The album cover depicts a young girl sitting on a swing being approached by a large man who is holding what appears to be horseshoes or possibly blades.

Before Korn came up with their name, they had moved into a small house together in Huntington Beach, California, south of Los Angeles, where they began working on songs.

[3] Soon after moving, they rented Underground Chicken Sounds, a recording studio, from Jeff Creath, who had previously allowed lead singer Jonathan Davis to live in his garage.

[5] A couple of weeks later, Korn played their first-ever show at a club called California Dreams in Anaheim.

Once we were ready to record, we'd go into the studio where [James Shaffer] and [Brian Welch] would come up with a heavy guitar riff while I'd lay down a bass line over it, and before we knew it, a song would start."

In addition, Indigo Ranch was located on a hill rather than in the city, allowing them to record outside, resulting in the "distinctive" sound and quality of music given off by their instruments.

[9][8] The banging sound near the ending of "Ball Tongue" was created via a guitar cord striking a music stand.

However, they were actually recorded with a microphone set up at the back door of the studio while Jonathan Davis walked past outside playing.

"Sean Olson" was put on the single release of "Shoots and Ladders",[13] and featured on The Crow: City of Angels soundtrack.

[18] Davis told Metal Hammer that on the album's second track, "Ball Tongue", he "didn't sing a goddamn word in that song.

[19] According to Davis and Brian Welch, current Metallica and then-Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo helped them write the song "Divine.

[21] "Faget"'s lyrical themes are about Davis' time in high school where he was relentlessly bullied primarily by jocks for wearing eyeliner, listening to new wave and enjoying the arts.

"[27] Though the song ends at 9:32, a hidden track which depicts an argument between a man and his wife over a Dodge Dart carburetor can be heard at 14:05 after about 4.5 minutes of silence.

[28] Stephen Stickler acted as the band's photographer, and Jay Papke and Dante Ariola directed the album's cover art and booklet.

The cover depicts Paul Pontius' niece in a blue school uniform with a matching bow in her blonde hair, bringing her swing to a stop to squint in the sun at the man standing before her.

[5] At the end of that same month, the band also made their Paris debut playing in a small club, L'Arapaho.

[46][47] Mike Boem of Los Angeles Times found that if one accepts the style of "thrashing, metallic, incessantly wrathful rock...the debut is a smashing success."

wrote that Davis' "voice overflows with cracked, frustrated emotion, often lapsing into uncontrollable screams like a mental ward".

He described how Korn have "injected their own special insanity into the music, crafting a horribly sleazy sound that matches their bleak outlook on life".

Arnopp rated Korn 4 out of 5 and mentioned the "band's cult stature" a year after the album's release.

[48] In 1996, music journalist Manuel Rabasse described Korn as "an almost dadaist record – little or no melody, structures cut out in spite of common sense, guitars deliberately out of tune – with, to top it all off, a hysterical vocalist playing the bagpipes" and said Korn was "a group of crazies".

[11] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave Korn a positive review, calling the album "a powerful sound and one that actually builds on the funk-metal innovations of the late '80s/early '90s instead of merely replicating them".

She compared it against "the continuing glut of interchangeable metal drones who have appropriated their blueprint for quick sell, lowest common denominator, and it still stands as a monument – unchallenged and unequaled – to the authentic ideals that spawned it".

[64] Sputnikmusic thought that although Davis isn't the best lyricist, he is able to paint very disturbing visual images in the head of the listener, especially on the song "Daddy".

They praised each of the members' skill on their respective instrument, and summed it up as "a bass heavy, angst ridden vessel of catharsis".

[62] Arnopp stated that the group "positively encouraged America's formerly introverted, apathetic misfits to thrust a livid middle finger in the face of high–school jocks who would traditionally bundle them into a locker and brand them 'faggots' for sporting hair longer than any Army buzz-cut.

[66] The album spent 30 weeks on the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand charts, entering on June 23, 1996, and peaking at number 10.

[72] As said by Joel McIver, Korn "was almost solely responsible for the tidal wave of change that subsequently swept the metal scene.

"[73] Bands like Coal Chamber and Limp Bizkit were inspired by the album's "churning rage, emphasising similar grooves and song structures", and "the sound's hip-hop elements".

"[79] In July 2014, Guitar World ranked Korn at number 27 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.