Funk Metal

It’s difficult to determine how the funk metal subgenre was created. Some critics argue that the style of music dates all the way back to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ work in the mid to late 1980s. The band certainly dabbled in metal territories, but at its core, RHCP has always been more of a funk rock band. The lines between funk rock and funk metal have always been blurry, but there is definitely some key differences between the two styles of music.

Funk metal is the combination of alternative metal and funk rock. It is much heavier than funk rock and contains a bit more of an edge to it. Funk metal definitely originated with RHCP, but the group never fully became immersed in the style. Groups and artists such as Primus, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, Suicidal Tendencies and Living Colour really brought the subgenre to life, and have helped it to gain a following. 

When the term “funk metal” is used, Primus is usually the band that is most frequently associated with it. Primus set the standard for how funk metal should sound as a pure subgenre. Their style of music blended heavy metal and funk rock so purely, and they became notorious for their experimental funky compositions. Les Claypool and Larry LeLonde (the latter of whom was a veteran death metal musician) led the group to achieve an enormous amount of mainstream success. 

Living Colour, alongside Primus, also focused on a purely distinct funk metal style. Living Colour immediately set themselves apart in the heavy metal scene by being an all African American rock group. The band then gained further attention for their experimental mixture of funk rock and heavy metal. Living Colour achieved the most success with their single “Cult of Personality,” which is still popular today. 

While funk metal was the primary focus of Primus and Living Colour, for other groups it was just a style to experiment with. Faith No More and Rage Against the Machine were both bands that were primarily rooted in funk metal, but combined it with a few other styles of music to form unique musical identities. Meanwhile, Suicidal Tendencies changed their style temporarily to funk metal, only to eventually return to crossover thrash metal. The funk metal style of Suicidal Tendencies has been continued through Infectious Grooves, which contains members of the band.

Today funk metal remains popular, but new funk metal bands have struggled to find any success. The legends of the subgenre keep it alive, and the style of music remains just as exciting as ever.