Nu-metal game-changers Korn have had a crazy year, what with frontman Jonathan Davis’ epic battle with COVID-19. But now, the band have announced that they’ll be releasing a new album in February, and have dropped the first single to boot.
Korn’s fourteenth studio album will be titled Requiem, and will drop February 4th on Loma Vista Recordings. The first track from the album, “Start the Healing,” isn’t what many might consider a typical Korn song — this isn’t a crunchy, metallic rager, but instead a track that layers its influences in interesting ways. The verses have a chill, almost artsy kind of vibe, evoking bands like Deftones and Chevelle, while the chorus takes things big and forceful but never really angry. There’s a lot more hard rock here than metal, with Davis singing through the whole thing and never breaking into his patented bellow except for moments during the bridge. If this speaks to the album’s vibe across the board, Requiem might be a very different Korn record than previous releases like 2019’s The Nothing.
The track is accompanied by a new music video, which uses a mixture of performance footage and psychedelic CGI visuals. Directed by Tim Saccenti, the video is heavy on lens flares and close-ups, with Jonathan Davis dancing through most of it. It definitely fits the track, but also pushes the idea that Korn are taking things in a more palatable direction this time around.
“Our idea for this video was to mutate that aspect of the DNA of Korn, of what makes them so inspiring, their mix of raw power and transportive aesthetics and human emotion,” says Saccenti. “I wanted to take the viewer on an emotional journey, as the song does, a visceral, cathartic death and rebirth that will hopefully help transport the listener through whatever their personal struggles are. Collaborating with 3-D artist Anthony Ciannamea we tapped into Korn’s mythology and explored their vast well of light and darkness to create a surreal, liminal-pace body-horror nightmare.”
Check out “Start the Healing” below:
Korn’s Reqiuem drops February 4th, 2022, and is available for preorder. Check out the cover art and tracklisting below:
1. Forgotten
2. Let the Dark Do the Rest
3. Start The Healing
4. Lost in the Grandeur
5. Disconnect
6. Hopeless and Beaten
7. Penance to Sorrow
8. My Confession
9. Worst Is On Its Way
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Words by Chris Krovatin
