Due to popular demand, good Nu Metal thread.

[The Great Cull]

I enjoy quite a bit of the first 2 SOAD albums, their slower material sat best with me, songs like Spiders and ATWA etc. I hate the jokier/quirkier material. I'd hardly consider them nu metal though overall.

I do enjoy the odd bit of Disturbed. Their first album and the Indestructable albums are decent for listening to during workouts.

I quite liked the Slipknot self titled back in the day, but like The Burning Red by Machine Head, it was more a dislike of Ross Robinsons productions as opposed to the songs that was the most off putting.

Never really got into anything else that you'd deem nu metal though... although I can tolerate P.O.D. in small doses. Korn and Limp Bizkit et al never held any appeal.

[ochoill]

Are we officially calling Chat Pile Nu Metal now?I still hear a lot more noise rock/Godflesh in there

No I'd also say noise rock, hint of sludge, but there is a huge Nu Metal influence on it all.  Korn anyway for definite.

Maybe we were talking about it here but they gave an interview where they talked about trying to find music on TV channels because they had no other exposure to anything outside of what came on the radio.  Anyway.  One of their parents found a blank VHS on the street in the city on a trip (them growing up in a little town in Oklahoma apparently) and brought it home, bizarrely.  They handed it to their son and said "you might like what is on this", it was a load of nu metal and 90s alt rock videos with a bit of metal in between, all recorded off MTV, VH1 etc.  that was how they found out about Korn  and they loved it anyway.

Aside from that no, they played into the meme of being called nu metal themselves on an FB group (noise rock now) and it became a massive running joke.  The korn riffs don't help the case.

[ochoill]

I never would have thought to lump Filter in with nu metal. Kind of industrial alt metal/ rock light? They were catchy enough and I had fun seeing them open for Smashing Pumpkins  but never would have been arsed buying the album.

As for stuff like early Pitch Shifter and Godflesh, I know they are considered respectable but there is no denying the influence they had on that scene. Again, first wave nu metal?

And where does that leave the likes of Ministry and NIN? Big influences came from those bands I think. Or am I over reaching?

Filter sort of fit the bill in a lot of cases but yeah I would have always thought alt rock myself - they just always cropped up with other nu metal acts for years.

All of that scene of industrial metal - especially NIN, Godflesh, Ministry - all had a huge hand in influence on nu metal bands, definitely, but wouldn't fit the bill themselves.  I remember before I ever heard a note of Linkin Park, I read a thing in Kerrang about them where the vocalist said how much he loved Ministry and wanted to put that into the music.  Such disappointment by comparison

I have a long winded and dense thing about nu metal that I might try write out better in a while but the long and short of it is: after the experiment labels took with Grunge, firing every band into it and trying to get the next big thing, the same was attempted with Nu Metal but using the sort of image control and management learned during the era of 90s pop.  This push went more awry for them not because of the state of nu metal (that made no difference since the model of "fuck anything at the genre and people will buy it" proved to work during Grunge era) but because of the advancement in the internet.  Downloads were coming on, your market (kids) are broke and rebellious, blogs and forums were popular and it was as much about fitting in in these new online spaces as it was being into a genre with your friends, all various things caused it to go a bit belly up.  But only artistically - the big labels still did well enough off it all but nothing of that scale of marketing could be rolled out again to an alternative scene.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Never clicked with any of the "nu metal" bands except for SOAD, who sounded nothing like any of the others. First heard Korn when Life Is Peachy was released, on the Metal Show actually. It sounded grand, but didn't have me wanting to investigate, not like when I first heard Emperor or countless others on there. Totally isolated from any "scene" at the time, I hadn't a notion in my head of rejecting stuff that wasn't "true" either, so for example I was an absolutely massive RATM fan, but then thanks to Morello they were leagues ahead of any nu metal in terms of musicality, until maybe Slipknot, but they really went out of their way when they first came along to hide any talent behind their antics. Also never really got into whining-style vocals in any genre, so that ruled out a lot of both nu metal and its influences (e.g. I can only take Deftones in small doses). Whole concept of good nu metal really does feel like picking through a hape of shite trying to find a couple grains of corn still intact enough to chew on again though. No thanks.

[Carnage]

Hungover in a lad's house in Tuam (don't ask me how I got there, I don't know) one morning, he puts on this tape by a band he's just come across called 'Corn'. I was fairly fed up of my staples of thrash and death mrtal, and was listening to a lot of punk and electronic stuff then so the combination of downtuning and simple, bouncy riffs immediately appealed.

Bought a few bits (still pissed off by the Terrorizer article that described Coal Chamber "Korn, but heavier"), don't really listen to them anymore:

Korn (first 5, Life Is Peachy is shite but the others all have their moments), Spineshank (first one was dull, second had a bit more life to it), Deftones (first 2 and a live EP, the EP was shite and put me right off them, can't stand anything after thst), Slipknot (when the s/t album came out I was all over it, yer man's vocals are hit & miss but I liked the relative heaviness of it compared to others in the 'genre'. The Subliminal Verses still holds up very well and the last album was quite good.), Mudvayne (wasn't for me), Chimaira (are they nu metal? Second and third albums still hold up), Powerman 5000 (muck!), S.O.A.D. (heard them on the radio in Supermac's, of all places. Hated the vocals but found the music interesting.), fucking Coal Chamber (bought the first one, not for me but someone saw the CD and ended up buying me more for birthday/christmas presents), the inevitable Limp Biscuit (picked up a couple in a charity shop, not for me).

Bear in mind that I was old enough to know better (I would have been 18 when the first Korn came out) but was losing interest in the metal scene at that stage so a new take on it was refreshing. I always thought of it as a kids' thing though, gateway metal I suppose. That first Korn gig in the SFX was good craic, saw them a few years later in the RDS and it was just flat, dull. I was too old for it anyway but got free tickets so it was no loss.

[Paul keohane]

I still go back to 1998 as the worst year for metal (i know someone will list off a load of good albums released that year).But im talking about on a more mainstream level.Slayer,Maiden,Metallica,Anthrax etc looked like they were all fucked!(musically),loads of the original DM/Thrash bands were either releasing scutter,or were on a break/broken up.At the time a few good buddies stopped listening to metal,i was like this scene is on its knees!.I can remember blaming NU metal for the demise!.Thank fuck it was short lived!

[astfgyl]

Only band I'd revisit with any regularity is Limp Bizkit. Fred Durst is marmite to a lot of people, but the musicians in that band were great. Particularly as a guitar player I enjoy Wes Borland's tapping rhythms on 3 Dollar Bills, and his use of delay to come up with riffs on Chocolate Starfish. Basically any riff he wrote aside from the ham-fisted drop-tuned heavy riffs was amazing. The heavier ones got the job done they were supposed to do.

Anything else I revisit maybe once about every 5 years in a cluster. I was 15/16 in 2000 so the exact right age at the exact commercial peak of the genre. So about twice a decade I'll settle down with a few drinks and stick on the likes of Height of Callousness, Infest, Slipknot s/t, Wisconsin Death Trip, Korn, S.C.I.E.N.C.E (prob more nu-metal adjacent), and Devil Without a Cause. Plus invariably find a playlist that captures all the other one-off hits like P.O.D, Crazy Town, Saliva, Mudvayne, Staind etc. Most of it kind of awful, but the nostalgia trip carries me through and it's usually a fun night.

What an era though. Frosted tip jocks being simultaneously violent and emo, whilst partying. Where on earth did that come from? The authenticity of grunge finally becoming pop commercialized and reaching the most shallow possible people? Whatever it was, it was violently American.

Jackass is also intrinsically linked to this era in my mind (I still love Jackass).

Listened to The Unquestionable Truth a good bit lately. It's funny how Limp Bizkit (The Truth) are better at doing Deftones than Deftones (Back to School) are at doing Limp Bizkit.

[Skott Furys jizz rag]

Hungover in a lad's house in Tuam (don't ask me how I got there, I don't know) one morning, he puts on this tape by a band he's just come across called 'Corn'. I was fairly fed up of my staples of thrash and death mrtal, and was listening to a lot of punk and electronic stuff then so the combination of downtuning and simple, bouncy riffs immediately appealed.

Bought a few bits (still pissed off by the Terrorizer article that described Coal Chamber "Korn, but heavier"), don't really listen to them anymore:

Korn (first 5, Life Is Peachy is shite but the others all have their moments), Spineshank (first one was dull, second had a bit more life to it), Deftones (first 2 and a live EP, the EP was shite and put me right off them, can't stand anything after thst), Slipknot (when the s/t album came out I was all over it, yer man's vocals are hit & miss but I liked the relative heaviness of it compared to others in the 'genre'. The Subliminal Verses still holds up very well and the last album was quite good.), Mudvayne (wasn't for me), Chimaira (are they nu metal? Second and third albums still hold up), Powerman 5000 (muck!), S.O.A.D. (heard them on the radio in Supermac's, of all places. Hated the vocals but found the music interesting.), fucking Coal Chamber (bought the first one, not for me but someone saw the CD and ended up buying me more for birthday/christmas presents), the inevitable Limp Biscuit (picked up a couple in a charity shop, not for me).

Bear in mind that I was old enough to know better (I would have been 18 when the first Korn came out) but was losing interest in the metal scene at that stage so a new take on it was refreshing. I always thought of it as a kids' thing though, gateway metal I suppose. That first Korn gig in the SFX was good craic, saw them a few years later in the RDS and it was just flat, dull. I was too old for it anyway but got free tickets so it was no loss.

The first Chimaira album has a fair nu metal sound, the impossibility of reason and ressurection albums are just two slabs of heavy goodness though.

[The Butcher]

I always saw nu-metal as a more narcissistic metal version of grunge and seemed like a natural progression post 1994. Unfortunately it gave rise to more woeful shite than actual decent music. I still think something could be extracted from it. Deftones have their moments too across their albums and they have retained my interest somewhat over the years compared to others. Mudvayne bassist is the only reason I'd listen to Mudvayne songs as he elevates them completely but beyond a handful of songs - nothing to note, same goes for a lot of the others like SOAD. I was 14 in 2000 so Marilyn Manson/NIN/Korn was more my go to. Still have a soft spot for Korn, appreciate the unique sound and I agree there's a scatter of good songs across the first 5 albums. Korn are definitely a gateway band - while they give rise to kids at the time searching for heavier/darker music - while on the other hand they paved the way for so many copycats both new (and older bands that should have known better).

I remember coming across this song on Napster around 2000 and thinking (the first half of the song anyway) was a pretty unique take on the 7 string low tuned / bass devoid of mids sound but mixed with cool horror type 80s synths and I wish this was explored more (if anyone thinks this has been explored throw me some links!) ->

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSGX-BMvUkU

[Sworntothecans]

Hungover in a lad's house in Tuam (don't ask me how I got there, I don't know) one morning, he puts on this tape by a band he's just come across called 'Corn'. I was fairly fed up of my staples of thrash and death mrtal, and was listening to a lot of punk and electronic stuff then so the combination of downtuning and simple, bouncy riffs immediately appealed.

Bought a few bits (still pissed off by the Terrorizer article that described Coal Chamber "Korn, but heavier"), don't really listen to them anymore:

Korn (first 5, Life Is Peachy is shite but the others all have their moments), Spineshank (first one was dull, second had a bit more life to it), Deftones (first 2 and a live EP, the EP was shite and put me right off them, can't stand anything after thst), Slipknot (when the s/t album came out I was all over it, yer man's vocals are hit & miss but I liked the relative heaviness of it compared to others in the 'genre'. The Subliminal Verses still holds up very well and the last album was quite good.), Mudvayne (wasn't for me), Chimaira (are they nu metal? Second and third albums still hold up), Powerman 5000 (muck!), S.O.A.D. (heard them on the radio in Supermac's, of all places. Hated the vocals but found the music interesting.), fucking Coal Chamber (bought the first one, not for me but someone saw the CD and ended up buying me more for birthday/christmas presents), the inevitable Limp Biscuit (picked up a couple in a charity shop, not for me).

Bear in mind that I was old enough to know better (I would have been 18 when the first Korn came out) but was losing interest in the metal scene at that stage so a new take on it was refreshing. I always thought of it as a kids' thing though, gateway metal I suppose. That first Korn gig in the SFX was good craic, saw them a few years later in the RDS and it was just flat, dull. I was too old for it anyway but got free tickets so it was no loss.

The first Chimaira album has a fair nu metal sound, the impossibility of reason and ressurection albums are just two slabs of heavy goodness though.

Impossibility Of Reason is a savage album. Think Roadrunner tried to get them to cut the solos at the time.


Another great one is the first Static X album. Total Ministry theft throughout but tis good craic.

[Squigs]

One of my greatest embarrassments was when learning guitar and my teacher showed me drop-d tuning telling him I think Korn invented that 

[John Kimble]

Lads, nostalgia is a powerful feeling. As someone who had way too much nu-metal on their collection, I can safely say the vast majority of it was absolute shite.

The first Korn album was definitely something new and exciting at the time, and crucially it was dark as fuck. Life is Peachy...hit and miss but still dark. By the time we get to Follow the Leader, they've gone full retard with shitty, filler, call-out songs, stupid fucking videos of them crashing expensive cars, dressed in sparkly Adidas shellsuits. Deftones were absolutely nu metal but they moved outside the limits of the genre and get a pass from me. Everything else was pretty much muck. Coal Chamber, Sevendust, Limp Bizkit, Orgy, Spineshank, Ultraspank (Jesus wept!!), Dope...all stuff that was ultimately destined to take up space in your local charity shop.

[Carnage]

The first Chimaira album has a fair nu metal sound, the impossibility of reason and ressurection albums are just two slabs of heavy goodness though.

Impossibility Of Reason is a savage album. Think Roadrunner tried to get them to cut the solos at the time.


Another great one is the first Static X album. Total Ministry theft throughout but tis good craic.

I still have the first 3 Chimaira albums in a box somewhere. First one is very 'nu' alright but the other two were grand. Must dig them out, never heard anything after that. I believe they've reformed, too.

Static X - I picked up a compilation of theirs in Xtravision of all places, for about 3 quid. Not great overall, what caught my eye was a Ministry cover (Burning Inside) that was only OK if memory serves. Never really paid much heed to them.

[Carnage]

[jpm4]

Remember Tura Satana and Human Waste Project? Kerrang were pushing them like mad for a year or so.

First album I ever owned on CD was the first Korn record, it was the first really heavy music I bought around the same time it came out so I have a lot of nostalgia for it. But after a year or so I moved onto other things and never revisit it these days.