10 Most Important Albums In Metal History
9. Korn - Korn
After the grunge explosion rewrote the rules of what rock and roll could be on the charts, metal was rendered almost obsolete overnight. Even though the old guard of the genre like Metallica and Pantera may have gotten in early in the '90s before the Seattle scene hit, all new bands seemed to be snuffed out in favor of guys with flannel shirts and a passing resemblance to Eddie Vedder. The whole premise of grunge was to be yourself though, and there was no one else who could touch what Korn was doing in the mid '90s.
Taking a different approach than the thrash bands of the world, the focus of nearly every song on the band's debut is centered around rhythm and an emphasis on groove, almost like taking the harshest sections of a Black Sabbath song and going even more aggro with it. With the introduction of 808s as well, this was the first time where nu metal started to find its feet, all while Jonathan Davis bared his soul in every lyric that he sang.
Leave it be clear though that this is not fun music. Although a song like Blind may be fun to mosh to in the pit, this was where metal took on a sort of inward quality, looking into the darkest corners of your soul to make some beautifully disgusting art. This was Korn's calling card, and the rest of the nu metal scene were left to live in the shadow of what they created right here.