Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu metal rarely features guitar solos or other displays of musical technique and emphasizes rhythm with instrumentation that is heavily syncopated. Nu metal guitarists often use seven-string guitars that are down-tuned to produce a heavier sound. Vocal styles are often rhythmic and influenced by hip hop, and include singing, rapping, screaming and sometimes growling. DJs are occasionally featured to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic background music. Nu metal is one of the key genres of the new wave of American heavy metal.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands like Pantera, Helmet, and Faith No More were influential in the development of nu-metal with their groove metal and alternative metal styles. Korn is often credited as pioneering the subgenre in the mid-1990s with their self-titled debut album. Nu metal became popular in the late 1990s, with bands and artists such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Slipknot all releasing albums that sold millions of copies.
Its popularity continued through the early 2000s, with bands such as Papa Roach, Staind, and P.O.D. all selling multi-platinum albums. The popularity of nu metal came to a peak in 2001 with Linkin Park's diamond-selling album Hybrid Theory. By the mid-2000s, however, the oversaturation of bands, combined with the underperformance of several high-profile releases, signaled the subgenre's decline. Many nu-metal bands disbanded or changed their sound in favor of other genres.
The 2010s brought a nu-metal revival; many bands that combined it with other genres emerged, and some nu-metal bands from the 1990s and early 2000s returned to the nu-metal sound. Bands such as Of Mice & Men, Emmure, Issues, My Ticket Home, and Bring Me the Horizon combined nu metal with metalcore or deathcore. Artists like Grimes, Poppy, and Rina Sawayama integrated nu-metal sounds into electronic pop music in the late 2010s and early 2020s, and interest in nu metal rose in the early 2020s.
Characteristics and fashion
Terminology and origins
Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal. Sometimes stylized as nü-metal, the genre has also been dubbed aggro-metal or simply aggro. MTV states that the early nu metal group Korn "arrived in 1993 into the burgeoning alternative metal scene, which would morph into nü-metal the way college rock became alternative rock." Stereogum similarly said that nu metal was a "weird outgrowth of the Lollapalooza-era alt-metal scene". Nu metal merges elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, grunge, funk, and alternative rock according to Blabbermouth.net. Nu metal bands use many elements of heavy metal genres such as rap metal, groove metal, and funk metal. Some nu metal bands, such as Static-X and Dope, made nu metal music with elements of industrial metal. In contrast with other heavy metal subgenres, nu metal tends to use the same structure of verses, choruses, and bridges as those in pop music.Musical characteristics
Instrumentation
Instrumentation in nu metal is heavily syncopated and is based mostly on guitar riffs, although these riffs are prominent, guitar solos are not integrated heavily within the genre. These riffs often being inspired by groove metal. Mid-song bridges and the general lack of guitar solos contrasts it with other genres of heavy metal. Kory Grow of Revolver wrote, "... n its efforts to tune down and simplify riffs, effectively drove a stake through the heart of the guitar solo". Another contrast with other heavy metal genres is nu metal's emphasis on rhythm, rather than on complexity or mood. The wah pedal is occasionally featured in nu metal music.Nu metal bassists and drummers are often influenced by funk and hip hop, respectively, adding to nu metal's rhythmic nature. Blast beats and double bass drumming, which are both common in heavy metal subgenres such as black metal, thrash metal and death metal, are uncommon in nu metal, with drummers such as Slipknot's Joey Jordison and Mudvayne's Matt McDonough being notable exceptions.
Nu metal's similarities with many heavy metal subgenres include its use of common time, distorted guitars, and power chords and note structures primarily revolving around Dorian, Aeolian or Phrygian modes. While loud and heavily distorted electric guitars are a core feature of all metal genres, nu metal guitarists took the sounds of "violence and destruction" to new levels with their overdriven guitar tone, which music journalists Kitts and Tolinski compared to the "...sound a Mack truck being crushed by a collapsing skyscraper."
Some nu metal bands use seven-string guitars that are generally down-tuned, rather than traditional Likewise, some bass guitarists use five-string and six-string instruments. in nu metal often features an emphasis on funk elements. In nu metal music, DJs are sometimes featured to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic backgrounds. tends to have hip hop grooves and rhythms.
Vocals
Vocal styles used in nu metal music include singing, rapping, screaming and growling. Vocals in nu metal are often rhythmic and influenced by hip hop. While some nu metal bands, such as Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, have rapping in their music, other nu metal bands, such as Godsmack and Staind, do not.Nu metal bands occasionally feature hip hop musicians as guests in their songs; Korn's song "Children of the Korn" features the rapper Ice Cube, who performed on the band's 1998 Family Values Tour. The hip hop musician Nas was featured on Korn's song "Play Me", which is on the band's album Take a Look in the Mirror. Limp Bizkit has recorded with multiple hip hop musicians including Method Man, Lil Wayne, Xzibit, Redman, DMX and Snoop Dogg. Linkin Park collaborated with hip hop musician Jay-Z on their 2004 extended play Collision Course. Kid Rock has recorded with hip hop musicians Eminem and Snoop Dogg. Trevor Baker of The Guardian wrote, "Bands such as Linkin Park, Korn and even the much reviled Limp Bizkit ... did far more to break down the artificial barriers between 'urban music' and rock than any of their more critically acceptable counterparts."
Lyrics
Lyrics in nu metal songs are often angry or nihilistic; many of the genre's lyrics focus on topics such as pain, angst, bullying, emotional issues, abandonment, betrayal, and personal alienation, in a way similar to those of grunge. Many nu metal lyrics that are about these topics tend to be in a very direct tone. However, some songs have lyrics that are about other topics. P.O.D. has used positive lyrics about promise and hope. The nu metal song "Bodies" by Drowning Pool is about moshing. The Michigan Daily wrote about Limp Bizkit's lyrics, writing that the band "used the nu-metal sound as a way to spin testosterone fueled fantasies into snarky white-boy rap. Oddly, audiences took frontman Fred Durst more seriously than he wanted, failing to see the intentional silliness in many of his songs". Limp Bizkit's lyrics have also been described as misogynistic. Dope's lyrics are usually about sex, drugs, parties, women, violence, and relationships. In contrast, according to Josh Chesler of the Phoenix New Times, the lyrics of Deftones, who were once considered a nu metal band, "tend to have complex allusions and leave the songs open to many different interpretations."Fashion
Nu metal clothing typically consists of baggy pants, shirts, and shorts, JNCO jeans, Adidas tracksuits, sports jerseys, baseball caps, baggy hoodies, cargo pants, and sweatpants. Nu metal hairstyles and facial hairstyles include dreadlocks, braids, spiky hair, chin beards, bald heads, goatees, frosted tips, and bleached or dyed hair. Common accessories in nu metal fashion include wallet chains, tattoos, and piercings, especially facial piercings. Nu metal fashion has been compared to hip hop fashion.Some nu metal bands such as Motograter, Mushroomhead, Mudvayne, and Slipknot wear masks, jumpsuits, costumes, face paint, corpse paint or body paint. A few nu metal bands, such as Coal Chamber, and Kittie are known for having gothic appearances.
History
1980s–1993: Precursors and origins
band Anthrax was an influence on nu metal by combining hip hop and metal on their 1987 rap metal EP I'm the Man; this laid groundwork for development. Nu metal bands often borrowed their metal influence from groove metal band Pantera, with the pioneering nu metal band Korn's lead vocalist Jonathan Davis saying of Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, "if there was no Dimebag Darrell, there would be no Korn". Alternative metal musician Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle was a major influence on many nu metal vocalists due to his wide range of vocal styles.1993–1997: Early years
acknowledged Korn as the band that created and pioneered the nu metal genre with its demo Neidermayer's Mind, which was released in 1993. McIver also acknowledged Korn as the band that started the new wave of American heavy metal, which is a heavy metal music movement that started in the 1990s. The aggressive riffs of Korn, the rapping of Limp Bizkit, and the melodic ballads of Staind created the sonic template for nu metal. The origins of the term "nu metal" are often attributed to the work of producer Ross Robinson, who has been called "The Godfather of Nu Metal" between producers. Robinson has produced for nu metal bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. Many of the first nu metal bands, such as Korn and Deftones, came from California; however, the genre soon spread across the United States and many bands arose from various states, including Limp Bizkit from Florida, Staind from Massachusetts, and Slipknot from Iowa. In the book Brave Nu World, Tommy Udo wrote about the nu metal band Coal Chamber, "There's some evidence to suggest that Coal Chamber were the first band to whom the tag 'nu metal' was actually applied, in a live review in Spin magazine."In 1994, Korn released their self-titled debut album, which is widely considered the first nu metal album. Korn had experienced underground popularity at this time; their debut album peaked at number 72 on the Billboard 200. In 1995, the band Sugar Ray released its debut studio album Lemonade and Brownies, an album described as both funk metal and nu metal. In 1995, Deftones released their debut album Adrenaline. The album peaked at number 23 on the Heatseekers Albums chart on October 5, 1996. Deftones also were temporarily controversial in 1996 when their vocalist Chino Moreno was blamed by TV news reports for a riot that occurred at the 1996 U-Fest festival on October 5, 1996. Adrenaline was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in the summer of 1999. It was also certified platinum by the RIAA in September 2008.
Sepultura's 1996 album Roots features nu metal elements that were considered influential to the genre, while Roots itself was influenced by Korn's self-titled debut album. Nu metal continued to rise in popularity when Korn's 1996 album Life Is Peachy peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold 106,000 copies in its first week of release. Attention through Ozzy Osbourne's 1996 introduction of Ozzfest was integral to boosting the careers of many nu metal bands, including Limp Bizkit.