The 11th Korn album signals the return of guitarist Brian “Head” Welch to the band after leaving in 2004. They made 4 albums without him and while Munky held down the fort, his presence and musical spark has helped the band make one of the best albums of their career.
The Paradigm Shift is a sound fusion of every album in Korn’s career. It’s a remarkable achievement as they’ve altered their direction so much, but still remain unmistakably Korn. No one sounds like them even after 20 years on the scene,
The big move is with the electronic elements. The last album, The Path of Totatality was an experimental fusion of rock/metal and Electronic Dance Music (drum/bass/dub and the like) that I think worked pretty well. It brought in new fans and lost old fans with it’s heavy programming sound. For The Paradigm Shift, the programming has been reigned in and weaved more into the fabric of Korn’s sound. It’s closer to the sounds heard on Issues, Untouchables and Untitled.
With that out of the way, the focus and creativity from everyone in the band is amazing. Head and Munky shred like absolute maniacs! The dual attack is back with stunning results. The riffs are absolutely monstrous and rival the best songs they’ve ever written. It’s spooky, intense, manic and other worldly. Fieldy is now happily back in his element playing between them. He picks his openings bouncing and throwing down that groove that only he can. His sound is for the most part more traditional bass over his trademark ‘clicks’, but he really does it all. That cool slide thing he does, plucking, slapping, it’s all buttery smooth. Ray is right there with him too. An amazing drummer he is just phenomenal on this album. He crushed it on 2010’s Remember Who You Are and was restrained on 2011’s Path so I’m so happy he was completely free to create and innovate on this album. He plays so well with Fieldy it’s a small miracle that they were able to find him to take over for David. He fits the original mind set of Korn really well. Powerful, snappy, original and ferocious all at once. That leaves Jonathan Davis who continues to be one of my favorite singers. He has a huge range on every track, the lyrics are great and he was able to balance what Head wanted (METAL) with what he wanted (crazy electronics) with amazing grace and creativity. The melodies and chorus’ are the strongest they’ve ever been in 10 years. I’d love to hear this album played in its entirety live. The sing-alongs would be epic.
A big part of my enjoyment of Paradigm is the variety. There’s bone crushing riffs and percussion (Prey For Me), sweeping anthems (Mass Hysteria) and everything in between. Awesome, signature neck snapping Korn drops and wild, gorgeous tempo changes (Punishment Time, Victimized) make Paradigm sound like it is a living, breathing entity. Never Never is the most “dance” track which is put perfectly at #7 which is a great palate cleanser for the album. It’s kinda like the half way point of a rollercoaster ride that lets you reorient yourself before diving back into the full on Korn insanity. A lot of thought went in placing the songs to make it flow as well as it does. The biggest complement I can think of is that my head never stops moving from the instant I hit play. I may not love every song, but I like them all. That hasn’t happened since 1998’s Issues (which is my favorite album. I might even go as far to say that Paradigm is Issues spiritual successor). I can listen to Paradigm cover to cover without wanting to skip a song. For me there are about 9 classic new songs which is insane. The mix is really outstanding as well; it’s a massive sounding album with every element clearly audible. Korn is really the sum of it’s parts. When all 5 members are firing on all cylinders and are given equal chance to shine, nothing but brilliance comes through. The Paradigm Shift blows me away, I absolutely love it.
The deluxe album gives 2 bonus songs (Wish I Wasn’t Born Today and Tell Me What You Want) which are both great and a DVD titled Reconciliation. The hour long documentary tells of Brian’s departure, his return and the creation of The Paradigm Shift with producer Don Gilmore. It’s the perfect addition for any Korn fan. Tons of studio footage that is a real treat to see and you even get to hear chunks of songs that didn’t get finished (Kage has to be released, it sounds amazing).
The Paradigm Shift is a culmination of the past 8 years. Head leaving and getting back to himself, writing solo material. David leaving and Ray joining the fold, giving a new positive backbone to the band. Munky stepping up and writing all the guitars, further growing as a musician. The experiment that is The Path of Totality augmenting and evolving their sound, production and communication. The Paradigm Shift is a huge step for Korn and it opens the doors to what’s next. There is nothing like a bad ass album from your favorite band, but that does leave me with huge expectations for their next album!