Korn - The Paradigm Shift (CD Review)

01.Prey For Me
02.Love & Meth
03.What We Do
04.Spike In My Veins
05.Mass Hysteria
06.Paranoid And Aroused
07.Never Never
08.Punishment Time
09.Lullaby For A Sadist
10.Victimized
11.It's All Wrong

Jonathan Davis (Vocals/Bagpipes/keyboards/Programming)
Brian "Head" Welch (Guitar)
James "Munky" Shaffer (Guitar)
Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu (Bass)
Ray Luzier (Drums)

Guest Musicians
Zaylien (Keyboards/Programming)
Sluggo (keyboards/Programming)

Studio album number eleven and the first album to feature original guitarist Brian "Head" Welch since 2003's Take a Look in the Mirror.

I am hoping that with 'Head' back in the fold (i guess being back with the sex, drugs, bad language and satanism is okay now after his outburst many years ago?) and with 'Munky' saying they are trying to get back to the sound they had with the 'Issues' album that Korn are leaving all that skrillex crap behind and getting back to doing what they do best which is their own strange mix of rock/goth and hip hop.

Well here's hoping; Click Play and........

Well 'Prey For Me' certainly makes an impressive opening, really sounds like the old Korn, solid drum, that epic bass sound, the weird and quirky bits they thrown in (spookycore wasnt it once termed?), Davis vocal is on top form and the backing vocals work well.

From this point onwards every track sounds just as good, different moods, some more atmospheric than others, some get heavy some stay with that commercial edge.
What this album proves is that Korn can still play proper rock music (yeh okay call it Nu-Metal if you want, but that was always a weird tag anyway, pretty meaningless in reality) and dont need all this "dubstep" experimental crap.

Rating 8/10
For Fans Of : Slipknot, Fear Factory, Rammstein, Tool, Stone Sour

KORN - Live At The Holywod Palladium (CD Review)

 

01.Get Up!
02.Kill Mercy Within
03.Illuminati
04.Chaos Lives In Everything
05.My Wall
06.Way Too Far
07.Narcisstic Cannibal
08.Here To Stay
09.Freak On A Leash
10.Falling Away From Me
11.Predictable
12.Another Brick In The Wall
13.Shoots And Ladders
14.One
15.Got The Life
16.Blind

 KORN performs an exclusive live gig featuring songs from their new album "The Path Of Totality”, with special guest performances by some of the leading dubstep and electronic music producers in the world, including Skrillex, Excision, Datsik, Downlink, Kill the Noise, and 12th Planet. This exciting live event also features KORN playing all their classic hits too. The result is this once in a lifetime concert film, which is something completely new, yet utterly and definitively KORN!

 “Live At The Hollywood Palladium” was produced by Rock Fuel's Barry Summers. It captures KORN's unique live show on film like never before. The combination of art and science, technology, emotion, and explosive theatrics elevates this live concert to technological rock mastery!

Their debut album “Korn” was released in October 1994. The band followed up with their second piece of work, “Life Is Peachy”, two years later. “Follow The Leader” then became KORN's mainstream breakthrough, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 in August 1998, along with the following album “Issues”, released in November 1999. The band released “Untouchables” in June 2002 and released “Take A Look In The Mirror” in November 2003.

Their first compilation album “Greatest Hits Vol. 1” was released in October 2004, concluding KORN's contract with Epic and Immortal Records. They signed to Virgin Records, releasing “See You on the Other Side” in December 2005, and an untitled album in July 2007. KORN's latest albums “Korn III: Remember Who You Are” and “The Path of Totality” were released in July 2010 and December 2011, respectively. To this day, KORN has sold 35 million albums worldwide and has earned two Grammy Awards out of seven nominations (for "Freak on a Leash" and "Here to Stay").

This is a dvd/cd set, but the record company only sent me the cd to review.

This concert encapsulates every element from Korns long and intresting career, the new stuff delivers better than its studio counterparts and the classics are performed to perfection.

STU

Rating 8/10

For Fans Of: Skrillex, Ministry, Rob Zombie, Slipknot

Rob Zombie - Mondo Sex Head (CD Review)

01.Thunder Kiss '65 (JDevil Number Of The Beast Remix)
02.Living Dead Girl (Photek Remix)
03.Let It All Bleed Out (Document One Remix)
04.Foxy Foxy (Ki Theory Remix)
05.More Human Than Human (Jack Dangers Remix)
06.Dragula (††† Remix)
07.Pussy Liquor (Ki_Theory Remix)
08.Lords of Salem (Das Kapital Remix)
09.Never Gonna Stop (Drumcorps Acid Remix)
10.Superbeast (Kraddy Remix)
11.Devil's Hole Girls (Tobias Enhus Remix) ft. The Jane Antonia Cornish String Quartet)
12.Burn (The Bloody Beetroots Motherfucker Remix)
13.Mars Needs Women (Griffin Boice Remix)

Back in 1999 Rob released 'American Music To Strip By' an all star remix album and now 13 years later comes a sort of volume 2 (containing new mixes of 3 songs that appeared on said release).There had also been a remix album 'Super Sexy Swining Sounds' in 1996 for White Zombie.
This collection features Rob's favourites Remixed By Some Of Today’s Groundbreaking Producers & DJs, including KoRn’s Jonathan “JDevil” Davis, Photek, the Bloody Beetroots, Drumcorps and Ki:Theory.
Mondo Sex Head was curated and executive produced by Jason Bentley, Music Director at L.A.’s influential KCRW and Electronic Dance Music expert. Richard Bishop, co-executive producer of RE:GENERATION music project and documentary film, supervised the project. Each track was hand selected by Rob Zombie who road-tested many of the songs in his car, driving the L.A. streets.

Throughout his career, iconic music artist and filmmaker Rob Zombie has continuously challenged audiences as he stretches the boundaries of music, film and publishing. Zombie, who has sold over fifteen million albums worldwide and has earned seven Grammy® nominations, is no stranger to repurposing his work, cross-fertilizing his fan base and generally pushing the limits of modern-day art. Over the years he has worked with outside DJs, remixers and producers starting with the 1992 remix of White Zombie’s first-ever, MTV-fueled hit, “Thunder Kiss ’65.”

“I like the idea of taking songs and reconfiguring them,” says Zombie about the album, who is taking an alternative approach in the digital retail space. The album will be preceded by two separate, digital-only EPs, with tracks taken from Mondo Sex Head and exclusive bonus tracks.

With dubstep and rock rapidly banging heads together, Spinefarm’s Mondo Sex Head couldn’t arrive at a better time, featuring remixes from all corners of dance music by the likes of KoRn’s Jonathan “JDevil” Davis (“Thunder Kiss ‘65”), Photek (“Living Dead Girl”), Document One (“Let It All Bleed Out”), Ki:Theory (“Foxy Foxy” & “Pussy Liquor”), Big Black Delta (“More Human Than Human”), ††† aka Chino of Deftones (“Dragula”), Das Kapital (“Lords of Salem”), Drumcorps (“Never Gonna Stop”), former Glitch Mob member Kraddy (“Superbeast”) and the Bloody Beetroots (“Burn”), among others. Zombie credits the idea for the album to a conversation with his manager, Andy Gould, who told him he was constantly hearing DJs incorporate samples of Zombie’s music into their performance sets.
Rob Zombie’s Mondo Sex Head finds its creator returning to claim his legacy in the burgeoning world of electronic dance music. By bringing together music and film, rock and dance, arena mosh pits and club dance floors, Rob Zombie is proving a cultural phenomenon, with a fan base that is constantly growing.

First up with 'Thunder Kiss 65' comes a bass heavy dancefloor killer! fuck seriously this is good!
Photek's 7 minute darkwave mix of 'Living Dead Girl' is just awesome, dark brroding and just plain evil like Kraftwerk jamming with the Sisters of Mercy.
Beautiful acoustic guitar intro to 'Let It All Bleed Out' before crashing into a Prodigy/Chase & Status crossover with ear destroying synth overkill.
The version of 'More Human Than Human' has that Goldfrapp drum pattern running through it, kinda cool :-)
A very bass heavy ambient feel to the remix of 'Dragula' sort of manages to totally reinvent the song (in a good way).
'Pussy Liquor' is a better mix than Ki Therorys other song 'Foxy Foxy', nice use of analogue synth.
If there was such a thing as "Extreme Death Rave" then this would be its signiture tune because its the only way i can describe this version of 'Lords Of salem' and 7 minutes of pure power!
Always one of my fave Rob tracks anyway and this version of 'Never Gonna Stop' is actually pretty near to the original just a bit darker with nasty synth work throughout.
Okay well 'Superbeast' is clearly the worst mix on this album, just does not work at all.
'Devils Hole Girls' gets things back on track with another dancefloor mash up.
The mix of 'Burn' is weird, got that dubstep feel with some strange mixes of 70's style guitar work and sampling.
The kinda bass sound that takes out your neighbours windows (if aimed just right, must try it sometime), 'Mars Needs Women' is definatley one to play loud.

So if there was a rave party in hell: THIS IS THE SOUNDTRACK!

STU

Rating 10/10

For fans Of: Ministry, Rammstein, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Kraftwerk.

REVCO/KORN/RAMMSTEIN (CD Mini Reviews)

REVCO - GOT MIXXX?

Comprising of fifty minutes of non-stop continuous dancefloor ditties,'Got MiXXX?'is a
raunchy remix of the Cock’s Spring 2010 release 'Got Cock?'.Produced by RevCo founder, Al Jourgensen, and re-mixed by Blownload frontman Erie Loch.Has to be said that these 10 tracks are far superior to the original album whilst it juxtaposes trashy subjects with classy high-end production values making this RevCo’s most powerful sound to date!

Rating: 7/10
For fans Of: Ministry, KMFDM, Front 242

KORN - THE PATH OF TOTALITY
So Korn's traditional sound mixed with dubstep/drum and bass and electro house music,
collaborating with a number of producers for the album with each guest their own
individual tracks.
Realising the potential controversay Roadrunner released the following statement:
“ The Path of Totality is unlike any previous Korn release; it's an experimental record
which finds the band shifting gears and exploring new territory. For the record, Korn
collaborated with some of the leading dubstep and electronic music producers in the
world, including Skrillex, Excision, Datsik, Noisia, Kill the Noise, and 12th Planet.The
result is something completely new, yet utterly and definitively Korn.”
Singer Jonathan Davis describes the new album as "very well-rounded, with a mix of
mellow, upbeat tracks; possibly the most well-proportioned Korn album of all time."He also went on to talk a load of bollocks declaring The Path of Totality as "future
metal." "We're mixing metal and electro music, and you're not supposed to do that. Since
day one, Korn has always been all about going against the grain, experimenting, and
trying to take music different places."
In fact they are playing catch up big time as the likes of Linkin Park/Limp Bizkit have
been doing this for years now, if Korn want to go against the grain then perhaps that
should release a symphonic black metal album.
But for all the talk the album is not quite the trainwreck i expected with some of the
songs sounding much better than on their previous "Normal" album.

Rating: 6/10

For fans Of:Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Eminem, Skrillex.

RAMMSTEIN - MADE IN GERMANY 1995-2011
Rammstein formed in Berlin in 1994 by former european swimming champion and punk drummer Till Lindemann (vocals) and Richard Z. Kruspe (lead guitar), Paul H. Landers (rhythm guitar), Oliver "Ollie" Riedel (bass), Christoph "Doom" Schneider (drums) and Christian
"Flake" Lorenz (keyboards).

They are part of the 'Neue Deutsche Härte' scene (alongside others such as Oomph!, Eisbrecher, Die Krupps).Achieving worldwide fame with outrageous videos, amazing live theatrical shows with world class pyrotechnic effects, movie appearences and endless hit singles and albums (sales in excess of 16 million), all this whilst not compromising their sound or the fact that they sing in German.

This is a 2 cd set, disc one covers mainly singles and includes all the classics like 'Du
Hast','Sonne' and 'Keine Lust' and a new song 'Mein Land' (Reviewed eleswhere on this
blog).
Disc two is a compilation of remixes from acts as diverse as Pet shop Boys and Scooter to
Clawfinger and Devin Townsend (which is mental with banjos, fart noise and an annoying
meow meow refrain).

Rating: 10/10

For fans of: Laibach, Die Krupps, Static X, Fear Factory, Deathstars