Follow the Leader
Follow the Leader makes Korn's strange rhythms easier to enter without removing their rough edges. The bass is still dry and percussive, the guitars still bend and scrape, and Jonathan Davis still changes vocal character within a single phrase. The difference is how often those sounds assemble into a chorus with an obvious destination.
Got the Life is the clearest example. Its pulse has a danceable lift, and the bass keeps the spaces between guitar hits active. The chorus feels like a release from pressure rather than a simple increase in volume. Freak on a Leash works through a different kind of suspense, holding its main melodic idea against restless guitar noises before Davis's wordless vocal passage turns the middle of the song into another rhythmic instrument.
Those singles do not tell the whole story. Justin has a springy, uncomfortable momentum that makes its quieter details more disturbing. Dead Bodies Everywhere moves between electronic atmosphere and blunt physical attack, while My Gift to You draws the record toward a slower, more oppressive finish. Guitarists Brian Welch and James Shaffer find plenty of expressive differences inside a deliberately restricted sound. A small change in texture can matter as much as a conventional solo.
The guest appearances produce less consistent results. Ice Cube's presence on Children of the Korn suits the record's rhythmic interests, but the exchange with Fred Durst on All in the Family is an interruption. Its competitive insults reduce a complicated musical personality to a crude joke. The album has already demonstrated how forcefully voices can work together, which makes that detour especially frustrating.
There is a confident band performance underneath the album's spectacle. David Silveria keeps the heavier sections mobile, and the bass gives even the simplest riffs a distinct outline. Follow the Leader is strongest when it trusts that interplay and gives Davis a memorable melody to struggle against. Its best songs connect immediate appeal with unease so effectively that neither quality cancels the other.
