Korn delivers a hypertensive mix of metal, dubstep
With its schizophrenic beats, oxygen sucking pace and rhythms that register like a limb getting slammed shut in a car door, dubstep is arguably better suited for head banging than dancing.
Leave it to a metal dude, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, to make that connection and lead by example, white knuckling his mic stand, head down beneath his elbows, whipping his neck with such force that his long dark hair fanned out like buckshot exploding from a shotgun barrel.
Five songs into the band’s 90-minute set at The Pearl on Friday, the black-lit stage went from dark to light, as L.E.D. screens swarmed to life with oversaturated colors and twitching, fast-moving imagery.
The switch in visuals matched a corresponding shift in sonics, as Korn went from grinding out a four-song suite of seldom played material from their first two records to a hyperventilating clutch of tracks from their latest album, the digitally enhanced "The Path of Totality," which grafts electronic dance music onto the band’s moody metal rumble.
It wasn’t that jarring of a move, though.
The first songs the band played, early tunes such as "Lies" and "Helmet in the Bush," were propelled by a deep, bass-dominated groove, with guitars accentuating the bottom end as David’s high-strung vocals ranged from animalistic, nonverbal grunts to the kind of gray sky melodies that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Cure record.
All those elements remained in place when Korn delved into dubstep, enhanced by seismic triggered beats that drummer Ray Luzier played live on drum pads rigged to his kit, which hit the band’s sound like a sudden infusion of caffeine to the bloodstream.
It was a dizzying, purposely discomfiting and overwhelming combination, a heavy metal anxiety attack, with songs such as "Chaos Lives in Everything" and "Get Up!" distilling exactly what their titles suggest: pandemonium, stressed adrenal glands, heightened heart rates.
"Sometimes I take things way too far," Davis sang at the end of the "Totality" set, giving voice to dubstep’s chief operating principle.
The music is posited on overstimulation, and as such, its current popularity is both timely and predictable.
Dull moments are no longer tolerated in an age of energy drinks, energy shots, energy tabs (Must have more energy!) and portable, at-your-fingertips entertainment that can transform standing in line at the DMV into an opportunity to catch the latest Adam Sandler flick on an iPhone.
To that end, dubstep takes the outmoded concepts of subtlety, patience and prolonged attention spans to the gas chamber.
That Korn is able to harness dubstep’s uproar into something that their fans can sing along to, which they did with enthusiasm at the Pearl, is no minor achievement.
Still, Korn didn’t linger in this new territory for too long, playing five "Totality" cuts before ending the show with a slew of hits.
It wasn’t a seamless mix between the two styles, but it was close.
"It’s hard to draw the line," Davis sang at one point, so, really, why bother?
Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.