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Heavy Metal Thunder Nu-Metal

Genres Heavy Metal Alternative Metal Nu-Metal

Nu-Metal

Downtuned, hip-hop-inflected and openly about feeling terrible. Ridiculed for twenty years and now quietly beloved.

Peak years
1994 – 2010
Origin
USA
Family
Alt / Groove / Nu-Metal
Bands here
16

Before you press play

Explicit content

Graphic lyrics and artwork are a defining feature of this genre rather than an occasional accident — which of violence, gore or sex depends on the band. Worth knowing before you put it on in a room with other people in it.

Start here

Three records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Korn Korn, 1994 The landmark

    Seven-string guitars tuned down, a bass played with a slap technique, and lyrics about childhood abuse delivered in a voice that keeps breaking. Deeply uncomfortable, hugely successful, and the start of everything nu-metal did well and badly.

    Listen to Korn

  2. Hybrid Theory Linkin Park, 2000

    The best-selling record on this entire site, and better than its reputation — tight, short, and it understands dynamics.

    Listen to Hybrid Theory

  3. The Sickness Disturbed, 2000

    The heavy, straightforward end of nu-metal. No rapping, no turntables, just riffs and a very odd vocal delivery.

    Listen to The Sickness

What it sounds like

Downtuned, syncopated and built on feel rather than riffs. Seven-string guitars tuned very low playing short percussive figures instead of melodies, hip-hop-derived drum patterns, prominent bass high in the mix, and sometimes turntables or samples. Vocals move between rapping, singing and screaming, often inside a single song, and the shift between them is usually the emotional structure of the track. There are almost no guitar solos, which was the point — the previous generation had made virtuosity the goal and this one deliberately dropped it. Lyrically it turns inward and personal where thrash looked outward and political. That is why it was mocked for twenty years, and also why it has aged considerably better than its critics expected.

  • Heaviness 3 out of 5
  • Speed 2 out of 5
  • Aggression 4 out of 5
  • Technicality 2 out of 5
  • Darkness 3 out of 5
  • Melody 3 out of 5

Where the name came from

'Nu' is an informal spelling of 'new,' used to signal a fresh, youth-oriented wave of metal in the mid-1990s, playing on the alt-culture aesthetic of the era. Sometimes stylised as 'nü-metal.' The term was widely adopted by music press by 1997–98, though many bands — particularly Deftones and Slipknot — rejected the label.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Korn USA
  • Linkin Park USA
  • Limp Bizkit USA
  • Disturbed USA
  • Papa Roach USA

And 11 more

  • Mudvayne USA
  • Coal Chamber USA
  • P.O.D. USA
  • Drowning Pool USA
  • Ill Niño USA
  • Staind USA
  • Godsmack USA
  • Sevendust USA
  • Slapshock Philippines
  • Greyhoundz Philippines
  • Kittie Canada

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.