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Nu metal (also called new metal, neo metal, aggro metal or nü metal using the traditional heavy metal umlaut) is a musical genre that has origins in the mid 1990s. It typically fuses influences from the grunge and alternative metal of the early 1990s with hip hop, electronic music and other metal genres, most often thrash metal and groove metal.
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994 signalled the beginning of the decline of alternative rock (and grunge in particular) as the driving force in modern American rock music, paving the way for nu metal to gain ground with the public. Lyrics of a style previously associated with grunge are common in nu metal songs, including those with a reputation for integrating hip hop into their sound.
While Korn, P.O.D., Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Slipknot are typically cited as the genre’s instigators, bands like Fishbone, Body Count, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, Deftones, Helmet, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and others are also proclaimed as progenitors. Linkin Park is the best selling nu metal act with 40 million copies sold out of their first two full-lengths (Hybrid Theory and Meteora) as well as other non-traditional albums. Producer Ross Robinson was labelled by some as ‘The Godfather of Nu Metal’ due to his producing of several notable Nu Metal albums. Nu metal bands also typically claim influence by more conventional metal acts, particularly Black Sabbath; it also has some sonic similarity with death metal as well as thrash metal bands like Metallica and Megadeth.
The term ‘nu metal’ was coined in the late nineties to denote the resurgence of metal in the public eye with the rise in popularity of bands such as Korn, Adema, and Limp Bizkit, as well as the success of the traveling Ozzfest festival. Ozzfest, unlike Lollapalooza, provided a venue solely for the metal scene. Ozzfest demonstrated that a sizable audience existed for new heavy metal sounds. Unlike previous eras who held bands such as Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest as their icons, the newer bands typically drew direct inspiration from more recent metal movements (particularly thrash and alternative metal).
Nu metal bands, because their style was not clearly defined, were often considered within multiple other genres. For example, Korn crosses into alternative metal and funk, Limp Bizkt crosses into hip hop and rap-metal and Disturbed crosses into heavy metal. The mix of styles led to some criticism that nu metal was no longer related to traditional metal. Rap is often used in nu metal, and fans of mainstream rap didn’t always respond well to it. (Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix, for example, for this reason has abandoned rapping in his band’s most recent work).
The term “Nu Metal”
Categorization of specific artists as ‘nu metal’ is difficult, an issue made more prevalent in the online community by traditional metal fans who take offense to the term. Nu metal began as a mix of different genres, so the definition is not solid. A largely accepted term is ‘Metal bands that were popular when metal was popular’. This is pretty much the only definition many fans will accept, largely due to Slipknot’s supposed Nu-metal-ness. Linkin Park’s Meteora, for example, is listed as nu metal on Wikipedia, ‘Rock/Pop’ on MP3.com[1], ‘Alternative’ on AOL Music Now[2], and three different genres (Rock, Metal, and Alternative) on Metacritic[3].
Guitar
The overall defining trait of nu metal guitar-playing is the emphasis on mood and texture over melody and complex instrumentation, achieved largely through performance or effects. Generally speaking, the emphasis in the music is on either communicating feelings of angst and hostility, or motivating a crowd to move with the beat — ideally, both at once. However, guitar-playing in nu metal still often varies vastly in complexity, sound and usage. Bands take elements from several forms of music when composing the riffs for their guitars, causing a high variance between the bands. One common trait of most nu metal bands however, is to emphasize the guitar as a rhythmic instrument.
Riffs often consist of only a few different notes or power chords played in rhythmic, syncopated patterns (the stressing of a normally unstressed beat in a bar or the failure to sound a tone on an accented beat). To emphasize this rhythmic nature, nu metal guitarists generally make liberal use of palm muting (resting the edge of the picking hand’s palm on the strings near the bridge, producing a dampened sound), that is often widely spaced out and blend easily into the surrounding riffs.
Another common technique with nu metal guitarists is the use of de-tuned strings whose lower pitch creates a thicker, more resonant sound. Strings ‘de-tuned’ in this way, are often drop-D or lower, sometimes adding a seventh string. Guitar solos are rare in nu metal songs, and when they do appear they are often short and simple.
Linkin Park, Spineshank and Disturbed are three bands that may be considered to represent examples of many techniques common to nu metal.
Bass
The nu metal bass is often slow and reminiscent of hip hop or funk music, strutting a loud sound and complementing percussive tempos (and occasionally the guitar riffs) to add a strong rhythm to the tone. A common technique is using the slapping method of playing to give the music a funk groove. Unlike most other genres of music, the bass in nu metal is more often than not the driving force behind the aggression of the music. Typically, most nu metal bands use basses that require more than the traditional four strings. These are usually five or six string basses with five being the norm. Bass is, by many, considered to be the lead instrument in Nu Metal due to the strong rhythm influence in the Music.