In the early '90s, heavy music looked to be going the way of the
dinosaurs: Well-heeled Brit-pop and well-scrubbed pop-punk were
thoroughly dominating the guitar-rock landscape, and the few surviving
old-school metal acts seemed hopelessly unable to adapt.
But somewhere within the vast, murky Southern California wasteland, a
dynamic new species was being born, a forward-thinking beast that
disregarded the mistakes of heavy bands past while meshing dark, urban
rhythms and low-tuned guitar sludge with violent, expressionist blasts
of hip-core noise. That and the wildly emotional vocals of JONATHAN,
which alternated between a bourbon-smooth croon and a viscerally sharp
howl, made for a revolutionary mix that redefined heavy rock better than
anyone had in a decade. The result was a monster 1994 self-titled debut
album that went solid platinum, and by the time 1996's Life Is Peachy
was released, this beast had a fanbase over two million strong--and a
legion of musical imitators so large it threatened to saturate the
planet.
It was time for a change of rules.
Hence KORN's latest, greatest slab, aptly titled FOLLOW THE LEADER. From
the broadened musical and emotional scope to the much beefier production
values to the stunning cover art courtesy of Spawn-creator Todd
McFarlane, FOLLOW THE LEADER is indeed an ambitious and deeply
satisfying outing for the band. And while there is considerably more
hype surrounding this rightly anticipated disc, JONATHAN is quick to put
things in perspective.
"Our only goal was to take our time on this album," he says. "Because I
knew we had it in us to do something great. To full integrate both
(previous) albums and put out a record we could be proud of...we wanted
to do some phat shit."
"I think working with a new producer and going into a new studio helped
us grow musically as a band," adds guitarist MUNKY. "All of us really
have that fire again about being excited about a...