The weather cooperated yesterday for the Mayhem Festival. Around 90F, but the humidity was low so it was tolerable.

Big turn out, looked about 90% sold out there had to have been close to 15k at the mainstage. Saw the Metal Mulisha do their stunts in the late afternoon, first time I’ve seen Freestyle MX in person, it’s really wild stuff.

Heard the end of Hatebreeds set and right after they were done the stage started to get taken down. Missed FFDP but saw all of Lamb of God. Quite a few Lamb fans, they put on a tight show, they had the pit in the lawn going strong for their short 7 song set.

Next was Rob Zombie as the sun was setting. He’s a great show man, lots of interaction with the crowd. He had a wild set, a lot of pyro, a cool screen set up and dancing robots! He’s got some catchy songs and with John 5 on guitar (he did a crazy solo) and Joey Jordison on drums, he sounded great.

Then it was Korn’s turn! They hit the stage at 10 on the dot and wasted no time getting into it. Lights flashing behind the red curtain, they start into Right Now and…the curtain completely malfunctions! It’s slow to come down and the last 2 or 3 rungs didn’t release so the stage was completely blocked for a few seconds ruining Korn’s entrance (personally I don’t think Right Now works well as an opener either). They took it in stride though and just pummeled the venue for just over an hour.

Set list was the same as the last few Mayhem stops, Oildale and Let The Guilt Go from the new record (really hoping for Pop A Pill). Shoots and Ladders probably got the biggest reaction, people went nuts for it. Somebody Someone was an epic showing with Ray showing off his skills and then Munky playing his part back into the song with his guitar flat on the ground like a slide guitar. The jam with Fieldy and Ray that leads into Freak on A Leash was nuts as it always is.. It was a really heavy night for Korn, very little downtime with mostly the new intros and medleys into songs. No talking from JD until the very end of the show. Korn was really feeling it, they’re playing really well together and they’re all really animated on stage (don’t think I’ve seen Fieldy smile that much before) and they sounded fantastic. Ray is just a monster behind the drum kit and has given Korn a new breath of life. Fantastic energy from the band and the crowd, even after almost 8 hours of music!

JD could have been a little louder though and I noticed that Right Now was played a little slower than normal. Right Now really doesn’t work well as an opener, Here To Stay is much better and I have no idea why they don’t open with Oildale like they did on the first date, it’s an amazing track live. Great show all in all, just a bummer that the set was so short. I’m hoping for their next US tour they go for a 2 hour set list and stray off the path of singles (as this show was all singles).

“That was the shit right there!”
“Thanks, dude.”

-Munky and Ray at the end of “Pop A Pill”

Korn has a rock legacy that not that many bands have reached. 17 years in, Korn has blazed a path across the world with tens of millions of records sold and world tours that are well into the double digits. A band loved by many and coming into this year, forgotten by more, III: Remember Who Are sees the band returning to their original mindset. The III in the title referring to this being the spiritual successor to their sophomore album, Life Is Peachy. It doesn’t aim to copy or mimic, but to add to the base with 14 years of experience.

The last 5 years of the band have been the most turbulent. Two original members leaving the band and 2 albums seeing the worst sales of the bands career (See You On The Other Side and Untitled sold “well”, just not up to the huge standards set by the previous 3 or 4). Korn has always changed things up, never trying to repeat themselves. Over the years their albums got larger and grandiose, many thinking for the worse. Crazy album production that often were difficult for the band to play well live. SYOTOS and Untitled brought in more electronic/pop producers that took the edge off the band. There were layers and layers of audio going on, a far cry from the old days. For the record, I don’t think Korn has ever made a bad album, just ones that are better than others. Each one is a different slice of life, each one with it’s own spirit that is still inherently Korn. I thought Untitled was a more concise and thoughtful record than SYOTOS, but the sound has been different and not in the direction that made me love Korn in the first place.

But enough about the past records. Remember Who You Are brings producer Ross Robinson back and he’s punched, kicked and abused Korn back into a raw, powerful nerve of music. The production is much simpler, closer to their original recording style then ever before. Just the 4 bandmates (drummer Ray Luzier gets his first encounter with Robinson here and thankfully he lived through it) recording in a small studio. The album they’ve made here is one that could only be made by Korn, no one else out there sounds like this.

That old Korn energy and spirit is back. It’s loud, it’s obnoxious, it’s wild, it breaths. It makes me feel, something my favorite music does. I think the 12 tracks on this album are the best they’ve done in years.

Ross Robinson has focused Korn’s talents back together; the band just totally gels. Jonathan Davis’ singing is closer to his original style than in recent years. Manic and wild with great changes in pitch and tone show off his emotion that few singers dare to show. Davis has one of the most unique voices around and it works to great effect here. Munky has some of the best guitar work he’s done since Head left. Catchy riffs, notes that swirl and swagger around with punctuations of eerie and weird guitar effects. Fieldy is having a blast here and after the last two albums of his bass being mixed so far behind everyone it’s a joy to hear his trademark sound return with a thunderous groove.

The last element at work here is Ray Luzier on drums. He was made a member of the band in mid-2007 and has put the backbone back into Korn. See You On The Other Side was David Silveria’s worst work (he lost the drive to make music around this time) and Untitled has three drummer credits. There wasn’t a clear and sole vision behind those drums despite being played well by Brooks Wackerman and Terry Bozzio. Ray is a monster behind the kit, he has the passion and drive for making music that David lost. He hits hard and razor sharp like David did, he can change tempo in the blink of an eye and is fast as hell when a song calls for it. He’s a perfect fit for the band and he’s one of the nicest people you could ever meet (I say so having met him in 2009 during the Escape From the Studio Tour). Ray and Fieldy work so well together it’s stupid (just listen to “Fear Is A Place To Live”).

It’s a dirty and powerful album with shades of Korn’s past work sprinkled throughout. There’s a good Life of Peachy vibe at work here that I completely love (most notably on “Pop A Pill”). I really dig the music through the whole disc, it’s a rare find to be able to play an album straight through these days. That said, I have some issues with how Jonathan Davis delivers some lines and he’s got some lackluster lyrics here and there (which isn’t unusual when talking about JD), the first verse to “Holding All These Lies” being my biggest eyebrow raiser. Even so, the bits in the arrangements that I didn’t like on the first few plays have grown on me and make sense to me now.

I’ve always thought Korn was really about the sum of it’s parts. No individual part (or person) of the band would win the accolades of everyone, but together it’s just a different world being pumped into your ears. That really applies on this album. I don’t think Remember Who You Are will convert anyone who thinks Korn stinks, but if you are or ever have been a fan, it’s an amazing feeling.

*The Deluxe Edition has 3 bonus tracks and a DVD. “Trapped Underneath The Stairs” and “People Pleaser”. Both are great but People Pleaser is really only 4 minutes long. The last 3 minutes is pretty much nonsense. Disappointing as I was looking forward to hearing what Korn would come with it for their first really lengthy track. The last bonus track is a live recording of “Blind” from the Hammerstein in NYC from this year. The DVD is decent. It has footage from the recording studio edited to make a music video. The problem is the poor editing (really don’t need to see JD 80% of the time) and the awful and cheap looking effects placed on top of the video. There’s no “making of” footage here like on the DVD that came with Untitled which is really disappointing. Some great video of that nature can be found online though.*

Ray! Longest interview I’ve seen with him.

Korn Interview on Ryan’s Rock Show: Drummer Ray Luzier Remembers Who He Is

From January 2009, but still interesting interview of one of the biggest music producers around.
Ross Robinson – the art of making timeless records

1 of 6 they played on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Did Oildale first and they busted out in full force. Kicked ass but the audio was all messed up.
YouTube – Korn Performs “Let the Guilt Go”

Korn III has leaked and I couldn’t help myself! Why rob myself of 10 days of enjoyment? Still have the special edition with bonus DVD to look forward to and that has 2 more songs and a new live recording of Blind. I’m gonna write a big review of the album when it officially comes out but I’ve listened to it in full 5 times since yesterday and I’ll just say that I am very happy.

Poking around the net I just found out the Smashing Pumpkins are doing this crazy concept album where they release 4 songs at a time for free on the net. There will be 44 songs total for “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope” in total. 11 EP’s will be released over time and culminate in a giant deluxe uber set when it’s all done. All can be found on smashingpumpkins.com

Astral Planes
A Stitch in Time
Widow Wake My Mind
A Song For a Son
Freak

Corgan got a new Bass player and Drummer too.

Lastly, Eminem’s “Recovery” is phenomenal. Triumphant return I’d say.