Album Review: Jonathan Davis – Black Labyrinth (Sumerian Records)

Korn frontman and legendary singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Jonathan Davis will release his first ever solo album entitled ‘Black Labyrinth’ on May 25th 2018 via Sumerian Records.

Writing and recording on the road, he played guitar, keys, and anything else he could get his hands on. Moreover, the music was primarily record live. A mix of rock, metal, electronica, goth and much more.

It’s hard to know just what to expect here as there is risk that it might just come across as Korn-like seeing as how distinct Jonathan Davis’s distinct vocals are. Credit to him though as opener Underneath My Skin and Final Days do a good job of sounding pretty different. Good though? Well, the former has a catchy chorus if nothing else but Final Days forced ‘trippiness’ is pretty hard to get along with.

Sounding less like a complete idea the longer it goes on, Black Labyrinth is a bit of muddled mess. Everyone, Your God and Medicate are very average sounding tracks that are don’t fit anywhere.

Often the best moments come with the less complex tracks, the ones that put more focus on the man’s great vocals. The Secret is a highlight with nice gothic melody, Basic Needs delivers a succulent sounding epic and Please Tell Me has some catchy electronica.

In fact the latter half has some of the better tracks, at least until What You Believe. A horrid sounding blend of bad samples, fuzzy dub-step like effects and bored sounding rhythm. It’s followed by the equally disappointing Gender that has some of the most jarring moments of the entire album.

Thankfully What it Is ends things strongly with good melody and a nice chorus that makes good use of the rock talents of Davis. Black Labyrinth is not a bad album and you can certainly admire his experimentation even if it doesn’t quite hit the mark in a lot of departments.

Jonathan Davis – Black Labyrinth Full Track Listing:

1. Underneath My Skin
2. Final Days
3. Everyone
4. Happiness
5. Your God
6. Walk On By
7. The Secret
8. Basic Needs
9. Medicate
10. Please Tell Me
11. What You Believe
12. Gender
13. What it Is

You can order the album via Jonathan Davis’ website and via the label here. Stream via Spotify and Apple Music below.