Korn has always been a steady force in the music business, pumping out a new album every 1.5 years. Weirdly enough, I`ve always found their `even` releases ("Life Is Peach" and "Issues") bland and pale, while their `odd` releases ("Korn" and "Follow The Leader") were highlights of the self-proclaimed nu-metal scene. In that light, "Untouchables" should have been a killer after the disappointing "Issues" album, however, it is not.

With "Untouchables", Korn seems to have deliberately taken another direction. Until now, most albums were a logical continuation of the previous one where nothing much changed. "Untouchables" is a much more experimental album. Take, for instance, the strange construction of `Follow Me`, not to mention the more diverse vocal styles used on this album. `Tear Me Down` has interesting drum patterns/guitar riffs that seem to be influenced by Primus while in `I Want To Be Gone` even synth-drums are used. The definite highlight of the album is the Sepultura`ish `In Place` which features a new and aggressive vocal style that comes very close to Max Cavalera; this vocal style is also used later on on `All My Hate`.

Slowest and weirdest song on the album is `Falling Through Time`, which has me thinking of Muse(!) now and then.

There are still some classic Korn tunes on the album; `Full Of Sorrow` and `Here To Stay` are the most prominent. But what lacks most noticeable is dance-floor oriented songs. While "Follow The Leader" was jampacked with those, "Issues" and now "Untouchables" lack songs that will make you jump onto the dance floor and make your feet move to the beat, perhaps with the slight exception of `In Place`.

"Untouchables" will not be going into history as a classic Korn album, so much is sure. But even so, I must praise their willingness to experiment and speak out my hope that a next attempt will be more succesful. My advice would be to not forget the clean and easy songs with hit-potential; these are usually the basis for people to pick up an album.

(This review was based on a leaked internet version of the album. The album will be for sale worldwide starting June 16th, while the first CD single, "Here To Stay" will be for sale this month.)