korea

It's criminal how underrated Korea are outside of, and I guess also within, Sweden. They are one of the most accomplished, complete new bands I've come across from the country in the last five years, and that's based on their debut album "For Present Purpose" alone. Sure, that record sounded a hell of a lot like A Perfect Circle and Tool combined, not least because their vocalist sounds impeccably like Maynard James Keenan, but the execution was near-flawless, better than any other Tool-inspired band I've ran across.

That was almost two years ago, though, and the listener was left wondering whether or not such a solid debut was a one-hit-wonder sort of thing. "The Delirium Suite" answers that question with a resounding no. A logical evolution from the debut album, the Deftones-influence has been toned down significantly in favour of a more heavy-alternative rock approach. Tool/A Perfect Circle influence is still undeniable because of the vocals, but the crunchy, almost nu-metallish guitars lean far more towards bands like Taproot and Chevelle (both among my favorites). It gives songs like "The Absentee" and "Take The Blame" a sense of heaviness without sacrificing the introspective, dreamy chorus lines that still manage to captivate the listener through excellent melodies. The choruses in these two particular songs, by the way, are way up there with "Insufficient Karma" and "Self-Deception" from their debut, if not better, leaving me wondering how it is possible that Korea isn't more widely known yet? Because if you ask me, some of the vocal melodies found on this album overshadow much of "10,000 Days", it goes without saying that Tool fans should be eating from the palms of Korea's hands both on this release and the one before.

A strong marketing push is heavily needed to make people aware of Korea. They are simply too good, their songs too well structured and too impressive for them to drown in the white noise of the music industry, which seems to be happening right now. If you really think about it, when you're only on your second album and you're writing songs that could easily fill large arenas in terms of soundscape and quality, someone is bound to notice sooner or later. I hope for Korea's sake it's sooner. People need to hear this stuff, as Tool isn't about to deliver "Lateralus"-level songwriting anytime soon. [8]
Download: The Absentee, Catacylusm, Take The Blame
For the fans of: Chevelle, Tool, Taproot, Deftones, A Perfect Circle
- Rockfreaks.net

If you’re looking for a very well balanced, radio ready album to blow up the charts, look no further than the The Delirium Suite from Swedish melodic hard rockers Korea. Unlike some of the popular music out there, The Delirium Suite is in no way maudlin or watered down. This album just provides pure, unadulterated, in-your-face rock that, despite being in a crowded field of imposters and wannabes, has a very original sound. The songs are very contrasting. The music is very profound and intense while the vocals are surprisingly light and melodic. Good things are happening for Korea.

The first track starts out as you might expect a Swedish metal album to – very heavy, distorted metal guitars with an underlying keyboard track. However, once the vocals kick in, this band is anything but ordinary. After being thoroughly impressed with the opening track, this could be a one-hit phenomena right? Wrong! The second track, “The Absentee,” is probably the strongest song on the album. With a great structure, and even greater hooks, this song has the makings of an immensely popular radio single. The bass drum was incredibly dampened to give it a more techno feel. The verses are very dark, subtle and psychedelic – a breath of fresh air for a band of their style.
“Street Spirit (Fade Out)” was released as the band’s first single. This Radiohead cover from The Bends has a much more electronic feel at first and throughout the pre-choruses, but transitions into a much more metal song than the original. This is a great melodic hard rock cover from a stellar band. However, the lead vocals already posses a Radiohead feel on much of The Delirium Suite, along with other great bands such as Dredg and A Perfect Circle. Perhaps they should have chosen a cover more outside of their realm to maximize their potential.
The weaknesses on The Delirium Suite are few and far between. Korea have a very distinct sound and they pull it off well. However, at times on the record, they struggle to break from the specific sub-genre in which they belong. Several of the tracks in the middle of the album blend together, yet none of the tracks are weak. “Logical Fallacies” sticks out because of the strong, spacey guitar intro and “Take the Blame” has an incredibly catchy chorus. “Prozac Gen” starts to breaks away from the mold. The song gets very synth heavy while maintaining their own brand of hard rock. The closing track (less the Japanese bonus track), “Exit,” is just jaw-dropping. This is the most powerful track on the album. The verses utilize a very effective sampled eulogy accompanied with subtle drums, bass and keys. The chorus just rips, as much of the album does. Although the track only lasts about four minutes, it has the larger-than-life feel of a ten minute epic.
Overall, this is a band that is destined for stardom. The Delirium Suite contains just about every aspect and balance of a rock album that could be asked. The vocals are very strong, great harmonies, the tracks are very well, but not over, produced and everything is very harmoniously balanced. This band has a very bright and prosperous future. Go out and get this album!
- muzikreviews.com

KOREA (not to be confused with group Métalcore Russian of the same name) a young Swedish quartet formed by Michael EHRNSTEN (song), Dennis EHRNSTEN(his/her brother? with the battery), Mats KARPESTAM (guitars) and Robert BUNKE (low). Already d' author; a first album in 2008, For The Present Purpose, the group offers this November to us 2010 its new album, The Delirium Suite , recorded to theSoundtemple Studio and mixed and masterized by Sverker WIDGREN. Enormous work because the sound is really excellent! L'artworkand the booklet (Alex ECKMAN-LAWN) are very sober and very neat. The

12 compositions of The Delirium Suite are driven in one Rock / Métal modern, where guitars (with sounds Métaland/orRock Alternatif s' alternate or superimpose themselves) and the rhythmic one are dynamic without being aggressive ( Cave Dweller). Mid tempo, sometimestempo slow (From The Ashes...), the music of the group explores more or less dark environments, without never being really depressive ( Take The Blame, Logical Fallacies ), at most imperceptibly melancholic persons. The titles have all one hangs melody surprising and entêtante, of which some could be of the hitsradiophonic ones in power: Cataclysm , The Absentee and its superb refrain, Enemiesor even Prozac Gen . KOREA is even allowed to vacuum-clean and booster rocket one hitof RADIOHEAD, Street Spirit (Fade Out), left in 1995 and resulting from the 2nd album from the group, The Bends .KOREAchose this title for first individual… Choice at the very least strange and surprising. The
compositions are also strewn with samplesand sounds of keyboards, which blow a certain freshness with l' together.
Remainder the superb voice of Michael, with tessiture and the charms very Pop Rock. J' adore!! Title Enemies , stripped its " grosses" guitars, could be easily comparable to one hit d' a groupPop English, even American. Beautiful lesson of song in any case!

The Delirium Suite s' listen with desire and courtesy, and its made parent (once more!) shone European scene Métalnorth. After RENEGADE FIVE, recently discovered by RémiFM , here is another group which deserves the honors and appears with the public with an album of high behaviour. - Metal Integral

Formed in Stockholm, Sweden six years ago, it has taken quite a while for Korea to compose a full length's worth of material for their debut album "For The Present Purpose". But I suppose that's understandable considering how much the band borrows from bands like Tool and especially A Perfect Circle, whose material often features so much depth and intricate detail that it takes several months for the listener just to get acquainted with the basics. Think of the music those two bands release as a form of rocket science, something which has always been a bit of a problem preventing a friendship between me and especially the former of the two bands (I still haven't become friends with "10,000 Days").

Now, Korea definitely sounds a lot more like "Mer De Noms"-era A Perfect Circle, but occasionally vocalist Michael Ehrnstén shares so much common ground with the angry vocal harmonies of the Maynard in Tool that it's difficult to distinguish between the two, the chorus of "Insufficient Karma" being a good example. And when he doesn't sound like Maynard in Tool, he sounds almost identical to the smoother, calmer delivery of Maynard in A Perfect Circle, so I guess constant comparison between said bands and Korea is inevitable in any review. That's why the best way to describe Korea is to describe them as a less pretentious version of Tool. These guys are much more about the solid melody that's easy to remember than the artsy-fartsyness of any Tool recording. It also means they are much more accessible, a welcome musical trait for a listener whose attention-span can't quite cope with the detail of Maynard's projects.

The choruses in songs like "Self-Deception" are so solid that you'll be humming the melody after just hearing it once. But even the verses have been well crafted; although "Above" has little more to offer than a basic drum beat and Deftones-esque screeching guitars by the instrumentation, Ehrnstén's melancholic croon is very effective in creating a haunting, nostalgia-filled mood throughout. And mood is what "For The Present Purpose" does best, ranging from the hurting melancholy of a number of tracks to the more industrial vibe of something like "GPHH38". But while Korea have perfected their sound to something that's easily identifiable, the clear problem is still that you'll identify it much more with A Perfect Circle than the band itself. Nonetheless, that doesn't take anything away from the strong melodies of the album that promise a bright future for these guys - this is experimental rock made accessible to the general audiences.
8/10 - Rockfreaks

Korea was formed in Stockholm back in 2003 and this is their first album. Believe me, this is a good band! The bandname is a bit tough if you want to look 'em up on google though. Their bio tells me that they can be compared to bands such as Tool, A Perfect Circle and NIN. And even though the guitars at the opening of the song 'Rebound' are totally similar to 'Pet' by APC, I would like to stop comparing right there.

Not that I don't want to give them these credits, it's just that I don't think the comparisons are in place. If you want a comparison, listen to In The Dark by Face Tomorrow. But besides all this, this is just not really a band I like to compare, because they have a good defining sound! It's just good alternative metal here, maybe too soft for the diehard metalfans, but if you're into bands mentioned before and maybe some emo here and there, you will definetely like Korea as well.

The things that stand out are the good original vocals and the great drumming. Dennis knows when to relax and he knows when to show off. Guitars are good and do what they're expected to do and the overall production is really good! Highlights: 'Me vs You' and a definite highlight on the album is 'GPHH38'!!! So why only an eight? 37 minutes for 10 songs is a bit on the short side guys, but keep it up!
80/100 - Metalrage

With a dashof HIM´s romantic despair and a strong whiff of the transcendental musings of A Perfect Circle.
Stockholm´s Korea succeed where many bands fail. Put simply, they´ve got just as many strong melodies as they have spiralling lead guitars. The only snag is that some of the best ideas here are seemingly still on loan from both Mer de Noms and Aenima. Grittier moments like the industrial-tinged GPHH38 do help free this outing from the colossal shadow of Maynard´s back catalouge.
Plus when you hear them in full swing on Self Deception, there´s no doubt that Korea are a very welcome addition to the more melodic end of the metal spectrum.
- Kerrang!