Singles

Korn - Hold On

Will Metcalfe 28/02/2008

Rating: 2/5

'Hold On' is taken from Korn's eighth studio album which goes by the name of, er, nothing. Untitled comes at a time where the band's unity could easily be questioned, David Silveira-long term drummer has left on 'hiatus' and back in 2005 axe-man Head left the band to embrace Christ.

Yet despite their losses, Korn have managed to produce a single that sounds like it could have been lifted from any of their previous records. Whilst lacking the edge of 'Follow the Leader' and 'Freak on a Leash' or the audacity of 'A.D.I.D.A.S', their latest offering is more than likely
going to appeal to the remnants of their fanbase.

It is without doubt all too easy to make disparaging comments about Korn, yet 'Hold On' is perfectly listenable. But this is Korn, a band often credited with creating nu-metal, and you certainly wouldn't expect them to be described as 'listenable'. The guitars are chugging and sludgy, the
lyrics-even by genre standard, feel hollow and fail to engage you; 'it's a sickness/it's a weakness in the gene pool' and the chorus is little better 'hold on/be strong/so right/so wrong'. Though let's face it, no-one listening to Korn expects a command of language on a par to Camus, but the fact that Davis fails to live up to his own watermark is something of a disappointment.

Whilst nothing is fundamentally wrong with 'Hold On' it has ticks all the boxes the fans will be expecting, complete with the breakdown and dubious scat (not ology), yet the band feels tired. The general feeling of lethargy that surrounds this track suggests that nu-metal, or at least it's giants, lack the capacity to tread new ground and as a result they sound tired, empty and oh so insincere. Shame that.