HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Korn – Korn
Thirty years ago, five men from Los Angeles, California brought about one of the most divisive subgenres in metal history. They weren’t Day Zero by any means – the touchpaper had been lit at the turn of the nineties by the likes of FAITH NO MORE and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – but this was where the fuse met the combustible material within the power keg and prompted – for better or worse, depending on who you ask – the explosion of nu metal. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, but this genesis started with one simple question – “ARE YOU READY?!”
The story of KORN begins in Bakersfield, two hours north of Los Angeles and a band called L.A.P.D. featuring guitarist James ‘Munky’ Shaffer, bassist Reggie ‘Fieldy’ Arvizu and David Silvera. After moving to LA and releasing sole album Who’s Laughing Now in May 1991, the trio brought guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch and singer Jonathan Davis onboard and, when 1993 rolled around, decided a name change was in order. When thinking of one, someone suggested ‘corn’; that was rejected, but Shaffer had the idea to spell the word with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’ and, inspired by the logo for retail giant TOYS R US, turned the R backwards so that the name would be stylised as ‘KoЯn‘. Davis designed the now classic logo and Silvera would go on to say “the music makes the name, because KORN‘s a dumb name. But once we get established, it makes the name cool.”
The band came to the attention of Immortal Records‘A&R employee Paul Pontius in the summer of 1993 when performing in Huntington Beach, who described them as ‘the new genre of rock’. Whilst a demo album, Neidermayer’s Mind, was not well received by fans or critics, it helped pioneer the rhythms and sounds of nu-metal. In May 1994, the band re-located to Malibu and Indigo Ranch Studios to record their full-length debut record with a then unknown producer called Ross Robinson. “Ross is a very pure and clean-spirited person, and you feel it when you’re with him” Davis would go on to say. “He’s the kind of person that can draw that out of you. I felt very safe with Ross.”
The studio’s location on a hillside meant the band could record outside, which helped add to the distinct sound of the record, and they also incorporated elements seldom seen in metal up to that point. Whilst there were more minor additions – the banging sound towards the end of Ball Tongue was created by a guitar cord striking a music stand, for example – Davis‘ proficiency at the bagpipes lent itself to the underpinning of Shoots and Ladders, a song that to this day is both revered and reviled in equal measure. Most importantly though, the band were on the same page throughout “Once we started playing, there was a complete sense of concentration among all of us,” remembers Arvizu. “It was truly the only time we were all focused. I think that the synchronicity comes through in the sound. Once we were ready to record, we’d go into the studio where Munky and Head would come up with a heavy guitar riff while I’d lay down a bass line over it, and before we knew it, a song would start.”
As opening song Blind moves past Jonathan‘s aggressive opening question into one of the defining anthems of nu-metal, the combination of Arvizu‘s slap bass high in the mix, the down-tuned, seven-string guitars and the marriage of screeched, clean and rapped vocals made for a musical cocktail unlike anything heard before. Even more potent were the dark and sinister lyrics that dealt with bullying (Faget), drug abuse (Helmet In The Bush), racism (Clown) and the foreboding, hidden messages within nursery rhymes (Shoots and Ladders). But it’s closing track Daddy, written about Davis‘ real-life child abuse at the hands of his babysitter, that would have the largest impact. Closing with Davis weeping uncontrollably as a lullaby sung by Judith Kiener plays, it is often found on lists detailing the most disturbing songs of all time. It would be played as part of KORN‘s 20th anniversary shows in 2014, but Davis has publicly stated that he never wishes to perform it again.
Released on October 11th 1994, Korn would do reasonably well on a commercial level – it was certified gold in 1996, saw Shoots and Ladders nominated for a Grammy in 1997 and would crack the Billboard Top 100, but its impact on metal as a whole is what has elevated it to legendary status and a crucial part of the genre’s tapestry. Many critics point to it as the true starting point of nu-metal, Rolling Stone described the record as ‘the most important metal record of the past 20 years’ in 2014 and Catherine Yates said in Kerrang! that the album’s impact could be likened to NIRVANA. “NIRVANA provided the soundtrack to the trials of disaffected youth…Korn was the manifestation of disaffected youth itself”, she wrote. It was also the launchpad for Ross Robinson – his work on the record would land him job producing SEPULTURA‘s Roots, LIMP BIZKIT‘s Three Dollar Bill, Y’All and, perhaps most memorably, SLIPKNOT‘s self-titled debut and follow up Iowa in 1999 and 2001 respectively. His moniker as ‘The Godfather of Nu-Metal’ is well deserved; for KORN, their position as the genre’s Big Bang is just as agreeable.
Korn was originally released on October 11, 1994 via Immortal Records.
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