Limp Bizkit did it right. They came back after a long hiatus, original line up in tact, and put out an album that was as offensive as ever and stuck smack dab in the middle of ’90’s nu-metal. I’ll give Korn credit for always pushing the envelope albeit with mostly mixed results and barely resembling the band they used to be. 2007’s Korn was ok. The Unplugged record was weird but credit them for trying. 2010’s III was the kicker for me. It reeked of desperation, especially with Ross Robinson at the helm. I think I’ve listened through it once and that was enough.
Now we arrive at The Path of Totality which merges dubstep with Korn’s trademark sound. To put it mildly, the results are mixed. When they released “Get Up!” earlier this year, I was curious. I thought it was a good track and was a great anthemic lead off single for Korn. Unfortunately, the rest of TPOT is more of the same. Think of it as electro-Korn by way of the track they contributed to the Spawn soundtrack years ago. I wish I could tell you more about the amazing array of dustup artists (Skrillex, Downlink, Noisia) who contributed to this tripe but I honestly can’t tell one from another
Besides Jonathan Davis, the band is barely here and that’s the main problem here. If you can pick out Munky and Fieldy amongst the electronics, you have a better ear than I. Also, hearing Davis bitch and moan (“Chaos Lives In Everything”) through gritted teeth knowing that the guy is 40+ with a ton of cash is insane to me. Even Eddie Vedder dropped that schtick almost a decade ago.
If you’re a completist, then by all means, knock yourself out but I guarantee you’ll have a hard time listening to this one all the way through. I know I did.
The Path of Totality is out now through Roadrunner Records.
Grade: D+ (Because I liked “Get Up!”)
3 comments
Nolan says:
Dec 6, 2011
Opened up by using right and limp biscuit in the same sentence. I do have a better ear because I can hear the entire band loud and clear hear and I can easily listen to this album from beginning to end because its better than the shitty music that has brainwashed our ears such as black keys
blerd says:
Dec 6, 2011
Score one for not being able to spell or use decent sentence structure!
Drew says:
Dec 8, 2011
HEY. Nolan is EVOLVED. Who needs nonsense like punctuation and syntax when your musical palette is so refined that you can discern the lack of quality in those shitty, shitty Black Keys?