The Path of Totality
by Korn
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 115
  3. Negative: 24 out of 115
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  1. mrgeebaby
    May 6, 2013
    3
    I have been a fan of KoRn since the mid 90's, i was a major fan as a teenager and really enjoyed their albums up to and including 'Issues'. I did not overly enjoy 'Untouchables', and quite liked 'Take a Look in the Mirror'. After that i really lost interest with the band, i stopped keeping track of album releases and assumed the band would soon split (as members began to quit and recordI have been a fan of KoRn since the mid 90's, i was a major fan as a teenager and really enjoyed their albums up to and including 'Issues'. I did not overly enjoy 'Untouchables', and quite liked 'Take a Look in the Mirror'. After that i really lost interest with the band, i stopped keeping track of album releases and assumed the band would soon split (as members began to quit and record sales dropped). KoRn had appeared to become a bit 'samey', the songs less relevant, the themes became more cheesy, formulated and depressing rather than Raw and dynamic.

    However, when i heard Korn was releasing a Dubstep album i got really excited!!!
    I am not a huge Dubstep fan but some of the darker stuff i have enjoyed, and when i have heard it live at illegal raves it sounded awesome.

    I imagined KoRn could really take Dubstep and turn it on its head much like they did with Hip-Hop in their early days. I imagined lengthy tracks that took the listener on a journey (something like a mix of Tool and NIN was an exciting prospect!). I wanted them to really take Dubstep and move it into an art, take its dark sound and really go to town extracting the emotions that KoRn are famous for. I wanted them to drown us in endless raw dirty sounds, melodies and vocals, vibes and improvisation.

    In short The news of the album re-ignited my interest in a former favourite band i had sidelined.

    Unfortunately upon hearing it I was very underwhelmed!

    The songs are short and formulated, with a Kind of verse chorus -verse approach.
    The Dubstep used is more of the 'Poppy' dubstep out there, it sounds very mainstream instead of alternative and they could have utilized Dubstep producers from the underground scene who suite KoRn's sound much more.
    This demonstrates that J.D had discovered Dubstep rather late in its prime. The producers are the mainstream ones who churn out rubbish to suite large audiences. It is the worst form of Dubstep with no real emotion, adventure or experimentation. No innovation here just a mix of two styles that remain separate to the ear.

    It is a shame, as this album could have been ground breaking, it could have been so much more.
    I later found out that many of the musicians did not even meet each other in person. The Dubstep producers sent KoRn their parts via email. J.D did his vocals and emailed them to Munky ect ect.
    This lack of human interaction during production is clearly visible (audible) as the album lacks character and coherence.

    To conclude: this album lacks character. It is very formulated and has no sense of adventure. The songs have no depth and the album overall feels 'half arsed'.
    I watched the band live during the tour for this album and they only played 2 or 3 songs from it! It was obvious the crowd did not enjoy these dubstep tracks as much as the others.

    J.D seems to have had some sort of mid life crisis with his J-Devil character. This shows on 'The Path of Totality' as it sounds as though he is trying to please some young ,trendy, hip Dubstep producers rather than produce anything creative.

    There goes my interest in Korn again.    … Expand
  2. CloudStrifeVII
    Apr 16, 2012
    2
    After listening to this album and the lastest Jonathan work, ''JDevil'', I can say: Korn is dead.
    Korn's decadence bagan when Head left the band.
    The thing got even worst when David left the band. But Korn was really good anyway. Yes, their first 4 albums where their best work with difference. With Korn III, I thought the band was on the right way: not great, but Korn anyway. And then,    After listening to this album and the lastest Jonathan work, ''JDevil'', I can say: Korn is dead.
    Korn's decadence bagan when Head left the band.
    The thing got even worst when David left the band.
    But Korn was really good anyway.
    Yes, their first 4 albums where their best work with difference.
    With Korn III, I thought the band was on the right way: not great, but Korn anyway.
    And then, this was released.
    I said: What the hell am I listening??, Is this really Korn??
    Get Up and Narcissistic Cannibal are the only really good songs of the album.
    Korn is not Korn any more.
    Now is just another bad dubstep band trying to be popular again.
    Korn is dead.
    :(    … Expand
  3. Bezet
    Dec 6, 2011
    2
    This album is the essence of problems entailed in mainstream music and its narrow-mindedness. Korn got together with the laughing stock of the music production community and created an utterly dreadful album based on stereotypes and musical illiteracy. Although one or two tracks are bearable, the rest is just a total misunderstanding. Moreover despite being so stereotypical and unoriginal,This album is the essence of problems entailed in mainstream music and its narrow-mindedness. Korn got together with the laughing stock of the music production community and created an utterly dreadful album based on stereotypes and musical illiteracy. Although one or two tracks are bearable, the rest is just a total misunderstanding. Moreover despite being so stereotypical and unoriginal, Davis is trying to convince people that it is "groundbreaking" and that they're breaking the rules, hence it is controversial. No Davis, it is not controversial because you are breaking the rules, it is quite the opposite - you're trying to follow the worst trends in a mercenary way. And I won't even start discussing the fact that the whole thing is based on the complete misunderstanding of the dubstep genre, which unfortunately is strengthened by Skrillex's disgracefully lazy approach to the genre.… Collapse
  4. MetalMovieNerd
    Nov 6, 2012
    0
    Korn were probably one of the least offensively bad of the nu metal band in the 90's; That is until now! This is by far the worst album created and don't make the "oh, you don't understand dubstep" or "Your closed minded" arguments. This album's production is dreadful and there is no musicianship to this album. At least on previous albums I could say the musicianship isn't too bad. But onKorn were probably one of the least offensively bad of the nu metal band in the 90's; That is until now! This is by far the worst album created and don't make the "oh, you don't understand dubstep" or "Your closed minded" arguments. This album's production is dreadful and there is no musicianship to this album. At least on previous albums I could say the musicianship isn't too bad. But on this album its truly bad. And I'm going to prove this album is bad to all of the people who claim this album is "good". If this album is good, how come its the same music at different tempos and different lyrics? Seriously?! Making the same "wub-wub-wub" noises for 5-6 minutes on a computer isn't music. Its manufacturing the idea that anybody with a Mac can be famous and you don't need to be a gifted musician to make music that's successful. That's truly a disgrace to everything that music used to stand for and whoever supports it should be ashamed.… Expand
  5. djcmusic
    Jan 7, 2012
    0
    Screw this album, screw dub step. This is not a korn album, this is just a bad experiment by korn. This album is going to feel like a middle finger to korn fans of their metal sound. If you think this is hardcore, if you think dub step is hardcore, in my personal opinion, your an idiot and a poser. listen to some real hardcore music, this is was just a bunch of electronic crap that doesn'tScrew this album, screw dub step. This is not a korn album, this is just a bad experiment by korn. This album is going to feel like a middle finger to korn fans of their metal sound. If you think this is hardcore, if you think dub step is hardcore, in my personal opinion, your an idiot and a poser. listen to some real hardcore music, this is was just a bunch of electronic crap that doesn't mix well with davis's vocals at all. while listening to each song I found myself getting very angry, but not in that wonderful pumped up korn way. i thought just what am I listening too! this is garbage! korn 3 had me all excited too.… Expand
  6. XLX
    Dec 6, 2011
    2
    How can I get this elctrocrap out of my Korn album. Lyrics are pretty much what anyone who is a Korn fan or familiar with Korn would expect but that is where the similarity ends. With Korn taking a hard right off the cliff into a Dubstep genre album. The sound is hard to listen to, it is more of an assault on my ears than music with the electric sounds that ruin the album. A few of theHow can I get this elctrocrap out of my Korn album. Lyrics are pretty much what anyone who is a Korn fan or familiar with Korn would expect but that is where the similarity ends. With Korn taking a hard right off the cliff into a Dubstep genre album. The sound is hard to listen to, it is more of an assault on my ears than music with the electric sounds that ruin the album. A few of the songs have grown on me however I would like them 100% more if the electric was taken out.

    Pros: Lyrics are mostly good
    Cons: Electric sounds ruin the music
    Recommend: No
    Total Tracks: 13
    Liked Tracks: 2
    Score:15% (Rounded up to a 2/10)    … Expand
  7. Rewo
    Dec 9, 2011
    2
    Before the last album Jonathan claimed that they cannot do same music like the used to in the 90's because they ain't no high teens anymore. And now seeing them going into overhyped desired by teens genre literally makes me sick. I am not saying this album is bad overall, it's just fatal for Korn stndards and their die hard fans like me. It's even worse than what Saint Anger was forBefore the last album Jonathan claimed that they cannot do same music like the used to in the 90's because they ain't no high teens anymore. And now seeing them going into overhyped desired by teens genre literally makes me sick. I am not saying this album is bad overall, it's just fatal for Korn stndards and their die hard fans like me. It's even worse than what Saint Anger was for Metallica. Huge dissapointment.… Expand
  8. Split1
    Sep 9, 2015
    0
    This stinks INCREDIBLY bad............................................................................................................................
  9. Hank_Shrader
    Jan 12, 2016
    1
    The Path of Totality by Korn. A german review.
    Good old Korn gepaart mit Dubstep. Braucht man das? Antwort: Nein.
    Diese Platte ist eine ganz schwache musikalische Darbietung.
    Selbst die eher schwachen See You On The Other Side und dessen namenloser Nachfolger sind um Längen besser. Ergo, ganz schwach: 1/10
  10. xxDylanxx
    Oct 27, 2014
    0
    UGGGGG... This album is the worst Korn album ever!! the song are to short, They all sound the same with this "Dupstep" stuff.. I know they are trying to so called "Experiment" but this is by far one of the worst Korn albums EVER!!
  11. cvnefedmn
    Feb 8, 2022
    3
    worst album of the Korn.This album a dubstep album don't waste your time listening to this.Who really listens to dubstep in real life?

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Most Discussed Album of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 15
  3. Negative: 4 out of 15
  1. PopMatters
    Jan 10, 2012
    70
    Surprisingly good genre-crossover experiment.
    Read full review
  2. Kerrang!
    Jan 4, 2012
    80
    They're still aggressive, heavy and furious, but this new approach also makes them relevant, incisive and swaggering again. [10 Dec 2011, p.50]
  3. Prefix Magazine
    Jan 3, 2012
    30
    How does this sucker sound? Not very good.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »