Korn took to the European road their massive stage production revolving the release of latest album ‘The Serenity of Suffering’ and fortunately didn’t leave out The Netherlands. Together with HELLYEAH and Heaven Shall Burn, this tour was bound to be epic. Seeing it in person, it’s clear that nothing could’ve been less true. All three bands were on their A-game for this killer tour and we witnessed and photographed all three acts.
First off was HELLYEAH, theatrical metal act, hailing from the US and here to promote the release of their fifth album ‘Unden!able’. Armed with a set consisting of old and new tracks with a total length of 30 minutes, HELLYEAH didn’t quite get the crowd going as much as they perhaps would have liked. Regardless of the effort the band made, the crowd remained quite stale with the occasional HELLYEAH fan going crazy, shouting and jumping along. It was the first time I saw HELLYEAH live and the theatrics surrounding the band’s performance reeled me in. Long hair, dreadlocks and black make-up, what’s not to love.
Second on the bill were the massive German deathcore act Heaven Shall Burn. Known for their immensely powerful frontman and their heavy yet catchy choruses, Heaven Shall Burn got the crowd going a bit more at points where Hellyeah failed to do so. As they were the direct support for Korn, Heaven Shall Burn had more effects with them as well. This way they could enhance their mindblowing performance with more lighting effects & steam cannons. Fan favorites such as ‘Bring The War Home’ and ‘Endzeit’ made sure of a satisfied feeling amongst the fans, while the German deathcore band sure made some new fans tonight as well. ​
Last but obviously not least were Korn, the nu-metal legends who finally returned to Europe for a club show to promote the release of their fifth album ‘The Serenity of Suffering’. The band brought along yet another stage production upgrade in comparison to Heaven Shall Burn. Their stage consisted of huge light blocks, several levels and three massive spotlights which were putting three of the forefront members of the band in a constant spotlight. Korn kicked off their 80 minute long set with an absolute fan favorite and adrenaline spawning single ‘Right Now’. The tone was set for the rest of the evening with this blast from the past.
Next up was ‘Here To Stay’, another older track. Third track was a new track at last and the track’s arrival was accompanied with the fall of the back curtain, revealing a new one depicting the cover of their latest album, ‘The Serenity of Suffering’. Extraordinary was that the fans already knew every word to the new tracks. No difference in reception was made between old and new tracks. The set continued with tracks ‘Insane’, a brief cover of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Make Me Bad’, all while the moshers continued to dominate the ground floor of the venue.
It wasn’t until the drum solo that the crowd as well as the band members got a brief moment to catch their breath. The drummer took his time for his moment in the spotlight and showed off his drumskills for almost ten minutes. It was only then that the remaining band members emerged back on stage for the next few tracks, before they went away again for the few minutes of silence before the encore of the show. The remaining tracks were ‘Blind’, ‘Twist’ & ‘Good God’, for which at some point frontman Jonathan Davis played the bagpipes ‘cause why the hell not.
Of course Korn’s encore consisted of ‘Freak on a Leash’, which is after all these years still Korn’s most streamed track. While ‘Freak on a Leash’ was the band’s set closer, the track was accompanied by ‘Falling Away From Me’.
It was remarkable that, even though the band came to support the latest release, relatively few songs from the new album were played. Of course this isn’t that weird, as Korn’s discography is massive and the crowd was filled with fans from all ages, without a doubt all with different Korn favorites. All in all, Korn performed a stellar set and their return was long overdue. Let’s hope that the nu-metal legends come back sooner rather than later and oh.. don’t hesitate to bring Heaven Shall Burn and Hellyeah with you again!
