Nu Metal Definition Backlash Style Vocals Guitar Bass

The genre is occasionally called "nü-metal," using the traditional heavy metal umlaut.

1 Definition

Beyond the pronouced hip-hop influence, nu metal has--like most forms of heavy metal music--proven somewhat difficult to define. Some fans and musicians have a firm concept of genre and subgenre, but others reject such categorization as unnessesary, limiting or useless. There is often significant crossover from one category to another, and often the influence of non-metal music.

Some heavy metal fans do not consider nu metal a form of heavy metal music at all, arguing the genre is too diluted from what they consider "true" heavy metal, further noting that nu metal guitarists typically forgo traditional metal guitar technique, including both soloing and the riff style most associated with the older styles of metal. Other heavy metal fans, however, reject these arguments, citing rock music's long history of incorporating disparate elements--including jazz, experimental music and world music--out of curiosity or genuine appreciation for other musical genres.

While Deftones and KornFor the Unix shell, see Korn shell. Korn (usually written as "Kon") is a heavy metal band from Bakersfield, California, United States. They originally formed as LAPD which consisted of all the members apart from singer Jonathan Davis. When he joined the b are typically cited as the genre's instigators, bands like Faith No MoreFaith No More was a successful alternative metal band in the 1980s and 1990s. Formed in San Francisco in 1982, they are probably best known for the singles "Epic" and "Falling to Pieces" off of their 1989 album The Real Thing and for their cover version o, Rage Against The Machine and CubanateCubanate is an industrial band from London, founded in 1992 by Marc Heal (also of C-Tec) and Phil Barry. It is known for its early fusion of distorted metal guitars, and techno percussion (later incorporating breakbeats) with industrial electronics and vo are cited as progenitors. Some fans have noted the influence of even earlier artists, such as ProngProng was a heavy metal/ thrash metal band, formed in 1985. Prong had two independent releases, Primitive Origins and Force Fed''. The albums attracted the attention of Epic Records, which signed the trio in 1989. The group disbanded in 1997 after the Rud and ToolTool was formed in 1990 by vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Paul d'Amour, and drummer Danny Carey. Paul d'Amour left the band in 1995 and was replaced by Justin Chancellor of the UK band Peach shortly after recording for their.

The stage acts and video clips of some of the more commercially successful of these groups owe much to some of metal's more pompous traditions, without much of the menace that such stylings used to represent. This fact, combined with the unoriginality and commercialization of nu-metal music, means that the style is often derided by other metal fans.

2 Backlash

By the late 1990s, there was, from some music fans, a significant backlash against nu metal, charging that many associated perfomers were uninspired or derivative. This caused some bands such as the Deftones, who were among the first of the genre, to break free and distance themselves from the term.

The derisive term aluminiumAluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is the chemical element in the periodic table with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. A silvery and ductile member of the poor metal group of elements, aluminium is found primarily as the ore bauxite and has been used by some to describe the genre, since they consider it less "hard" than other metal and largely "recycled" from other material.

3 Style

3.1 Vocals

In the 1990s, many bands began to mix rapping and other new techniques with traditional heavy metal guitar and drum sounds. As a result, fans and music journalists needed to differentiate between the more traditional heavy metal music and this "new breed" of bands who were using samples, DJs, raps and drum machines in a way that made their music distinct. "New metal" evolved into the trendier spelling "nu metal," and a genre was vaguely defined.

Nevertheless, some distinction is usually maintained between rap metal, rapcore and nu metal. Rap metal is normally considered to be metal with primarily rap vocals -- with a minimum of other styles. Rapcore and nu metal are basically the same thing: distorted guitars and drums with rap influenced vocals. This means that it can sound somewhat like traditional metal vocals, with a varying amount of rap -- some bands more than others.

Nu-metal vocals can include rapping, clean singing, hardcore-like barking, and various forms of screaming, sometimes all in the same song.

3.2 Guitar

While traditional heavy metal was very much guitar-based, with intricate guitar solos and complex riffs forming an important part of most songs, nu metal generally emphasizes the guitar as a rhythmic instrument. The riffs often consist of only a few different notes or power chords played in rhythmic, syncopated patterns. To emphasize this rhythmic "pulse," nu metal guitarists generally make liberal use of palm muting, a technique which itself blurs the boundary between melodic note and rhythmic attack. Another common tactic is the use of de-tuned strings (in drop-D or lower, sometimes adding a seventh string) whose lower pitch creates a thicker, more resonant sound. Finally, many nu metal guitarists seem to be fond of "pinch" or artificial harmonics. The opening riff of Linkin Park's "One Step Closer" is a representative example of almost all of the above techniques. A few nu metal bands have done some guitar solos.

3.3 Bass

Traditionally, metal bass lines tend to be quite simple, often following the root note of the guitar riff. (There have been a few notable exceptions, such as Cliff Burton of Metallica and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, whose bass lines tended to be much more complicated, and in general the complexity of bass part varies with the style of each given band.) In nu metal, however, bassists tend to use more complex lines, often influenced by jazz. Limp Bizkit's Sam Rivers, for example, comes from a jazz background, as does their drummer, John Otto. Another notable bass influence is funk. This is best shown with the bassist for the band Mudvayne, Ryan "Ryknow" Martinie .

3.4 Drums

Nu-metal drumming is often influenced by the complex breakbeats of hip-hop. In fact, many notable nu-metal bands feature a DJ who provides sampled "beats" and other effects. The most famous of these are DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit and Joe Hahn of Linkin Park. Linkin Park could be considered rapcore or nu-metal, and often jumps between. As a reference for genre classification; if the band uses drum machines, DJ's or Sampled beats it usually is rapcore, not nu-metal as is commonly mistaken.

True nu-metal drums are usually more interesting than "traditional" metal, as they incorporate less predictable rhythms and require a good sense of beat. The typically more complex drumming is countered by typically less complex guitar work.

4 Notable nu-metal bands

(Hed) Planet Earth
Sevendust
Spineshank
Taproot
Three Days Grace

Heavy metal Hip hop

<Hide>

Home > Nu metal