Korn, Breaking Benjamin, and Skindred 11/13/04 @ Salem Armory, OR
By Robin Steeley
It was a freezing night at the Salem armory and after waiting outside in the cold to do interviews with Skindred and Breaking Benjamin we were happy to get inside the warm arena to find Instruction already on stage. The only song of theirs that I caught they were singing “Fu*$ God, Jesus is the enemy” Which I think is stupid. I’m not overly religious, but when you are staring out at a crowd of 5000 Young kids, couldn’t you find something better to say?
Next up is the mighty Skindred, who were very impressive. This band is a metal reggae phenomenon. They have a hit crossover single in “Nobody” which is currently climbing the charts. Their dynamics are incredible, they have the crowd swirling and jumping high into the air while crowd surfers crawl across the top of the audience.
Vocalist Benji has an amazing range and musically they are so diverse and unique. It is a chaotic symphony that settles into a subtle blending of the genres, creating a completely new sound. Combining the vocal style of reggae, dance hall, and metal the band shows their worth through heavy beats, dynamic music, and those amazing vocals.
Next up is Breaking Benjamin with their set full of heartfelt soulful songs that have just the right amount of heaviness to them to keep the energy in the room up, all underscored by a deep low bass, with lots of singing, a little screaming, and just the right touches where they were needed. The band is currently climbing the charts again with their acoustic version of “So Cold”.
The most amazing thing to me about this band is the vocalist, he has an incredible timbre to his voice that makes you want to hear more, it has an almost tender quality to the vocal delivery, more melodic then heavy but still packing a solid rock punch. “So Cold” had that same cleanness that comes through on radio live, they were able to carry over the energy of their recorded sound into their live show effortlessly.
Closing out the night is heavyweights KORN, who are touring in support of their latest effort “Greatest Hits Vol. 1" (Epic/Immortal). After the longest set change ever drop a huge curtain with the words KORN written in bones, two hands adjoining, and the crowd recognizes it immediately.
Local radio contest winners screamed and danced in two large steel cages onstage behind the band while they played. The set included over a dozen songs and was a real best of the best with crowd favorites like “Blind”, “Fagget”, and newer cover hits like “Word Up” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” which eerily sounds so clearly like the original it is a recreation of the song, giving it a metal edge that made my hair stand on end it was so good.
Jonathan Davis is raw, furious, and without a doubt one of the most intense frontmen in the industry today. He rips the words out over the top of that sick, heavy bass provided by Fieldy. Crunchy guitar is provided by the duo of Munky and Head.
My absolute favorite song of the night, Davis comes out adorned in bagpipes for the intro to the nursery rhyme "Shoots and Ladders.” This band never fails to deliver a passionate, fury driven performance from beginning to end and I can say that I will never miss when they come through town.
