Korn honored for nearly 25 years of blowing our minds
Stone Sour/Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor didn’t mince any words explaining why Korn were deserving of the Vanguard award at last night’s Alternative Press Music Awards show.
Read more: Take a look at the rest of our 2017 APMAs coverage
In their first AP cover story (AP 110, September 1997), frontman Jonathan Davis casually admitted, “Everything about this band is heavy.” Davis never assumed any kind of tough-guy stance. While his band—guitarists James “Munky” Shaffer, Brian “Head” Welch, Reggie “Fieldy” Arvizu and drummer Ray Luzier—flexed some serious sonic muscle, Davis sang, barked, cooed, rapped and growled his way through the darkest parts of his psyche, ruminating on the most harrowing parts of his life.
Korn’s ability to create compelling songs and atmospheres for a dedicated, die-hard following for the better part of two decades is both inspiring and perplexing. The former because you can hear their influence on a new generation of bands both obvious (Cane Hill, Sworn In and DED, to name a scant few) and curious (Touché Amoré frontman Jeremy Bolm remains a huge fan). The latter because you’d think that after 12 albums in nearly 25 years, there would be nothing left emotionally to inspire Davis’ decidedly opaque ruminations or the band’s gargantuan grooves. But as the undisputed architects of nü metal, welding hip-hop grooves to metal’s bone-snapping crunch, as well as making stunning detours (Untouchables, The Path Of Totality), Korn’s contributions to the canon of rock are both established and evolving.
“Korn has always been more than music. What an honor to be able to walk with fans who say your music has helped me through hard times or saved my life,” commented the band.
Watch their acceptance speech below!
Catch Korn on tour this summer:
07/19 – Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater
07/20 – Mansfield, MA @ XFINITY Center
07/23 – Hartford, CT @ XFINITY Theater
07/25 – Toronto, ON @ The Molson Amphitheater
07/26 – Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
07/27 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
07/29 – Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
07/30 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
08/01 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbed Music Theatre
08/02 – Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
08/12 – Hildesheim, Germany @ M’Era Luna Festival
08/13 – Courtrai, Belgium @ Alcatraz Festival
08/15 – Slupsk, Poland @ Charlotta Valley Amphitheatre
08/17 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Grona Lund Tivoli
08/19 – Dinkelsbuehl, Germany @ Summer Breeze
08/20 – Pratteln, Switzerland @ Konzertfabrik Z7
08/21 – Saarbruecken, Germany @ Saarlandhalle
08/23 – London, UK @ o2 Academy Brixton
08/25 – Charleville-Mezieres, France @ Cabaret Vert Festival
08/27 – Reading & Leeds, UK @ Reading & Leeds Festival
09/22 – High Elevation Rock Festival @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
09/23 – High Elevation Rock Festival @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
10/28 – Toluca, Mexico @ Knotfest Mexico
Read more: Take a look at the rest of our 2017 APMAs coverage
