The bad news: Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch is noticeably absent. The good news: Korn [ tickets ], which self-produced its previous album, recruited some big guns this time around.

Head may have found Jesus, but the quartet he left behind--singer Jonathan Davis, guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer, bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and drummer David Silveria--has found salvation in co-producers Atticus Ross and The Matrix. The result is a tighter, more-focused, better-sounding set than its predecessor, 2003's "Take a Look in the Mirror."

Atticus, a drummer/programmer who frequently collaborates with Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, co-wrote and co-produced a half-dozen of the new album's 14 tracks, and all six bear his distinct industrial-rock stamp, particularly the cut "Open Up," a standout that sounds like Korn-meets-NIN.

The Matrix (a.k.a. Graham Edwards, Scott Spock and Lauren Christy)--a hit-making team known for its work with a roster of un-Korn-like artists that includes Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz, Hilary Duff and Liz Phair--takes a co-writing credit on all 14 songs. The trio didn't try to turn Korn into a pop act, but it did shape the material on the new album into something far catchier than most of what the group came up with on its own last time out, as evidenced by the new cut "Liar," a positively brutal track with a chorus that you'll find stuck in your head long after the song ends.

The unique, dual-seven-string attack that Head and Munky were known for--which, along with Davis' inimitable vocals, was a sound that defined the group--is missed, but "See You On the Other Side" is proof that Korn's Head-less foursome is still more than capable of putting together a top-notch rock album.