Nu Metal

Hello, metalheads! Last week we talked extensively about the alternative metal subgenre, and this week we are going to talk about its close cousin, nu metal. Nu metal was pioneered in the late 1990s, based on the roots laid in place by alternative metal. Its popularity continued into the early 2000s, until around 2005 when the subgenre lost its momentum.

Nu metal is a subgenre that was devised by bands who decided to experiment with heavy metal music by combining it with other genres such as hip-hop and grunge. This subgenre was different from anything else that had come before it because it really attempted to blend heavy metal with popular music. There are a lot of pop sensibilities to nu metal that make the subgenre more marketable to a larger group of young fans. 

Musically speaking, the subgenre involves the more frequent usage of seven-string guitars and five or six-string bass guitars. Music sampling, scratching and electronic sounds are very common features of nu metal music. Additionally, nu metal features a wide variety of vocal styles, but the subgenre is particularly notable for featuring rapping vocals, which is traditionally very uncommon in heavy metal music.  

Before I continue to talk about the major bands of nu metal, there is a common misconception that I would like to clear up. There is no such thing as “rap metal.” A lot of critics and heavy metal fans alike have used the term “rap metal” to describe metal bands that use rapping vocals. The truth is that most of these groups are just nu metal bands and alternative metal bands working within the confines of their subgenre. The term “rap metal” is an outdated way to describe these bands before the terms “alternative metal” and “nu metal” were actually coined. 

Moving on. The most important bands of nu metal are Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Deftones and Staind. Often lumped into the nu metal scene are Linkin Park, Disturbed, Marilyn Manson, System of a Down and Rob Zombie due to their musical similarities to many bands in the subgenre. Many of these bands have worked with producer Ross Robinson and because of that, he is often referred to as “The Godfather of Nu Metal.”

Korn is the first band to truly be labeled as a nu metal band, and is often credited with starting the scene of music. Korn’s first three albums pioneered the subgenre, with 1998’s Follow the Leader bringing nu metal to mainstream audiences. The band is known for their vulgar lyrics, with many of their songs being based off of traumatic personal experiences. Korn has continued to experience success even today, and are now experimenting with combining heavy metal and dubstep in order to reach a new generation of metalheads.

Limp Bizkit is particularly known for their unique combination of heavy metal, rap and hip-hop. The band experienced a great amount of success during the late 1990s and early 2000s, selling over 33 million albums worldwide. They were one of the first bands to really commercialize nu metal and they helped to develop the imagery of the subgenre.

Slipknot is one of the most iconic bands of the nu metal subgenre, featuring nine members. The group was heavier than most bands in the subgenre, though they still made use of many of nu metal’s signature qualities. Slipknot is notable for being instantly acclaimed by much of the heavy metal community, whereas many other nu metal bands received criticism. This was mostly due to the chaotic and intense live shows that the band thrives on. Additionally, the group is notable for their usage of masks and costumes during concerts, and many members of the band have rarely been seen without them. Slipknot continues to achieve great success today, however they recently lost their bassist due to a drug overdose, reducing the band from nine members to eight.

Deftones are another major nu metal band. Along with Slipknot, they were notable for their heavier nature than bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit. Deftones was well respected as they rose to popularity due to combining more traditional styles of heavy music with the nu metal template. Deftones have three platinum albums and have managed to achieve much critical acclaim, particularly for their most recent album, Diamond Eyes. The album was the first recorded without Chi Cheng due to his involvement in a terrible career-ending car accident, leaving him mentally impaired.

Staind is the final nu metal band which we must talk about. Staind is more of a hard rock-oriented nu metal band, often delving into post-grunge and alternative rock territories. Nonetheless, the group helped to transition the world from grunge to nu metal and has sold 15 million albums worldwide to date.

Nu metal was not initially well-received by many traditional metalheads and critics alike. Since then, many have accepted the subgenre as a part of history and heavy metal culture. Many older bands in the subgenre continue to experience success today, but the scene has greatly died down and now there aren’t many new acts experiencing success in nu metal. Still, the subgenre is a huge part of the history of heavy metal music, and it impacted the direction of genre to come.

Alternative Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog,” we are going to discuss what it means to be an alternative metal band. Alternative metal is an interesting term and very broad in scope.

Alternative metal was a term that was thrown around during the 1980s to describe certain bands that were hard to categorize into a heavy metal subgenre. However, alternative metal didn’t become a legitimate subgenre until the 1990s. Alternative metal bands are generally characterized by their use of heavy guitar riffs, unconventional sounds and somewhat experimental approaches to music. In the 1990s, alternative metal consisted of well-known groups such as Helmet, Rage Against the Machine, Primus, Faith No More, Tool and White Zombie.

Usually in each blog entry after I mention some important bands in a subgenre, I go on to talk about them each in depth. It’s hard for me to do that this week though because of alternative metal’s nature. There are so many influential alternative metal bands and that is because of the broadness of the subgenre.

Recently, alternative metal has been a term that has been thrown around kind of carelessly. It is very common for a band to be categorized as an alternative metal band just because they make use of heavy guitar riffs. This has been a very recent trend and because of this there has been a huge overlap between post-grunge and alternative metal music.

Beyond that, many bands are simply categorized as alternative metal because they bend the rules of heavy metal music. Take the band Tool for example. Their style of heavy metal is unlike any other band in the genre. They take a completely different approach to writing music, and by themselves could be considered an entirely different subgenre from anything else that came before them. However, because their style was so abstract and unique, they were simply thrown into the alternative metal category because no one else could think of a term to use to classify their sound. 

This lenient nature is an important characteristic of alternative metal, but it becomes a problem when talking about the subgenre as a whole. Alternative metal includes so many different types of bands, but that is what makes the subgenre unique. It’s a place for bands that don’t belong, and also for bands who just manage to scrape the heavy metal genre of rock music.

That being said, it is still my job to talk a little bit about specific alternative metal bands, so I will do just that. Tool is a very important alternative metal band because of their use of odd time signatures and interesting song complexities. Their music is very experimental, artistic and emotional, and since their inception, they have influenced countless other rock bands. 

Rage Against the Machine was one of the first metal bands to use rap-styled vocals. This helped to inspire the development of nu metal, which is the subgenre we will discuss in depth next week. The band also carried a strong political influence with their lyrics, which was fairly uncommon for most metal bands of the time.

Faith No More also messed around with rapping vocals as well as other experimental styles. Along with Primus, they experimented with the idea of combining heavy metal and funk rock, though Primus did this to a much greater extent. Still, Faith No More greatly inspired the nu metal movement that would come later in the 1990s, and their experimental music influenced countless other bands to take obscure musical directions with their music.

Helmet is a band that is often overlooked by many metalheads. The truth of the matter is, Helmet was a very influential metal band. Their album Meantime was completely unique upon its release. It inspired nu metal as well as metal bands that made use of noise rock elements. Helmet combined many different heavy metal techniques to form a strong sound that influenced many bands forming at the time. 

The last very important alternative metal band of the 1990s was White Zombie, led by their well-known mastermind, Rob Zombie. Their fantastical themes and bizarre image was very unique at the time, and their last two records are well-known by metalheads everywhere. Rob Zombie later continued White Zombie’s musical style through his solo work, though his solo work was never quite able to top White Zombie’s masterfully written, rugged, monstrous metal masterpieces. 

Alternative metal is a broad term, but it’s a very important subgenre in heavy metal. Some of the most creative and fascinating metal bands of all time are a part of the alternative metal subgenre. For this reason, it is a subgenre that simply demands exploration.

Groove Metal

Welcome back, metalheads! It has been a long summer break, but now it is time to get back to business by discussing more subgenres of heavy metal music. For the next month or so, this blog is going to focus on mainstream heavy metal.  The first fairly mainstream subgenre that we must discuss is groove metal.

In the early to mid-1990s, the core thrash metal bands of 1980s mainstream heavy metal all took different turns. Their audience was shifting interests and they had to shift with them in order to maintain their popularity.

Some bands made the transition fairly well. Metallica released The Black Album in 1991, which would become their most financially successful album to date. Megadeth released Coutdown to Extinction, which also proved to be wildly successful. Even bands such as Anthrax and Testament managed to consistently keep a solid audience by slightly shifting their style. 

Other bands massively failed in their attempts to reinvent themselves, though. The quality of Slayer’s music declined sharply in quality, and bands such as Exodus, Sepultura and Kreator had a difficult time keeping up as well. 

The subgenre of heavy metal that essentially replaced thrash metal during this time was known as groove metal. This style of music was similar to thrash metal in many ways, but the noticeable difference between the subgenres was that groove metal relied on mid-paced rhythmic grooves instead of the relentless fast-paced riffing that characterized thrash metal. Groove metal was essentially pioneered by three bands: Pantera, Machine Head and Lamb of God.

Pantera was one of the first bands to really pioneer the subgenre and was definitely the first to give groove metal mainstream attention. Many critics accuse Pantera of copying the musical style of the rather unknown band Exhorder, but Pantera only acknowledges the group as an influence. Pantera entered the metal mainstream with their 1990 album Cowboys from Hell. It wasn’t until their follow-up record, Vulgar Display of Power, that they became known by every angst-ridden teenager in America. Pantera dominated mainstream heavy metal for many years until the band eventually broke up in the early 2000s. Since then, their guitarist, Dimebag Darrell, was murdered onstage by an insane fan, completely ruling out the idea of an eventual reunion.

Machine Head was another huge pioneer of groove metal. Machine Head released their debut album, Burn My Eyes, in 1994. Burn My Eyes soon became a heavy metal classic. From there the band slowly progressed into the nu metal subgenre, isolating most of their fan base. In 2004, after being turned down by almost every mainstream metal record label around the world, they somehow managed to get Through the Ashes of Empires released through Roadrunner Records. The album was viewed as a major return to form, and the band reached the peak of their success with their follow-up record, The Blackening. Last year they released Unto the Locust which was viewed by critics and fans alike as a very solid follow-up to the masterpiece that was The Blackening. 

Lamb of God took groove metal in a new and heavier direction in 1999 by releasing their debut, Burn the Priest. Since then, they've helped the subgenre make the transition into the 2000s with New American Gospel, As the Palace Burns and Ashes of the Wake. Lamb of God weren't inventors of groove metal, but they have managed to pioneer the subgenre in substantial ways, drastically aiding its development and allowing it to remain a popular style once Pantera and Machine Head began to disintegrate. Lamb of God continues to be one of the most successful and well-respected heavy metal bands around today. 

Groove metal isn’t a very large subgenre, but it’s a crucial one in the history of heavy metal music. Today, many bands still practice and contribute to the subgenre and groove metal remains alive and well.