A question from a newbie metal head: What the heck is nu metal?!
My irritation, if you wonder, is due to the fact that more than a weeks attempts at getting a good answer has turned up nothing. But I guess if I ever will get it, it's here...

Nu is a Greek letter. Nu metal is Greek metal

Nu metal as a term that has come to mean any type of metal regarded as 'shit' or 'popular' by your average no-brain metalhead.

Personally, I don't give a fuck what it means. What is thrash metal? Fast double bass drumming and fast riffs with growled vocals. A bit like Devildriver, no? But what are they classed as? Yep, nu-metal, but they get lumped in with nu-metal for the pure fact that they are shit rather than any allegiance to said scene.

So basically, nu-metal = any form of metal that an elitist metalhead doesn't like because all the little 13 year olds mosh to it in the mall

Metalheads are pretty stupid in general, aren't they?

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downtuned chugga-chugga riffs, breakbeat type of drumming, sparse guitar effect sounds,no solos, maybe some rap or something, clean dude vocals..............i think that about sums it up

Yes, but only because they represent the larger public! Shazzam!

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Well, I believe I understand... but tell me, is this the general conception among metallers or will I be smacked in the head with something wooden and buried under the compost heap at full moon for airing this oppinion...?
By the way, can anyone give me a well known example of a nu-metal band?

Korn.

So, anyone know of some good bands generally classified as nu-metal then?

To return to the earlier question - I went to Korns' site and listened to a couple of songs, just out of curiosity. And sure, fast beat and chugga chugga riffs, but... how did it get to be classified as metal?!

Stop typing and step away from the keyboard! Korn web site indeed!

Basically in the mid 90's post grunge era, proper metal was not classed by the media as trendy or cool. So the entertainment business gave us this hybrid style that could be marketed from eveything from clothing to Buffy Vampire soundtracks. Combining rap, turn tables and weak guitarists more interested in fashion than actually learning the bones of their marketed trade. We soon got sick of all these sexually abused blubbering ex Duran Duran fans with drop tuned 'F E squeak F E squeak' excuses for guitar riffs and people began to realise that true riffs and guitar solos rule!
We all live happy ever after now the wicked witch of Bizkit is dead! Let's all piss on the corpse!


Other bands you may wish to avoid.
Limp Bitkit
Coal Chamber
Linkin Park
HedPe
Ill Nino
Papa Roach
Down the Sun
Kittie
Adema
Drowning Pool
Linea 77
Autonomy
Disturbed
.......

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nu metal equals shit...you might think numetal is cool...if so please remove the spoon from your ass and consualt you doctor within 24 hours

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Websters defines Nu Metal As: (noun : Verb) Fat Goth chicks shopping at hot topic bobbing there heads to DropD guitars and crappy lyrics, smoking cigs because there parents dont want them to, and lets all not forget about wearing dog choke chains around there necks

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no such thing, goofball

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Hey, keep the tone down, message recieved. I understand what you mean; I spent two hours afterwards frantically trying to tab Master of Puppets - not so much a serious attempt at getting a result as some sort of cleansing ritual, i suppose...

I'm gonna get beat down for this, but I think Slipknot is a kick ass 'nu-metal' band. Truthfully, among all honesty nu-metal opened the door for me to real metal. I went from Disturbed to Decapitated, and I owe it all to nu-metal.

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Don't worry for my sake, I have never really understood the point in trying to reach the misguided with violence... and in this the guidance seem to have hit home anyway.
Of course, there were those hip hoppers once, but they really had it coming to them and that didn't have anything to do with their commercial-slaves clothing. At all.

Actually, in order to be what most metalheads think of as Nu (new) metal is to just be popular, make a profit, and attract new listeners. Metalheads hate this because they like to be a feared, mysterious, solitary types of people. Other metalheads within a certain area take away from there mysterious superiority of seclusion in evil unless they are in a band together. Girls love that kind of stuff. They only join in mass when something they can all collectively call true metal comes near their domains, but only then to temporarialy tolerate each other, search for the rare true metal loving women, and to evaluate the proformers compared to themself then tell there fellow metalheads how they could own there ass at < insert instrument here >.

Most metalheads hate to be hated and seen as outsiders and different, but in fact they actually love it. When a band comes along that breaks the barrier of "different", and "occult following only", into "mainstream", and "new listeners", happens they are now "sell outs" and "Nu metal".

See how it works now I've seen lots of metalheads "jump on the band wagon" of hating. The hate couldn't be spread fast enough so new genres were made to help divide the differences.

No need for it. Listen to Nu metal if you will. It came from true metal like it or not, so take what you can from it and farther metal music.

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I don't see why having no solos is indicative of nu-metal. Anybody listen to brutal death here?

I don't see how having chugga-chugga riffs is indicative of nu-metal. Anybody listen to Slayer here?

I don't see how downtuning is indicative of nu-metal. Anybody listen to Meshuggah or Cryptopsy or Nile or Suffocation here?

I don't see how rapping is indicative of nu-metal. Anybody ever heard of Rage Against The Machine or the Red Hot Chili Peppers here?

I don't see how clean vocals are indicative of nu-metal. Anybody listen to Akercocke here?

I don't see how lacking skill is indicative of nu-metal. Anybody listen to Six Feet Under or Mortician here?

Nu-metal does not exist as a genre - it's just the term applied to any form of metal (usually popular or heard on the radio) that metalheads don't like. It's not a difficult concept to grasp.

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Fascinating.
Scratch the surface and find a world of contradictions. Well, that's us i guess.
Fascinating.

there was already a thread on this.

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maybe, but it's all that stuff combined.

just add radio friendly songs and angsty lyrics.

for example, we don't call marilyn manson or cradle of sperm nu-metal, but it does seem to go well in the "nu-crowd"

Personaly, I don't give a bloody rat's ass. If people want to listen to shit music, then let them

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That seems like a reasonable enough of a conclusion, and my curiosity has been satisfied, so what do you say about ending this thread here.

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Some people also consider Pantera and Metallica to have turned into nu-metal bands in their more recent albums. In fact, probably the most influencial band for most bands considered to be nu-metal is Pantera, and I wouldn't be surprised if Metallica was second.
Though I'm not fond of the more modern material from either Pantera or Metallica, I don't think I would call them nu-metal. Then again, I barely know any new material from those two bands.

I don't condemn what is considered to be nu-metal, and don't care too much about whether a band is considered to be a nu-metal band (unless it's ridiculous like calling Symphony-x nu-metal). Some of the elements that are considered to be classic nu-metal writing are present in regular metal. One only needs to listen to James LaBrie rap on the Train of Thought album to determine that (though they also use some nu-metal riffs sometimes that fit well into their music I find). And some bands that are considered nu-metal have some cool elements, and sometimes some very talented stuff.
I don't really know Lamb of God, but I heard a song in which they get Alex Skolnick to do a guest solo. Wait now, I can't remember what they sound like. Damn that defeats the point I was trying to make here. Do they sound like nu-metal or more like Euro with all the harmonies and keyboards. I honestly don't remember Lamb of God.
Anyway the point here is that there probably are some talented musical pieces within nu-metal, it just might require looking hard enough.

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Allright, allright, I listen to music for the artistical value - if it entertains me I listen - and it seems to be something that we all can put our signature, no?

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Mastodon don't argue that their sound was influenced significantly by nu-metal. I went through nu-metal too. We are too damn elitist.

Linkin Park to Korn to Machine Head to Fear Factory to Dimmu Borgir to Morbid Angel to Deicide to Meshuggah. How about that?

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Nu. Two letters, one syllable, no interest.

But as a working definition? Nu-metal is a hysterial little label that grumpums teenagers use to denigrate music they don't like.

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wtf? DEvildriver is classified nu-metal? how are they nu-metal?

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All my respect for Nu. although I don't like it, it has lead me into metal as well

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You guys are gay!

pfff.

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It is easy to describe Nu-metal. Actually, you dont need more than these two simple words: IT SUCKS!

Ripe with examples this thread is.

Brazilian word - Nu = Pelado

Nu = Pelado - In English = Naked

Brazilian - Metal Pelado

English - Naked Metal.

Got it?

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naked metal? 0_o

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If Nu is just a label that angsty people call metal they don't like (not arguing that it isn't), what would you actually call Slipknot, Korn, Devil Driver etc

Metal.

Just that I would consider most (but not all) of the output from those bands to be crap and not worth my time.

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but a lot of those "nu" bands are too simmilar to not call it a different genre

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I think it's more to do with the media and it's obssession with labelling things. Terms such as emo or nu were made aware to me by music publications or rock magazines.

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OH YES! WE GOT IT!

Well. This thread sure is a waste of green.

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