Had their entire fan base turned on them to the point where seeking a new audience proved to be easier than potentially winning back the formerly devout? But if you ask Jonathan Davis he’ll be quick to inform you of the fact that Korn were, in fact, “dubstep before there was dubstep (!)”. If it was a question of relevancy, the act, more than the product itself, will surely be the group’s undoing if they had to turn to other stars to ensure their survival a little longer. And so when you realize that The Path Of Totality is really nothing more than a slam dunk in the gambling stakes, we’re left with the rather obvious question as to why do this in the first place? Sure, Korn have played around with electronic music before (and they’re by no means the first “metal” group to embrace dance culture) but a whole album of new material indebted to a bastard strain of music that bears no resemblance whatsoever to its roots? A localized style of music that traded in garage for garbage? Because it’s that slightly disturbing love with this jockstrap-addled brand of dubstep that will ultimately ensure this album’s success, to the point where creating it would have been akin to shooting ducks in a barrel, there’s simply no challenge. We’re beyond taking cheap shots at the whole American fascination with “brostep” now, but it’s in that fascination that this motley crew of middle-aged alt metallers has potentially found their much needed salvation.
So, if that was Korn remembering who they were, then what is The Path Of Totality if not a response to the failed attempt at a walk down memory lane? Anger-like production, they even named it Remember Who You Are, as if it was as much of a reminder for us as it was for them. And as if to reinforce that point more than the St. Where they locked themselves in a room devoid of any studio trickery (read: pro tools) and attempted to kick-start the old engine by producing a stripped-down-to-the-bone rehash of their debut LP, you could tell that they really wanted to be that band again, and not the one now more commonly associated as desperately trying to cling on to their 90’s nu-metal successes. And I can honestly look back on that album and at least acknowledge that Korn were trying to do something extraordinary with that one and while the end result was nothing more than a muddied and stale affair, at least they seemed to be trying. Perhaps I’m being just a little bit too cynical here, but I’m a little bit flummoxed that this ended up being the album to follow what was so obviously designed as a “return to roots” release as Korn’s third self-titled album. Review Summary: Korn IV: Forgetting who you are
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