Virgin signed a unique deal with Korn, and See You on the Other Side is the first taster from it. It’s a deal not unlike the one the same label inked with Robbie Williams – the artist gets a greater slice of record profits, but the label takes some from touring and merchandising. Robbie’s was reliant on him being a success in America; he’s given up trying to be famous there. Korn’s is dependent on them re-emerging as a force in music some ten years after they began.

Korn started their life as Bakersfield, CA, outsiders. Frontman Jonathan Davis worked in a morgue, processing his thoughts on the child abuse he received at the hands of his step-father. The first two aggressive yet cathartic releases, a self-titled effort in 1994 and Life is Peachy two years later, was new and essentially began the nü-metal genre, with the band spawning the success of Limp Bizkit et al.

Following third album Follow the Leader in 1998, Korn fell off the radar to a certain extent, with guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch leaving the band due to his new-found Christian faith. Now comes See You on the Other Side, an album featuring collaborations with hit song-writing team (even if their only bona fide hits have come from Avril Lavigne – you don’t exactly hear the Mooney Suzuki all over the radio, d’ya?).

See You on the Other Side comes across somewhat confused, like the band themselves don’t quite know who they really want to be. Some tracks hint at the darkness of the past, while others beside reveal a more positive nature, with The Maxtrix songwriting credits resulting in hookier choruses between occasionally vitriolic verses. But in a world where System of a Down can release two pretty good metal albums and be called geniuses when one would have sufficed, what hope do Korn have?