Gamer News

Sonic Mercury,sonic mercury gaming news, Mortal Kombat 10?

Ed Boon co-creator of Mortal Kombat has been tweeting cryptic messages that decipher into a countdown which ends on June 2nd. Needless to say their is a LOT of speculation going on. Is it a sequel to the well received Injustice: Gods Among Us title featuring DC Comics all stars? or is it the much rumored Mortal Kombat 10? Ed Boon is certainly having fun with fans with tweets like this.

It is possible that we may get an announcement for both Mortal Kombat 10 and Injustice 2. The good news is hopefully we will only have to wait 26 days to get to the bottom of this mystery. E3 starts June 7th so if Ed Boon does indeed have a new game announcement up his sleeve it might be only a few days before we get to see it in action. Recently production on a Classic Mortal Kombat HD remake was cancelled in favor of just porting the original titles with online support. Perhaps this announcement will shed some light on why the remake was cancelled.

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Gamer News

nintendo,e3,video games,sonic mercury

Nintendo will not be holding a traditional conference at E3 for the second year in a row. Instead Nintendo is opting for a similar approach to last year’s E3. Nintendo will have a presence at E3 showing off new software and hardware on the showroom floor but instead of the traditional conference they will broadcast an E3 specific online special called the “Nintendo Digital Event.” Along with the “Digital Event” Nintendo will be broadcasting live all 3 days from E3 from the “Nintendo Treehouse.” Nintendo will also be holding a Super Smash Bros Tournament during E3 among 16 high skilled players. Like last year, Nintendo will again have a presence in Best Buys across the country. This year the new Smash Bros will be playable on the Wii U for fans to try at participating Best Buys nationally.

I think the original reasoning for Nintendo to take this approach last year had a lot to do with the extreme hype and momentum Sony and Microsoft were carrying into last year’s E3. It also had to do with the fact that the Wii U was tanking and overall Nintendo hardware sales were down. Opting out of a traditional conference felt like Nintendo bowing out of the ring to let Sony and Microsoft duke it out for console supremacy, and to an extant that is what happened. On the other hand this new approach by Nintendo is perhaps more clever than credited. The Wii U is still tanking. Even after Nintendo severely cut yearly sales expectations the Wii U still failed to meet the quota. It’s no secret that while the Nintendo DS is still selling well, Nintendo as a whole is hemorrhaging money.

Foregoing the traditional conference saves Nintendo money. By having a live Nintendo specific channel in the “Nintendo Treehouse,” Nintendo has guaranteed coverage of everything it wants to show off during the entirety of E3. They don’t have to rely on third party outlets like IGN or Rev3Games to provide coverage on their products. This way Nintendo can ensure anything and everything they want to show off will get full coverage. The downside is that it is largely possible the only people who will tune in to the “Nintendo Treehouse” are the hardcore Nintendo fans, people who already own the Wii U, and therefore a limited audience with limited potential to grow the console install base. Showcasing a new game at local Best Buys has more potential to reach a larger audience and is a cool way to try to share the E3 experience with people who may never get to go to the actual expo.

In the end Nintendo does have fairly deep pockets so it is unlikely they will be going anywhere soon. Will this new approach to E3 payoff in the long run? If nothing else at least Nintendo is making headlines by changing it up. I mean I wrote this post right here about it. There was a rumor circulating recently that Nintendo might unveil a new console this year and just cut their losses entirely with the Wii U. I find this really hard to believe as research and development for a new console is really expensive and Nintendo is no stranger to struggling hardware. Outside of the Wii, the N64 and the Gamecube both had modest install bases compared to their competitors. E3 2014 starts June 10th this year and thus another chapter in gaming is only a month away. Where Nintendo’s story goes from there is anyone’s guess.

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Gamer News

Wolfenstein The New Order,Gamer News, Sonic Mercury,Z3ROTH3RT33N

In my last post about Wolfenstein: The New Order I had mentioned that some stealth elements would be present in the gameplay. Yesterday a new YouTube trailer was released on Bethesda Softworks official page and it sheds some light on just how stealth plays into Wolfenstein. The trailer subtitled Stealth Vs. Mayhem shows two alternate ways of approaching the same level. From the trailer it appears that stealth is actually quite viable and it appears more involved than previously believed. Using silencers and picking locks, protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz quietly progresses, dispatching unsuspecting enemies along the way. The mayhem approach is pretty self explanatory. Go in high profile with guns blazing, which admittedly looks like a lot of fun and probably the way I would play the game. A few high powered weapons are shown off as well as the ability to duel wield different weapons. Let’s be honest though hearing me describe this stuff isn’t nearly as fun as watching it for yourself so here is the link to Bethesda’s Official YouTube page so you can check it out for yourself. I would say the gameplay trailer is probably NSFW as it is pretty violent. You can read the disclaimer at the beginning of the video and decide for yourself. Wolfenstein is slated for a May 20th release for PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, XBOX One as well as on the PC and of course if you pre-order it you will be given access to the DOOM beta. For more on Wolfenstein: The New Order and games like it subscribe to Sonic Mercury’s mailing list at the bottom of the page.

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Gamer News

DOOM 4, New DOOM

No there is not a DOOM Wolfenstein hybrid game coming out soon but there is a connection.  Both titles are being published by Bethesda Softworks and if you pre-order Wolfenstein The New Order before May 20th you will gain access to the DOOM beta. May 20th is the date of the U.S. release. DOOM originally called DOOM 4 was announced in 2008 and has had a rocky development cycle with rumors indicating that a version of the game was completely scrapped in 2011. John Carmack former head of iD Software the developer of DOOM was the one who made the original announcement for this new DOOM game back in 2008 and recently left iD this past November to work exclusively at Oculus VR. It is also of note that iD Software had made it public that development on all other projects had been put on hold so the team could concentrate solely on finishing DOOM.

 

Wolfenstein The New Order once again finds series protagonist William “B.J.” Blazkowicz fighting against Nazi foes. Only this time “B.J.” wakes up in the 1960’s in a world where the Nazi’s won WWII. The New Order promises old school fps game play with plenty of nods to the original source material including familiar enemies and weapons as well as hidden pathways. Stealth elements have been added. Taking place in an alternate timeline and being a Wolfenstein game bizarre science fiction weapons and enemies will also be present. Here is a link to the gameplay trailer on the Bethesda Softworks YouTube homepage so that you can take a look for yourself. (NSFW Violence and Language) You can decide if you think it is worth it to pre-order Wolfenstein The New Order just to get some early hands on time with the new DOOM.

 

Personally I am excited to play both Wolfenstein and the new DOOM. Being someone who grew up with the original titles I think such storied franchises deserve a spot at the top again. I will say that the last title I played by iD Software Rage blew me away. It had its flaws. The story and characters could have been fleshed out a lot more. The loading times were a bit long and the overall game was way too short for me, mostly because I was having way too much fun. Overall though I thought the graphics were absolutely stunning. The weapons customization, in game physics and enemy AI made for highly entertaining and addictive game play. The character designs were highly detailed and I really enjoyed traversing the wasteland in custom vehicles it really added to the atmosphere of the world.

 

Rage came out 3 years ago and despite the previously mentioned flaws it still sets the bar pretty high. I’m very excited to see what a new iD Software game looks and plays like post Rage. On that same note I’m hesitant to get my hopes up. There have been many cases of long gestating games released in the last few years that have been sub par to say the least. So it is with guarded anticipation that I look forward to playing the newest entry in the DOOM series. Needless to say my fingers are crossed. Wolfenstein The New Order will be available on PS3, PS4, XBOX 360 and XBOX One.

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Horror News

Survival Horror

A new gameplay trailer for The Evil Within has surfaced. The trailer shows off many new areas including a forest suggesting the world for this new survival horror title may be more diverse then has been shown previously. Up until now The Evil Within appeared to take place all inside one building but it is now apparent that this is not the case. There is also a scene showing the main character walking towards a barn through a field of surreal sunflowers suggesting that our journey through the game may feature lapses in sanity. Many different creatures, monsters and other nasties can be seen as well.

 

The Evil Within is being developed by Bethesda Softworks and directed by Shinji Mikami the creator of the original Resident Evil Games. Mr. Mikami has previously stated that he was unhappy with the current state of survival horror games and began creation of The Evil Within with the intent of bringing the genre back to its roots. Mr. Mikami has also stated this will be the last game that he directs. According to the new trailer the release date for The Evil Within will be August 26th 2014. As this trailer was created for this weekend’s Pax East conference in Boston I think it is safe to assume this is the U.S. release date. It was speculated The Evil Within could potentially have been in development until 2015 so it is exciting to know we will be able to get our hands on this one sooner than later. Here is the link to the new trailer via the official Bethesda YouTube channel. The Evil Within. (NSFW – Violence and Blood)

 

I will say I definitely get an old-school Resident Evil vibe from the atmosphere in this trailer. The good news is we will only have to wait a few months to find out if this new title makes good on the promise of old-school survival horror. For more on The Evil Within and games like it subscribe to SonicMercury.com’s emailing list at the bottom of the page and subscribe to the links provided at the end of this article for even more updates.

 

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Gamer News

Grand Theft Auto Online

Rockstar has announced features for its upcoming spring update for Grand Theft Auto V Online. The first part of the update should be available next week according to Rockstar’s online social club. This will be a capture creator which will allow players to make their own custom capture missions. Players will be given options to choose whatever weapons, pick-ups, and other undefined variables as you see fit in these custom missions.

 

Also slated for spring is the High Life update. This update does not yet have specified release date but it promises more options for high end apartments. The High Life update also promises the ability for GTA V Online players to own 2 properties now complete with a second garage. Some new clothing items will come with the update as well as the Bullpup Rifle, Dinka Thrust motorcycle and 3 new high-end cars including the super class Pegassi Zentorno. But the most interesting part of this update is something called the Mental State player statistic. The Mental State statistic will allow players to see just how safe they really are around the players joining them in their online sessions.

 

Finally the long awaited heists are being promised in the spring updates for GTA Online. You will be able to team up with Crew members or other mercenaries on your mission to commit simulated grand larceny. Unfortunately there are still no specific dates so hopefully we see this date sooner than later. More holiday updates are promised to come for GTA Online and some story mode DLC is on the way for later this year.

 

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Gamer News

Oculus Rift, Sony's Project Morphues
Sony's Project Morpheus
Sony’s Project Morpheus: Image Courtesy of IGN

Sony has indeed been working on a Virtual Reality headset for the PS4. Titled Project Morpheus, I’m guessing a reference to the Matrix character of the same name, the new hardware was unveiled at this years Game Developers Conference or GDC. Amongst excitement for the announcement of this new hardware there have been several stories related to virtual reality unfolding in recent weeks.

 

First and foremost the acquisition of what logically would be the biggest competitor of Project Morpheus, the Oculus Rift was bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars. A very impressive feat considering the Oculus Rift began inception as a kickstarter campaign. However pillars within the gaming community haven’t been so enthralled. The fear that this hardware with unknown potential to revolutionize gaming as we know it will now instead be reduced to a tool for collecting consumer information on people under the guise of “social networking” is very real.

The Oculus Rift sold to Facebook for $2 Billion
The Oculus Rift sold to Facebook for $2 Billion

The creator of the popular sandbox game Minecraft, Markus “Notch” Persson immediately cancelled development on a version of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift as soon as the deal with Facebook went through. Notch was quoted on twitter as saying “I just cancelled the deal. Facebook creeps me out.” Many others in the gaming community have expressed similar concerns. Most of the people who have already received development kits for the Oculus Rift are PC developers/enthusiasts who intended the device for gaming experiences.

 

Adam Sessler of Rev3Games made some good points on the future of virtual reality gaming as a whole. He said developing software specifically for hardware like the Oculus Rift will be expensive, especially early on while developers learn how the hardware works. The other thing to consider is at this moment both the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus are not available to public consumers. The starting price point of such hardware is as of now unknown and the relative number of people who can afford, let alone want a virtual reality headset is unknown. With all of that in mind it must be understood that developing full-fledged AAA titles for a virtual reality headset could still be many years down the line if ever.

 

For companies to even consider developing a full-fledged title to utilize virtual reality hardware the install base will have to be pretty high. Otherwise the effort simply isn’t cost effective. Instead Adam Sessler suggested that we should adjust our expectations of what virtual reality as a whole will be. It is more likely we will see applications made by smaller development teams with the goal of emphasizing different experiences, like exploration or  something like skydiving. There is also interest in virtual reality for aid in scientific and medical research as well.

 

Palmer Luckey the creator of the Oculus Rift assures fans that Facebook was the best choice for purchasing the rights to his hardware. Stating that if he had sold to Apple or Microsoft they would have gutted his company and used whatever parts they saw fit to appease their own agendas. Luckey says that Facebook has promised to leave his team intact and allow them the freedom they need to develop the Oculus Rift appropriately for consumers.

 

Be it Facebook’s Oculus Rift or Sony’s Project Morpheus it seems the age of virtual reality is upon us. The applications for gaming and otherwise seem quite promising. YouTube is already full of people who have modified current games to work on virtual reality hardware. To reference Morpheus from the first Matrix movie we will have to see if people take the blue pill and “wake up as if nothing has happened” or “take the red pill and see how far the rabbit hole goes.”

 

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Horror Spotlight

Alien: Isolation is a video game being developed by The Creative Assembly and being Published by Sega. The game is based on the franchise of the same title and if any of you reading this are at all familiar with the last Alien franchise based video game to be released you are probably cringing at the very thought of playing another game within this universe. Let it be known that I am one of those who did get burned by the Gearbox debacle. As such I am definitely hesitant of a new game based in the Alien universe. One major reason so far to exhale is that Gearbox doesn’t seem to have any thing to do with this game.

 

There are already some gameplay demos out for Alien: Isolation and I will make sure to include something so you can check it out for yourself. Right off the bat what is very striking about this game in comparison to Aliens: Colonial Marines are the visuals. From what I have seen the graphics really do seem next gen and the lighting really looks good. The next thing of major contrast to A:CM is that you are definitely not a soldier in this game or any kind of formidable combatant for that matter. You play as Amanda, Ripley’s daughter 14 years after the events of Alien and the game is strongly influenced by Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror classic and not James Cameron’s action heavy 1986 sequel.

 

From what I have seen Alien: Isolation is the polar opposite of A:CM. Instead of fighting droves of mindless enemies there is supposedly only one Alien. Armed with the classic handheld radar from the movies you slowly creep around a seemingly abandined ship gathering tools to help your escape all the while being stalked. In an interview I heard on IGN about this game they said that the people at The Creative Assembly have put a major emphasis on staying true to H. R. Geiger’s original design of the Alien and even pointed out details of the monster in still shots from the game that include the humanoid skull that is supposed to be visible beneath the creatures frontal lobe.

 

My impressions from the actual game play are that this game has the potential to be pretty scary. Even in just the first few seconds of the demo the atmosphere is effective in conveying a sense of tension. Navigating in the first perspective the sense of being alone is amplified by an uneasy quiet and the knowledge that their is at least one other very hostile presence on board with you. Your obvious first response is to never let go of your handheld radar but doing so partly obscures your vision and distracts you from possible danger because you are looking down at the radar instead of monitoring your surroundings.

 

You must consider the consequences of your movements. While it may be tempting to just make a B line for a possible escape route, your heavy footsteps will alert the Xenomorph to your location so it is imperative to plan your actions wisely. Instead moving slowly and choosing your path meticulously will likely award a more prosperous journey, although it will be no less daunting.

 

When researching this title the people from Outside Xbox mentioned that given that Colonial Marines was so negatively received publisher Sega likely would have scrapped Alien: Isolation if wasn’t for A:CM being pushed back from its initial release so many times. By the time A:CM finally came out A:I was too far in production for Sega to consider scrapping it so maybe something good can still come out of that disaster.

 

Alien: Isolation is slated for a Q4 2014 release on PS3, PS4, XBOX 360 and XBOX One. While what has been shown so far is promising it will be interesting to see how the game ultimately executes on that promise. For obvious reasons its hard to whole heartedly believe in this game but I am hoping that this will finally be the Alien game that we can legitimately be excited for. In the mean time here is a link from the CommunityGame YouTube channel which not only shows a trailer using actual game play but also contains a brief behind the scenes segment with the developers so you can form your own opinions.

 

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Music Spotlight

KoRn is a band that has been around for twenty years. They are also one of the most polarizing bands of the last twenty years. Although their songs are often heavy and frequently incorporates metal style growls courtesy of frontman Jonathan Davis, KoRn’s style is too erratic and too nontraditional for many fans of heavy metal. On the flip side KoRn’s music is way too heavy and occasionally vulgar for many mainstream rock fans. Forging their own musical style inspired by heavy metal and influenced by hip-hop they were credited in the late 90’s as creating a whole new genre of music that would inspire a long list of copycats and would later become known as nu-metal, which is a stigmatic title even the members of KoRn resent as many people use it as an implication of musical ineptitude. Still its not often a band comes along that is so different it comes to define a whole new genre of music.

 

KoRn is going strong well over a decade after the nu-metal scene has all but disappeared. A few bands from that era still exist but none have reached the level of success that KoRn has achieved. Despite the polarizing nature of KoRn’s music since their self-titled album debuted in 1994 the band has sold over 35 million records worldwide with 11 of their official releases peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Eight of their official releases are certified Platinum or Multi-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and one album is certified Gold, 28 of their 41 singles have charted and they have even won 2 Grammy Awards.

 

In 2005 founding member Brian “Head” Welsh, guitarist as well as backup vocalist for KoRn announced his departure from the band. This was big news as KoRn developed their unique sound around a 2 guitarist dynamic and many were left to wonder how the band would carry on without him. “Take a Look In the Mirror” was KoRn’s last studio release with “Head” and was KoRn’s heaviest album overall at that time. The first album without “Head” was “See You On the Other Side.” It was sort of like KoRn meets Alice in Wonderland. It wasn’t quite as heavy as “Take a Look in the Mirror” but “See You on the Other Side” was a very interesting follow up full of bizarre themes and creativity. I actually caught KoRn on tour for this album at the Continental Arena in the Meadowlands and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. The stage show was just crazy and the band sounded great. They had a second drum kit stage left with one guy playing the drum kit sitting down in a full suit wearing a pig mask and another guy in a full suit wearing a rabbit mask leaning over the drum kit from the outside of it and both guys in suits were playing simultaneously with each other and the drummer from KoRn. They also had a giant brain walk across the stage on its own brain stem and all of the wrinkles in the brain looked like people intertwined. While that happened KoRn played over 5 different songs of theirs from different albums into each other ultimately finishing with the song they had started with. The show was amazing.

 

After the “See You On the Other Side” tour ended founding drummer David Silveria went on an indefinite hiatus and the rest of KoRn followed up the success of that album with an “MTV Unplugged” album recorded live at MTV studios in NYC. To be generous it was awful. KoRn’s influences and styles just don’t lend themselves well to the unplugged sound. Listening to KoRn unplugged is like having someone like Skrillex do an acoustic set, while mildly entertaining at first for the sheer novelty it presents the whole thing quickly overstays its welcome and you start begging for the love of god pick up an electric instrument and plug it in!

 

The same year as the unplugged album KoRn released their “Untitled” album. There is little doubt that losing two founding members of the band had put the remaining band mates in a bit of a strange place. Drummer Terry Bozzio of Frank Zappa fame was hired to record on the album with a ridiculously huge drum kit. This album showcased a wide variety of instruments experimenting with different sounds. The lyrics explore the feelings of a band struggling with the emotions of losing two major members and while there is definitely some unmistakable hostility on this album it is undercut with an overwhelming reality of a band that realizes it must go on into the unknown with or without those who helped to start it. Ultimately even without “Head” and the recent departure of David the band’s efforts still yielded some great songs. The lyrical writing showed more growth and the end result of “Untitled’s” over all sound is still without a doubt a KoRn album.

 

“KoRn III: Remember Who You Are” is a raw album. Stripped any effects from previous entries in the KoRn library this album was recorded on analog tapes to give it a sound familiar to the early days of KoRn when they were just starting out and to help the band tap into their roots. Sort of a, “to go forward we need to remember where we came from” kind of thing. The album features the drum styling of Ray Luzier who drummed for David Lee Roth for many years. “KoRn III” is an album just dripping with hostility. The songs still don’t showcase that heavy bass that was heard back on “Take a Look in the Mirror” but the frantic guitars paired with Jonathan Davis’s hostile vocals is palpable. The album is dripping with manic anger. For some reason, whether or not its the analog recording I am unsure, the songs on this album can occasionally sound a bit flat as if the full depth of the instruments were not captured properly and muffled just a bit. This album showcases some of KoRn’s best lyrics with lines like, “love without affection is hate without the pain, life is a connection separate from the brain.” Its a good album but it just lacks that old-school flavor of the original KoRn albums for it to be a true return to the classic style of KoRn partially due to the analog recording style but also in part because for long time fans of KoRn to truly return to its roots they would need to recapture that 2 guitar dynamic that defined KoRn’s sound.

 

The follow up to “KoRn III” was “The Path of Totality” a dubstep infused KoRn album. An idea that many longtime fans myself included were fairly skeptical about. I mean it kind of made sense for KoRn to go this route as a reaction to recording their last album with such a minimalist approach to go full out into big effects, electric sounds and whatnot but still dubstep. I get a lot of the concerns with this album having all the instruments going through processors that were manipulated by various dubstep artists and how easy it would be for the instrument to get lost in the mix. To be honest that does happen on this album. It took me a while to really give this album a shot. Once I gave it a fair shot and listened to it all the way through I realized that they actually pulled it off. Somehow KoRn had taken dubstep and made it work. Not only did they make it work in many regards it was the best album KoRn had done in years. In regards to “The Path of Totality,” KoRn had created their first album in years that didn’t sound like them experimenting with instruments or trying to recapture something that was long gone and instead whole heartedly trying something new. This was the first album since “See You On the Other Side” to feel like a full fledged KoRn album again.

 

Early this year a photo surfaced of lead singer Jonathan Davis hugging estranged guitarist Brian “Head” Welch on stage and the rumors began. Would “Head” join the band again? Would he record on a new album? We soon learned the answer to both questions were yes and all we could do was wait and see what would happen. Enter “The Paradigm Shift.” This is the best thing to come from Korn in over a decade. My first instinct with this album is to tell anyone who is even remotely into KoRn or ever thought about listening to them to put this album into their music player crank the sound to 11 and break the fucking knob off. While the dubstep album strangely worked for KoRn this album is the one KoRn fans have been hoping to get for years. It takes all the different musical experiences from KoRn’s past and distills them into a pure and potent cocktail. The songs feature some of the strongest structure and writing ever from KoRn. The soundscapes combine with Jonathan Davis’s vocals to create songs that are truly haunting. For instance on the song “Punishment Time” which features one of KoRn’s best riffs ever as well as choruses the song breaks its high tempo and falls into a soft verse out of nowhere before it crescendo’s back into its vicious riff. The experience is surreal. Its schizophrenic its reminiscent of the early albums from KoRn and at times genuinely feels like your listening to the inner workings of a poetic psychotic but its a refined insanity that takes the listening experience to the next level.

 

The overall sound is sort of like a bionic evolution of KoRn. The sound is familiar enough to remind you of the early days but its like the protagonist at the end of a good action movie. The fight to the end was arduous and the protagonist needed to grow to overcome their obstacles to search within themselves and remember why they joined the fight in the first place and why they must still fight. This album is that scene at the end of that action movie, after the protagonist has defeated the final boss and he emerges from the burning rubble of his enemies lair, beaten, burnt, and smoking but they still stand, tougher and wiser for the experience. The years during “Head” and David’s departure from KoRn had left the band in a bit of an identity crisis but it also inspired some of the bands most creative works. After losing 2 core members of the band, KoRn had found a way to carry on and develop musically. “The Pardigm Shift” is not just a triumphant return for “Head” to the band it is the band’s triumphant return to form.

 

David Silveria may never return as drummer but Ray Luzier is also a great drummer who’s style suits KoRn very well. KoRn is not metal and they aren’t rock n’ roll they are just KoRn. They are heavy, often angry with psychotic tendencies, at times schizophrenic and they just wouldn’t be the same any other way. Every song on “The Paradigm Shift” could be an anthem in its own right but personal favorites would be “Love and Meth,” “What We Do,” “Mass Hysteria,” “Punishment Time,” “Lullaby for a Sadist,” “It’s All Wrong,” and “Tell Me What You Want.” I am not saying this is the be-all, end-all KoRn album but it is a lean album that proves KoRn is still very much a relevant band in the music world with plenty of good new and interesting music to offer. “Head’s” return seems to have really energized the band and it will be interesting to see where KoRn goes from here.

 

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