crawl of “The Hating” showcases how the old trick of quiet verses, loud choruses still works.

Producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains) delivers a punchy production, never allowing the instruments lose their clarity even when their role calls for sludgy darkness. Tracks such as “Die Yet Another Night” combines stuttering percussion, metallic guitar flourishes, and multivocals intertwining in what otherwise could be a headache-inducing track. Instead, it’s another immediately hummable track.

The only whiff of “experimentation” here are the tiny instances of synth work and some electronic lines, but everything else is mostly bare bones rocking of the most instantaneous kind.

“Black is the Soul” boasts chunky rhythms that will soundtrack many-a-dorm-room, complete with a recognizable ghostly vocal work from Jonathan Davis and some of the best melodies the band has ever written. “Please Come for Me” is equally catchy with staccato rhythms that move into alternative metal hookiness. Again, it’s delivered with an immediately memorable chorus.

Serenity (Roadrunner) is one of Korn’s best records, period. While “songwriting” and “hooks” may not be the most original of compliments, with this record, the band shows that even with old arsenals, fresh sounding ideas can still be made. It’s a sound heavy music fans will certainly recognize (and even mock), but it’s certainly packed with an immediacy and memorability that feels increasingly rare within the rock universe.

— Marcel Thee

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