Photo blog live review: Korn takes new direction

 

Korn continues to grow with the release of their eleventh album, "Paradigm Shift", featuring the return of guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. The band electrified the stage with their set at the Wiltern, in Los Angeles on October 10th. The show was an inferno of effects: scorching heat, red lights,  plumes of smoke, and dozens of people enslaved behind a massive spiked cage built directly behind the stage. The crowd pumped their fists vigorously to the beat, as the energy surged through the hall and fans joined the mosh pit lead by Zeppelin Howsmon Davis, the lead singers young son. "Paradigm Shift" is aptly named, as the album represents an evolution in Korns' sound as well as the bands outlook on life.  Now ready to be a responsible father to his young daughter, Brian "Head" Welch returns from a seven year meth binge, that took him away from much of the creative development of the band.  Lead singer, Jonathan Davis, recently prevailed a harsh Xanax addiction, so bad that it gave him seizures. New found sobriety made it possible for the band to come together and continue their creative vision. Through the return to their  spiritual community, the band was able to break the grasp of addiction. The bands reunion forced them to keep a balance as friends, and as professionals. Welch is born again, and says he won't come to the studio or do a show if anyone is wasted.

The album's strong lyrics cut to the core of dark human experiences. Musically, the album features hardcore metal tracks and some more lyrical ones and at times other tracks drift off into even different creative directions. "Paradigm Shift" is a mature work, merging the classic grungy sounds of modern metal with more progressive sounds that seamlessly blend both lyrical and aggressive elements of metal.