Band:	Korn
Album:	The Path Of Totality
Style:	Dubstep, Alternative metal, Nu metal
Release date:	December 06, 2011
Guest review by:	omne metallum

Disc I
01. Chaos Lives In Everything [feat. Skrillex]
02. Kill Mercy Within [feat. Noisia]
03. My Wall [feat. Excision & Downlink]
04. Narcissistic Cannibal [feat. Skrillex]
05. Illuminati [feat. Excision & Downlink]
06. Burn The Obedient [feat. Noisia]
07. Sanctuary [feat. Downlink & J Devil]
08. Let's Go [feat. Noisia]
09. Get Up! [feat. Skrillex]
10. Way Too Far [feat. 12th Planet, Flinch & Downlink]
11. Bleeding Out [feat. Feed Me]
12. Fuels The Comedy [Special Edition bonus]
13. Tension [Special Edition bonus]

Disc II Special edition bonus DVD: The Encounter
01. Intro/Uber-Time
02. Oildale
03. Pop A Pill
04. The Inspiration
05. Need To
06. Coming Undone
07. Bakersfield
08. Let The Guilt Go
09. Here To Stay
10. Falling Away From Me
11. Crazy Heavy Sh*t
12. Jam #1
13. Throw Me Away
14. Jam #2
15. Move On
16. Crop Circles
17. The Past
18. Jam #3
19. Freak On A Leash
20. Jam #4
21. Are You Ready To Live?
22. Line-Up Changes
23. Jam #5
24. Shoots And Ladders
25. I'm Happy Right Now
26. Clown
27. Got The Life
+ Unlocking access to exclusive content validating the CD through Korn's official website
+ Exclusive interview footage

For an album that followed one called "remember who you are", Korn certainly seemed to lose sight of themselves on first listen with The Path To Totality. 2011 was an odd moment in the career of Korn; having just gotten back on track, the band decided to push the boundaries of their sound and embrace what was then the hot new sound of dubstep to an audience that was... caught off guard to say the least.

Credit is due to Korn for embracing experimentation and once again pushing the boundaries in metal. By 2011, the once unique and groundbreaking sound of theirs had become part of the furniture and was the blueprint for many bands that followed in their footsteps. The Path To Totality sounds like the band wanted to separate themselves from the crowd again, embracing the sounds of dubstep as a means of doing so.

While the incorporation of dubstep plays a big part in the sound of this album, [band]Korn[band] are still very much there; the song structures are very much in the regular mould but they are filled in with electronic sounds on the album. This does work on some tracks; "Get Up!" and "Narcissistic Cannibal" benefit from the electronic elements and fun listens.

This also serves a second benefit that can only be appreciated in hindsight, for while dubstep has long since fallen by the wayside, The Path To Totality hasn't been taken with it. It may well be small consolation, but it doesn't sound very dated, nor does it hinge on the listener being versed with said genre (one day you will have to explain what a Skrillex was to your grandkids), for the album just sounds like Korn suddenly loved electronica rather than became consumed by it.

While it would be easy to deride me as a bandwagon jumper as I critique this album (a whole 9 years too late) and say I'm looking for the negative, have you heard the album recently? If you want to defend "Sanctuary" or "Way Too Far" be my guest, but to me there is little that entertains me. It's not the dubstep that necessarily ruins the album, it's the fact it covers up the fact that there is little flesh on the bones underneath the dubstep. "Way Too Far" is the best example of this; the electronic instrumentation is a shield for what is a very weak track.

Like Davis' bagpipes in "Bleeding Out", the band are there in the music, although they seem to be the supporting act in their own songs, creating the borders of the song, walking the guest artist through it and giving them the parameters in which to fill as the spotlight is put on them. It leads to a stunted performance by the band as a result; they resign themselves to only being the conduit in which to channel other performers rather than making themselves the attraction on their own album.

The Path Of Totality is a well planned but poorly executed attempt by the band to separate themselves from the crowd that had formed around them. While it accomplished that goal, it only did so by passing the keys to their sound to someone else to drive as they themselves shouted directions from the passenger seat. The nostalgia factor is probably the main attraction in wanting to revisit this album.