Review: Korn - Take a Look in the Mirror

Band: Korn
Album: Take a Look in the Mirror
Genre: Nu-Metal
Release: November 2003
Location: U.S. - Bakersfield, CA

This is definitely one of Korn’s strongest efforts and it is their most overlooked album, and if you’re a fan who originally skipped it then it would be a great time to pick it up now.

There was a time when Korn was enormously popular, nu-metal and rap-metal (Coal Chamber, Static-X, etc.) releases topped the music charts, and everyone on the block was wearing a Limp Bizkit t-shirt with their baseball cap turned backwards. By the time ‘Take a Look in the Mirror’ was released in late 2003, though, this period of time was over and this album was ultimately met with disappointing initial sales, resulting in Korn’s lowest selling album to date. That is unfortunate, however, because this is definitely one of their strongest releases. Although it is self-produced and definitely their rawest effort, that doesn’t mean it gets monotonous, though the tracks could use some more variety ala Follow the Leader. While the album sound’s fantastic musically, the lyrics don’t stray too far from every angst-filled Korn album before this, which means they will come off as repetitive to long time fans. Even so, this is definitely one of Korn’s strongest efforts and it is their most overlooked album, and if you’re a fan who originally skipped it then it would be a great time to pick it up now.

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

Review: In Flames - Come Clarity

Band: In Flames
Album: Come Clarity
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Release:February 2006
Location: Sweden - Gothenburg

‘Come Clarity’ is one of the most disappointing albums of the year, and a band as talented as In Flames is certainly capable of more than what this record offers.

Although a drastic change in sound is often needed for a long-running band to keep their music fresh, the new changes found on In Flames’ latest release, ‘Come Clarity’, do not work in the band’s favor and ultimately dumb down what was previously a melodically complex, amazing sounding melodic death-metal band. Although ‘Come Clarity’ is still a notch above the musical dreck found on mainstream metal radio, it isn’t by much, and it’s unfortunate that a band that has previously released some of the best metal albums of all time (see: Colony and Whoracle) has fell down to this level. What made In Flames so great before were its unique vocals, which unfortunately are repetitive here, and its melody, which is mostly lost on Come Clarity. ‘Come Clarity’ is one of the most disappointing albums of the year, and a band as talented as In Flames is certainly capable of more than what this record offers.

Rating: 2 out of 5