Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

The album from nu-metal pioneers Korn is a bleak affair and no mistake. This thundering offering from the veteran Californian group takes as its main theme the childhood sex abuse suffered by lead singer Jonathan Davis and his subsequent torment and depression as an adult - not helped by a hellish 2018 which saw him lose his mother and wife - and it's not for the fainthearted. Some surprise bagpipes on the opener "The End Begins" kick things off whilst Davis can be heard sobbing uncontrollably in the vocal booth before he pulls himself together to scream and shout about the darkness that's coming at him from every angle. For instance, "The Darkness Is Revealing", the previously released single "You'll Never Find Me" and "Surrender To Failure" all document the seemingly hopeless place that Davis has found himself in whilst the more defiant "Cold" finds the frontman promising to seek revenge on his tormenter by knocking "this motherf*cker down." As you would expect from any Korn release, there are F words aplenty but perhaps the most harrowing segment lies in the short but definitely not sweet interlude "The Seduction Of Indulgence" which shows Davis using the refrain "skinning me, stabbing me, touching me, licking me, raping me" to recall his childhood molestations with horrific clarity. Whilst guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch and bassist/death growl vocalist Reginald 'Fieldy' Arvizu are Christians, it would be wrong to assume that their band are out to point people towards the light and, in fact, numbers like "Idiosyncrasy" has Davis shouting that "God's making fun of me" whilst the crushing absence of hope is an overriding factor throughout. As if rallying around their colleague in his time of need, the rest of the group put in a stellar performance with chunky guitar riffs and relentless drums expertly echoing Davis' abject pain to showcase why, after 26 years in the business, Korn are still at the top of their game. Reports say that Davis found the lyric-writing process for this album cathartic - I sincerely hope so for his sake - and here's hoping he can find solace and healing in the long run through trusting Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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