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The Path of Totality Image
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 115 Ratings

  • Summary: On its 10th studio album, the West Coast nu metal band experiments with dubstep, collaborating with several on-the-rise producers, including Skrillex, Datsik, Kill the Noise, and 12th Planet.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 15
  2. Negative: 4 out of 15
  1. 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]
  2. Dec 6, 2011
    80
    Despite all the electronics, there's no mistaking The Path of Totality as a Korn album...and one of their better ones to boot.
  3. Q Magazine
    Dec 22, 2011
    80
    Their boldest and best album for years. [Jan 2012, p.124]
  4. Dec 1, 2011
    60
    They get full marks for effort but, unfortunately, not for the end results.
  5. Dec 8, 2011
    60
    The combination of chugging half-time beats, machine gun riffing and techno's sonic extremism is way more pleasing than it should be, the weakest point being Jonathan Davis's earnest adolescent vocals, which we assume actual Korn fans will enjoy.
  6. Dec 6, 2011
    60
    Sonically, The Path of Totality feels culturally authentic and trendy, while at the same time, pounding enough for mosh pits and dance floors alike.
  7. Dec 13, 2011
    0
    To Korn's credit, The Path Of Totality is its most radical reinvention to date. It's also the worst slab of sludge it ever shat.

See all 15 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 40
  2. Negative: 11 out of 40
  1. Dec 6, 2011
    10
    A successful experiment that results in one of Korn's finest albums. While some of Korn's latest outings have been less then stellar, theA successful experiment that results in one of Korn's finest albums. While some of Korn's latest outings have been less then stellar, the choice to try something new proved right for the group from Bakersfield. Expand
  2. Dec 19, 2011
    9
    I'm not really a Korn fan but I like this cd. I love the electronic infuence. I think fans of Manson and NIN will enjoy. It has thatI'm not really a Korn fan but I like this cd. I love the electronic infuence. I think fans of Manson and NIN will enjoy. It has that industrial edge. Expand
  3. Dec 15, 2011
    8
    I begin by saying that i have been a KoRn fan since 1995 and proudly tell who ever asks that Korn are my Favourite Band and haven been sinceI begin by saying that i have been a KoRn fan since 1995 and proudly tell who ever asks that Korn are my Favourite Band and haven been since 1995. So when i heard they were releasing a Dubstep album i went into it with an open mind! in my opinion they have been struggling for direction since "take a look in the mirror" which i classify their finest effort. The 2 albums that followed that to me seemed like Korn were struggling for direction and in oart those albums were pretty hard to sit through so when Korn III: arrived back to their old sound i was as excited as every KoRn fan. the sound was there but it sounded like they had flogged a dead horse and the album was very forced!

    I have purposely waited a few weeks to post my review after my first few listens through i was disgusted, but then slowly slowly i began to realize that my brain wasnt ready for this sound!!! i see alot of negative reviews for this album exactly the same way i saw negative reviews when KoRn 1st came out due to mixing HIP HOP/METAL now some 15 years later they have mixed DUB STEP/METAL only problem is now we have 9 albums to compare sounds to!

    Path of Totality is a GOOD/GREAT album, some songs are amazing others arent, the sound is KoRn in the future. if you open your mind you will enjoy this and i beg anyone else who has only listened to this album a few times to give it a few weeks b4 reviewing it! ITS FRESH AND ITS ROCKING!!!!!!
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  4. Dec 17, 2011
    6
    There comes a time in every hookers life when she loses her teeth, her body goes South and she realizes, maybe she should pack it in as aThere comes a time in every hookers life when she loses her teeth, her body goes South and she realizes, maybe she should pack it in as a profession. What once was an attractive young flower has now become an old rusted tow truck searching the lost highways of love in hopes of one last pull. Which bring me to the latest Korn release The Path Of Totality. Unlike the hooker in my previous thought, Korn uses modern science to extend its longevity in the market place (kind of like Botox or dental implants) allowing their machine, perhaps past its prime, to carry on with the task at hand! How Vogue of them!!

    There is no denying its a Korn record with the exception that Jonathan Davis and the gang push things a bit more in respect to electronic music and heavy guitars, dare I say dub-step. Narcissistic Cannibal is an example of their evolution and experimentation. Fusing electronics with heavy guitars is nothing new (Marilyn Manson / NIN) and it works. As electronic music and technology evolves, Korn has positioned their way into the dance clubs while still keeping the Ozzfest fans happy.

    I doubt the average dub-step hipster will get it, but some will and I am sure not all the Korn fans will get it, but some will and finally some folks might NOT think that Korn are pandering by jumping on the dub-step train, BUT SOME WILL.

    As the wise owl once told me, "some will, some wont, so what!!"
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  5. Mar 27, 2012
    5
    I am a huge Korn fan, however, since losing Brian "head" Welch on lead guitar to Jesus, the boys have been slipping into the same old crunchyI am a huge Korn fan, however, since losing Brian "head" Welch on lead guitar to Jesus, the boys have been slipping into the same old crunchy chant. This attempt to revitalize the band while riding the crest of the dubstep wave is a good effort but falls short. Skrillex and Korn just don't mesh perfectly despite Skrillex's metal roots. Parts of the album almost seem to run parallel, never touching cohesion. The split between the band and the DJ is all too apparent, and nothing bangs as hard as one might expect. Hey. boys, send some meth to Head and get him hooked back up. Expand
  6. 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?
  7. 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 areUGGGGG... 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!! Expand

See all 40 User Reviews