Out of seemingly nowhere, nu metal grandfathers Korn dropped their first new song in four years, "Reward The Scars," as a tie-in for Blizzard's Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred. As it turns out, the legacy acts in our nu world are still kicking around, and while we've yet to hear about anything regarding a new album from the Bakersfield legends, here are a few of the Agenda's opinions on the new cut.
Also, in case anyone wanted to feel old, the original Diablo was published just months after Korn's second album Life is Peachy. To think now that the band are forever linked to the iconic ARPG franchise is wild.
rosiegothicc, Staff Writer: Before I say anything, I'll admit I'm excited for anything Blizzard-related that's not mired in controversy. I've been a Diablo fan since I was 18 and a fan of Korn since I was 16. However, I don't know why bands crap out a song without really giving it a shot. This doesn't feel anything like Diablo. Why don't bands explore lore of the source material? I get there is some exceptions to this where lore doesnt need to be included, be it Halo and Quake but come on. Magic: The Gathering did exclusive in-game music with Matt Heafy of Trivium that's more faithful to the lore and what makes it great, and it's something as obtuse as a trading card game.
What makes this Korn track a Diablo song? It's a really fun Korn track, but what makes it Diablo? Outside of lyrics of pain and suffering, what makes this a track of the characters of Sanctuary? Don't get me wrong, the instrumentation is peak Korn, but I don't understand this songs existence more than just a lazy brand tie-in.
Drew Davis, Staff Writer: I've been listening to this one on loop, trying to figure out why it doesn't grab me the way the best Korn tracks do. I think it comes down to dynamics. When everything is balls to the wall, you run the risk of nothing feeling balls to the wall. Notice how that weird little post-chorus bit with just Jonathan, drums, and bass is at the same level as everything before? Arriving at roughly the same level as everything that came before, it feels like a loosely sketched idea copy-and-pasted into the final track edit. Similarly, the bridge barely adds anything to the song, neither escalating things nor shifting the track into new territory. And with Head's lead lines pushed back in the mix, the song is sorely lacking in atmosphere.
Imagine a song like "Here to Stay" without that middle section—it's just not the same. Surprisingly, the best moment is that grunt from Davis right before the bridge. Despite the noticeable drop in audio quality (it was probably something he tossed off in the studio), it adds some nice, over-the-top flair. The track could have used more of that ridiculousness, honestly.
By the time the song gets to the outro, from which the song derives its title, it just feels like more of the same. Overall, the track lacks the fire and inspiration the band was able to summon even in recent years. Compared to pretty much anything from 2019's The Nothing, this new track can't help but feel a bit undercooked. I'm still looking forward to whatever they put out next. Hopefully this one's basically a glorified B-side, and that's why it's attached to a video game. The music video is pretty gnarly though.
Lucia Z. Liner, Editor-In-Chief: Perhaps my opinion on the track is uninformed, as I'm not really into Diablo. I can understand the argument of this feeling not like Diablo, as the demons and dark fantasy vibes would lend themselves to something more sinister and, admittedly, probably not in the nu metal vein. I'm not saying they couldn't make it work, but it does seem like swimming upstream in that regard.
That said, as a Korn song, this one kills. It hits that Untouchables-era vibe almost right away, with an urgency that isn't really something Korn are known for. Jonathan Davis' vocals are all over the place as only he can do, so if in fact he's phoning it in, it's because he can do this shit in his sleep. The bridge reminds me of that of "Right Now" and "Y'all Want A Single," as if to signal that the band are going back to that early-Aughts sound that brought them the acclaim they have earned.
Again, I can understand the diehard Diablo fans being underwhelmed, but taking this as purely a new Korn track, I'm sold.
