Korn – Requiem (Review)

The Nothing was received rather ambivalent by the audience. At that time I was one of the people who thought it was very valuable despite its predictable song structures. I still hold on to that today. But what happens after an emotional striptease like this? It took almost three years for Requiem to follow. So what remains after the big nothing? How much is actually left of a band that, after almost thirty years of existence, has had to experience almost every conceivable low point?

“Lost in the Grandeur” probably sums up best where Korn are now lyrically, with a few excursions into the much-praised Life-is-Peachy-phase. Again, Davis doesn’t beat around the bush. One has suffered and knows that one will continue to suffer. Even though this openness makes the lyrics even more heavy-handed than in the past, they still manage to get to the heart of what’s been dealt with in recent years well in tracks like “Disconnect”. The pain remains, life goes on, consideration is a luxury that not even Korn can enjoy. And the music manages more than once to underline this credibly.

“Hopeless and Beaten” demonstrates this well: I personally don’t like the song very much, but the mood transported here speaks for itself without a doubt. While the album still starts conciliatorily with the first three songs, including the successful single “Start the Healing,” it gradually becomes increasingly depressing, especially in the lyrical sense. Not for no reason, the last track is called “Worst is on it’s Way“. The musical quality remains fluctuating, although always on an acceptable level. “My Confession” should become one of my personal highlights in this respect.

Requiem continues where The Nothing had to stop: the power for new lyrics and music is there, but this album again costs noticeable overcoming. Signs of fatigue are audible, you feel them in every song – and Korn manage to construct an authentic style element from that. This album will divide the community again. Those who already disliked the predecessor will not be able to do so with Requiem either. Whoever likes the course of the last albums, however, will definitely like it here. But after all, Korn remain authentic. That should be acknowledged.