Maps of Music

Requiem (2022)

Where the lyrics of Requiem take you, and where it was really made.

The album cover is a close-up of a 3D model first seen in an Instagram filter, which a QR code on mysterious billboards led to.

Key places

Where Requiem was recorded (2022)

Recording site Fat Tracks — Discogs credits Buck Owens Studio as the recording location for Requiem. The pin sits at the city center of Bakersfield, not at the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Requiem is the fourteenth studio album by American nu metal band Korn
• Released February 4, 2022 through Loma Vista and Concord
• Produced by the band and Chris Collier
• At 32 and a half minutes, it is Korn's shortest studio album to date
• Nine tracks, the fewest across the band's studio discography
• Third single Lost in the Grandeur came out February 2, 2022

Background

• A since-deleted Kerrang! interview stated the album was fully written as of April 2021
• The COVID-19 pandemic left extra time to arrange the album without the usual tight deadlines
• The band described a creative process free of time constraints, with time to experiment together and recording to analog tape
• Bassist Fieldy announced a hiatus after that interview, but his bass tracks were confirmed for the record
• Fieldy is credited in the liner notes but is not included in the band photo
• This is Korn's final album with Fieldy, who was confirmed to have departed in a May 2025 interview

Recording

• Recorded at Buck Owens Studio, Bakersfield, according to the Discogs release credits
• Mixed at Apocalypse Sound and mastered at Vlado Meller Mastering
• Rich Costey handled mixing and James Harley handled recording
• Lineup: Jonathan Davis on vocals, James Munky Shaffer and Brian Head Welch on guitars, Ray Luzier on drums
• Korn is credited for production and recording production alongside Chris Collier

Cover

• The cover uses a close-up of a 3D model seen through an Instagram filter
• The 3D model shows a human hand tightly grasping an infant's head from the top
• Billboards with a gray static background and the band logo carried a QR code that led to the filter
• The baby's head is prominently featured on the cover, revealed with the November 2021 single
• Johnson Tsang is credited for sculpture and photography, and Christopher Leckie for design and art direction

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993 by James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and David Silveria, former members of L.A.P.D.
• Name styled KoЯn; the backwards R was borrowed from the Toys R Us logo.
• Demo Neidermayer's Mind (1993) pioneered the nu metal sound.

Members

• Current: Jonathan Davis (vocals), James "Munky" Shaffer (guitar), Brian "Head" Welch (guitar, returned 2013), Ray Luzier (drums, since 2008).
• Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu (bass) departed in 2021; Silveria left in 2006.

Career

• Debut album Korn (1994); Life Is Peachy (1996) brought commercial breakthrough.
• Follow the Leader (1998) and Issues (1999) both debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• Over 40 million records sold worldwide as of 2021; two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.
• Fourteen official releases reached the Billboard 200 top ten; the band is credited as the originators of nu metal.

Reception

At release

• AllMusic gave the album a positive review, saying the band was still hungry and innovative nearly 30 years into its career
• Wall of Sound gave the album a score of 7/10
• Wall of Sound called it short, punchy and hooky, and said it would not be listed among the great Korn albums
• The same review said that was acceptable for a band comfortable with what it does

Reappraisal

• Metacritic, the review aggregator, recorded generally favorable reviews
• The weighted average was 77 out of 100 from 7 critic scores

Records

• Debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 with 23,500 album-equivalent units
• Of those units, 20,000 were pure album sales
• It is Korn's first album since 1994 not to peak in the Top 10
• In Australia the album peaked at No. 1, the first time a Korn album did so since 2002
• As of the end of 2022, over 90,000 traditional copies had sold in the US
• Worldwide sales had passed 110,000 copies by the end of 2022
• First single Start the Healing peaked at No. 1 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart on February 7, 2022

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The single Forgotten was featured in NHL 23.
• Before the release, the band's The Best of Korn Spotify playlist was updated with seven cryptic tracks, each spelling Requiem letter by letter.
• The billboard teasers' QR code led to an Instagram filter with a 3D model of a hand holding an infant's head.
• A limited-edition silver vinyl run of 1,000 copies was offered for pre-order.
• A separate 2023 deluxe edition, Requiem Mass, added five live tracks recorded at the album's 2022 release gig at the Hollywood United Methodist Church.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact