korn the path of totality clean album download reddit Music / Korn. Korn (often stylized as KoRn or KoЯn) are a metal band who formed in 1993 from Bakersfield, California. While they now experiment with genres like electronic music, they're known for their distinct form of alternative metal which blends funk-influenced bass playing, downtuned guitars with little to no soloing, and angsty lyrics, pioneering and popularizing a sound you may know today as nu metal. Along with Rage Against the Machine and Faith No More, Korn were instrumental in bringing funk- and rap-inspired metal to the mainstream in the mid-to-late '90s. However, their independent nu metal style would blow up in popularity in the late '90s and early 2000s thanks to bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park borrowing heavily from their style and achieving widespread commercial success. (Korn themselves would lampshade this by titling their third album Follow the Leader .) Despite (or rather because of) this influence on an entire genre of music, Korn have often rejected the nu metal label not only for the negative stereotypes associated with it (such as its formulaic sound, "whiny" lyrics and unintentional popularity with the kind of toxically macho young men the songs are meant to demonize) but out of a personal preference to simply let their music speak for itself. It's gotten to the point that they don't even like being classified as metal; in their own words, "Korn is Korn." As for their own presence in mainstream pop culture, though not averse to commercialism, Korn more or less live by their own principles. On the one hand, they were a staple on mid- to late-90s MTV with hits like "Freak on a Leash," "Falling Away From Me" and "Here to Stay" being shown in semi-regular rotation, as well as a reasonably successful Unplugged special. They've also released a number of remix EPs and, at the height of dubstep's popularity in 2011, recorded an entire dubstep metal album, The Path of Totality . On the other, they've never chased success and have used their early popularity to maintain a healthy "under the radar" reputation as they continue to tour and record albums (the one attempt at their record label asking them to write a single resulted in the deliberately angry and sarcastic "Y'All Want A Single"), and while they reject both labels, they remain a popular act in the heavy metal scene as one of the few truly good nu metal bands. The Path of Totality (album) Regarding the album, vocalist Jonathan Davis stated: "I want to trail-blaze. I want to change things. I want to do things we're not supposed to do. I want to create art that's different and not conform to what's going on. We didn't make a dubstep album. We made a Korn album." The album was made available for pre-order on Amazon and iTunes on October 21, 2011; as well as special bundle packages available on Korn.com. On September 4, 2012 Korn released Korn: The Path of Totality Tour - Live At The Hollywood Palladium on DVD, Blu-ray, and CD through Shout! Factory. The album features production by Skrillex , Datsik , Feed Me , Excision , 12th Planet , Flinch, Downlink, Kill the Noise , and Noisia . Datsik, Downlink, and Jim "Bud" Monti contributed to the mixing process. The band recorded The Path of Totality with electronic producers back in Davis's home studio in Bakersfield during inspired sessions. It was revealed by Jonathan Davis that vocals were actually tracked in the singer's home theater or in closets and hotels everywhere from Korea to Japan. Contents. Music and Lyrical Themes [ edit | edit source ] The Path of Totality is claimed by the band to be a fusion of their traditional sound with dubstep and drum and bass . It is however mostly filled with dubstep/drum and bass due to a lack of their trademark distorted s even-string guitar and lack of f ive string bass . Korn collaborated with a number of producers for the album with each producing their own individual tracks. Roadrunner released the following statement: Background [ edit | edit source ] “ The Path of Totality is unlike any previous Korn release; it's an experimental record which finds the band shifting gears and exploring new territory. For the record, Korn collaborated with some of the leading dubstep and electronic music producers in the world, including Skrillex, Excision, Datsik, Noisia, Kill the Noise, and 12th Planet. The result is something completely new, yet utterly and definitively Korn. ” Korn frontman Jonathan Davis describes the new album as "very well-rounded, with a mix of mellow, upbeat tracks; possibly the most well- proportioned Korn album of all time." In a new biography on Roadrunner Records' official website, Jonathan Davis declares The Path of Totality as "future metal." "We're mixing metal and electro music, and you're not supposed to do that. Since day one, Korn has always been all about going against the grain, experimenting, and trying to take music different places." Metal Hammer, in their November 2011 review of the album, described the album as the birth of "metal-step". Album Title and Packaging [ edit | edit source ] The album title was revealed as The Path of Totality . "The title The Path of Totality refers to the fact that in order to see the sun in a full solar eclipse, you must be in the exact right place in the exact right time," says Jonathan Davis, explaining the story behind the name. "That's how this album came together. I think all the producers feel the same way. I'm not sure it could ever happen again." "I wanted to come up with a name that felt otherworldly," Shaffer explains. "A shadow is cast on the earth when a solar eclipse occurs. The moon has to be perfectly aligned with the sun to create this flawless shadow that completely covers the sun from the earth. Similarly, all of the producers and writers had to come together at the perfect time to cast these songs onto tape." The album is a standard 11-track album, with the deluxe edition featuring extra songs and The Encounter as a bonus DVD. The band's website is also offering special pre-order packages that include a Path of Totality T-shirt and signed lithograph as well as the CD/DVD deluxe combo. Hot Topic offered a signed lithograph with pre-orders for a limited time. Promotion [ edit | edit source ] Korn commenced a world tour to promote the album named The Path of Totality Tour, which offers special VIP packages. "Get Up!" was released as a promotional single, becoming a top ten hit on Billboard' s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The digital single has sold over 200,000 downloads in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan. A lyric video for the single was released on YouTube which accumulated over 3 million views and more than 35,000 likes. The second single, "Narcissistic Cannibal", was released to radio stations and digital music outlets on October 18 and 24, respectively; a music video was filmed in Hollywood by ShadowMachine. A number of new songs have been added to the tour's setlist, including "Kill Mercy Within", "My Wall", and "Way Too Far". "Narcissistic Cannibal" leaked onto YouTube on October 11. It was later released for free download on Korn's official website as a WAV file. A lyric video was also released on both Korn's official YouTube channel and Roadrunner's channel as well. It has since accumulated more than 461,000 views and 6,200 likes. Hot Topic premiered a new track, "Sanctuary", on November 16. Roadrunner Records and Korn started streaming the album in full on December 1, as well as offering lead single "Get Up!" as a free download. "Way Too Far" and "Chaos Lives in Everything" were released as the album's third and fourth singles, respectively. Critical Reception [ edit | edit source ] The album received mixed reviews. Rock Sound gave the album an 8/10 rating, remarking that "It may not be perfect, but Korn have thrown caution to the wind and set out an impressive template for a future sound, for a band doing that nearly 20 years into their career, they deserve your respect." They do note however that the album sounds "a little formulaic" and "monotonous" at times. Spin gave the album a 7/10, saying "Thing is, dubstep's slithering textures actually suit Davis' demented croon". Henry Northmore from The List gave the album a rating of 4/5 saying that "the purists (both metal and dubstep) will probably hate it, but if you are willing to have your brain assaulted from every direction by a new Frankensteinian metal/beats hybrid, you’ll find an album packed with pure adrenaline." Allmusic gave the album 4/5 saying that "despite all the electronics, there’s no mistaking The Path of Totality as a Korn album. and one of their better ones to boot." Alistair Lawrence from BBC Music criticized the album saying that "once the novelty of the squelching, space-aged din they’ve birthed fades, what’s apparent is how little Korn have to say for themselves these days." Sputnikmusic strongly criticized the album giving it a score of 0.5/5 stating that " The Path Of Totality is a truly horrible album, built on a foundation of tired and overwrought stereotypes put together not by just a clueless band, but a bunch of equally confused artists who truly have no proper understanding of the genre they claim to be a part of." Mark Shukla from The Skinny has also given the album the lowest score 1/5, citing "filled to buggery with pointless robot noises and ultrahardcore WUB WUB WUB-iness, The Path of Totality finds Korn welding their own brand of tired miserabilism to aggro productions from the likes of Skrillex, Excision and Downlink." No Ripcord gave the album a 1/10 stating that "it is samey, ugly and spectacularly stupid at the same time." Jason Heller from The A.V.