It pays to break rules. And Californian alternative metal gurus Korn have been getting paid for almost two decades. For the first time in India, the band will perform at three concerts in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore this month.
Late last year, Korn released their tenth album – The Path of Totality – which incorporated electronic dance music like Dubstep. The album was an experiment of fusing electronic DJ music with Korn’s traditional style of Rock. The music and lyrics projected a more mature band, influenced by wider musical influences which do not confirm to the rage and hatred associated with heavy metal music.
Since November last year, the band has been on a global tour to promote their album and prepare the ground for a new album expected to be released this year. The tour has taken them to 82 cities so far in North America and Europe.
No gimmick
The band’s lead vocalist Jonathan Davis said that the performance will take the audience through Korn’s evolution as a band. While the best songs from their repertoire of roughly 200 tracks will feature at the shows, Davis added that there was no customised gimmick for Indian audiences- listeners from whom Davis admitted he had no idea what to expect.
“We’re no trying to woo anybody and we have no clue how the audience will receive it… Our new album has more dance music. Sure, it makes us scared because it something new. But we don’t wan to cage ourselves in a box,” he said.
Guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer said that this opening into the world of electronic music had brought them close to the science of sound- of how sounds of different wavelength interacted with each other.
“We named it The Path of Totality after seeing a documentary on the solar eclipse. The path of totality is how the sun, moon and earth – all in rotation – get aligned in a straight line to produce an eclipse. This album was something like that—lining up DJs, their schedules, working it out with the producer. Everything had to be perfectly aligned,” he explained.
Korn collectively and Davis individually under the name J-Devil are each working on a new album.
On his individual album that would continue his tryst with DJ music, Davis said, “I am not going to rush with it. It will be unique and very different from stuff I’ve done earlier.”
Korn’s upcoming album- which has not be named yet- will be released independently.
Their gig on September 5 in Gurgaon is taking place at Leisure Valley where Metallica’s concert last year ended in a riot. Rashmi Kant, Chairman of Mooz Entertainment, said that Korn’s show would take place in a much bigger space and the district administration would be assisting in securing the venue.
