In the end, it didn't really matter.
"But we've really moved away from anything that sounds like nu-metal. I know that we kind of helped create, I guess, the sound of that genre, but I hate that genre. I'm not going to speak for everyone, but I can personally tell you that I am not a big fan of almost everybody in that category. There are a few bands that I don't really believe belong in there, and we're one of those bands."
"I hate it when people call us nu-metal. Not because it sucks, well that is one reason too, but mostly because it's so in the box. We are not limited. We are not a band that's fixed to a genre, we like pop, rock, hip hop, folk, country and what we do is a blend of all of that."
- Chester
I dig it. I never even heard the label until this thread. I always thought that style of music was a new evolution, a fusion of hard rock, alternative, rap, rasta, and reggae. Bands experimented with music a lot in that era, blending the genres together, and I really appreciated it. Then it all just went away, and we were left with nothing but pop and mumble rap getting promoted after that period of time. I used to think that the world went so hard for pop at the end of the 90's because everyone was tired of being depressed, and surrounded by grunge, but now I know it's just because the studios figured out a formula that churned out new "artists" without a need for originality or creativity.
For anyone legitimately wondering, nu metal is still alive and well in one form or another, it just isn't getting nearly as much press or support as it used to. You can also hear its influence in a lot of modern metal, metalcore, and some more experimental rap
Thank you!
Thanks, yo!
There's plenty of rock that sounds similar to those bands still out there and being made very successfully. The real problem is that your method of exposure has changed. You remember all these because they happened at a time when radio and MTV were how most people discovered ALL music. The only other way was word of mouth exposure. It's never been easier than it is today to discover new music, but the flip side is that breakouts are few and further between, and largely only cater to whatever is already popular. It's why "everything sounds the same" now - because a lot of what is mainstream literally is the same. Same tempo, key, beat, rhythm, vocal patterns etc. If Freak on a Leash, Wait and Bleed, or Break Stuff came out today, 99% of people would never know because it wouldn't be played on any radio station. Gotta save that valuable air time for (way) more ads, and the same tswift and weeknd songs you heard 35 minutes ago.
As for numetal specifically, the real answer is that 5 of 6 of these weren't really metal of any sort, but they also didn't fit nicely into a TRL genre (Slipknot being the mega exception - they were very metal from the get go). I'm not going to get into a debate on what is and is not metal and more importantly not disparage anyone for what they like or don't like! I'm not disparaging any of these bands at all just noting that part of what made them standouts is that they didn't have a nice neat genre to fit into. Slipknot largely stayed Slipknot, and the other either evolved (LP, PR), didn't have staying power (Evanescence, LB) or had a good run and split up (Korn).
Slipknot is no longer as trashy (in the metal sense) and raw as they were, but they are still churning out albums and selling out arenas. So is Papa Roach for that matter (though they play much smaller venues than Slipknot)!
Thank you for the detailed answer
https://www.revolvermag.com/music/10-bands-leading-new-wave-nu-metal
Spiritbox is the new but way better Evanescence.
Check out Death Grips, Nova Twins, Ice Nine Kills, Dropout Kings, Sleep Token, King 810.
Also never listened to them but XIII, Tetrarch, and Tallah all seem to come highly recommended, might have to check them out myself.
Add Bloodywood to the mix, it's Indian folk nu metal. Incredibly good.
Like indigenous or south Asian? Either way I'm intrigued
Totally agree with Spiritbox.
I’ll throw in Bad Omens. THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND is great fuck music.
thx for the suggestions
It got old.
Hyperpop is the new numetal
But what about nununumetal?
Reading through these comments and the numetal wiki, it seems my idea of what numetal is and what the world considers numetal are two incredibly different things. The wiki has Glassjaw listed as a numetal band. Disagree 100% on that one. Spiritbox? That's progressive metalcore if anything. Sleep Token? lol, no.
Numetal seems to have taken on a very broad subgenre role. Which, from what I know of music, it should sit (as it is defined) as a genre that uses basic metal music fused with other genres. Meaning it's never over-complicated and songs are written more like pop songs in their structure and simplicity.
Using numetal as a catch-all for anything that's a fusion of two or more genres is a bit, um, disrespectful to bands who are a far cry from just playing in 4/4 all the time with the song structure of intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/breakdown/chorus/outro.
