Nu metal
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Nu metal
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| Development phase: | Mid 1990s |
| Place of origin: | United States |
| Stylistic precursors | |
| Alternative Metal · Crossover · Funk Metal · Groove Metal | |
| Pioneers | |
| grain | |
| Instruments typical of the genre | |
| Electric guitar · Electric bass · Drums · Keyboard · Turntable | |
| Important local scenes | |
| los Angeles | |
Nu Metal , also New Metal or Nü Metal , is a collective term for several styles of music that developed from the crossover boom of the early 1990s. The term established itself in the mid-1990s primarily for bands that were oriented towards the musical styles of funk metal , neo-thrash and alternative .
definition
Nu Metal encompasses several varieties from the genres of rock and metal and is based on the tension between hardcore punk , grunge and independent that was created in the crossover , which until then was summarized under the title Alternative . The music influenced by hip-hop takes up large parts of metal, but is much more rhythm-oriented. Similar to Funk Metal , many representatives of Nu Metal renounced the habitualized masculinity pathos of Metal and replaced it with a more media-effective, youthful and authority-critical attitude.
In parallel with Nu Metal, the music genre Nu Rock emerged, which is better known today as post-grunge . Parallels in the development and expression of the styles are unmistakable and the boundary between the two styles is very blurred. Post-grunge or nu rock is more oriented towards rock than metal.
history
History and starting position
After the constant development of rock music resulted in the term alternative to define everything that was 'different' from classic rock, other sub-genres split off from it as early as the mid-1990s. From metal, thrash metal bands such as slayer in particular came closer to punk structures, so that against this background a basis for metal emerged beyond the usual scene conventions (leather clothing, long hair, pathos ), for which no separate term for a long time existed beyond the all-encompassing title crossover or alternative . This opened up the 'market' to music consumers from outside the genre, who offered metal new influences. Particularly pioneering styles for Nu Metal were the crossover flowers Groove Metal , Jazzcore and Funk Metal . These styles were all characterized by the combination of different musical genres, treading new musical paths and, meanwhile, embodying media-effective and commercially successful counterparts to hard rock and heavy metal, which were described as commercially worn and outdated .
The performers of Groove Metal anticipated many of the playful elements of Nu Metal. Particularly the increased emphasis on catchy rhythms, the frequently used syncope and the change between guttural and clean singing flowed into the Nu Metal. Groove metal bands like Machine Head , Prong , Fear Factory , Sepultura and Pantera are seen as important influencing factors here.
The performers of the styles funk metal and jazzcore meanwhile combined elements from punk rock and metal with hip-hop , funk and other styles that were untypical for rock music. Especially the combination of metal and hip-hop as well as the often innovative bass and guitar playing should have an impact on Nu Metal. The guitarist of the band Korn , James Shaffer , described z. B. the debut of the funk metal band Faith No More as the most important influence on one's own style. In addition to funk metal, Korn also named the work of the jazz core group Mr. Bungle as an important influence and the idiosyncratic playing of Mr. Bungle's guitarist Trey Spruance as a blueprint for Korn's own guitar playing. As early as 1992, bands such as Rage Against the Machine , Clawfinger and Body Count delivered a mass of commercially successful albums, which also mixed elements of metal, rap and funk.
Other individual projects from the early 1990s, such as the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails , the alternative rock band Helmet or the gloomy progressive metal band Tool, are further influencing factors . Mainly the singer Maynard James Keenan of the band Tool is just as often used as inspiration as Mike Patton , who occupied the microphone for both Faith No More and Mr. Bungle .
Origin and Success
From 1994 onwards, a wave of new bands combined style elements from jazzcore and funk metal with playful ideas of groove metal and a more youthful and personal attitude learned from the great wave of grunge . The lyrics of the songs in these new bands were less about socially critical and more about youth-compatible topics such as school, abuse and loneliness. These new bands, which were both visually and in terms of content, coined the term Nu Metal.
This actual Nu-Metal wave, through which the style gained its popularity and entered the public consciousness, was kicked off by the bands KoRn , Limp Bizkit and System of a Down . Above all the former shaped the type of lyrics to a considerable extent; Korn's texts are often deeply personal and often revolve around problems of growing up.
Thus, the debut of the band Korn is also regarded as the initial spark for the success of the genre and as an important milestone for the later establishment of the term Nu Metal, which seems closely connected to the success of the band Korn . Other bands such as Coal Chamber , Deftones , System of a Down and especially Limp Bizkit followed on from Korn's success and were also able to establish themselves. After the first successes, other representatives of the genre such as Linkin Park or POD appeared , which incorporated much more catchy and pop-oriented structures into their sound and posted further high chart positions. In 2001 and 2002, POD achieved high chart positions in Germany and America with their album Satellite .
The debut Hybrid Theory of the band Linkin Park reached the top ten in almost all relevant music markets in 2000: No. 2 in America, No. 2 in Germany, No. 4 in Great Britain, No. 5 in Switzerland, 2 in Austria, Italy and Australia and No. 1 in New Zealand as well as top 5 successes in almost all Scandinavian countries were recorded. Her second studio album Meteora was number one in almost all of these markets in 2003. In addition to this success, other newer bands were also able to post commercial successes in the early 2000s. In addition to the already known Korn and System of a Down , z. B. Slipknot and Disturbed in the spotlight. In addition to the pop-oriented Linkin Park and the initiators KoRn , Slipknot in particular shaped the general image and content of Nu Metal. In particular, the mixture of pop culture shock elements and youthful content stylized the band into a linguistic organ of the entire Nu-Metal scene and established lasting international success. While the self-titled debut from 1999 did not reach the top 20, the second work Iowa reached the top 20 charts in 2001.
Until the mid-2000s, Nu Metal took on such an important role in the pop circus and almost seamlessly replaced grunge as an alternative youth culture, which on the one hand promoted the market value of music and helped many hitherto unknown bands to get record deals, but on the other hand also sold out was titled by the music industry. Single successes and heavy rotation on the well-known music channels MTV and VIVA made the genre popular, but also contributed to its commercial decline due to the long-term oversaturation of the market.
Commercial decline
The band Deftones began to distance themselves from the Nu-Metal sound on their successful album White Pony from 2000. The band followed the path they had taken to a more progressive and dark sound, away from popular Nu Metal, with the following releases. Coal Chamber officially disbanded in 2003. After Linkin Park had cooperated with rapper Jay-Z in 2004 and released the bastard pop album Collison Course , it took almost three years to write their third studio album, on which the band reoriented themselves musically and consciously distanced themselves from Nu Metal. The band System of a Down took a long creative break after releasing the album Hypnotize in 2005 . Other bands such as Korn, Disturbed or Slipknot also tried to reposition themselves in the second half of the 2000s. Korn got darker and took over more and more elements of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails , but most of all stayed true to the actual Nu Metal. After their debut album The Sickness from 2000, Disturbed continued to focus on classic metal . And even the figurehead of the scene, Slipknot, came closer to typical metal structures with All Hope Is Gone in 2008 after a four year studio break . Limp Bizkit took a longer creative break after the 2003 album Results May Vary . In the following time only a few remixes, sampler and soundtrack contributions appeared, which, however, were also based on more common song structures. In 2011, however, they returned to the Nu-Metal sound with the album Gold Cobra . The reorientation towards metal , rock or progressive rock thus encompassed almost the entire original nu-metal scene. In the meantime, the Nu Metal label has gone from being a guarantor of commercial success to one of many musical styles.
music
Nu Metal's musical roots lie in the metal and alternative areas. The guitars are clearly in the foreground, but other elements are also used - only as additional support - in the form of filtered hip-hop beats as a rhythm extension , synthesizer sounds or distorted voices.
In Nu Metal the guitars are no longer melodically in the foreground as in the other styles of Metal , but almost exclusively take on a rhythmic role. So solos on the instrument are a rarity. The mostly simple riffs impress with their syncopated rhythms . Frequently, the deep tunings of the instruments ( Drop D ) and seven-string or five-string instruments are used to create a threatening atmosphere and an aggressive sound. As a contrast to the hard riffs, many songs also use clean passages in which no distortion is used, or melody-like hooklines .
The lines of the electric basses, on the other hand, have increased in complexity. The slap technique of Korn bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu is worth mentioning here . The drums are relatively simple and groovy, but are influenced by the breakbeats of hip-hop. A nu-metal band often has its own DJ or synth or / and sampling engineer, who give the genre a contemporary touch. The singer or front man has many options in Nu Metal. While some bands rely on melodic vocal accompaniment, others have roaring, rapping, screaming or whispered vocal characteristics. Many singers of this style combine several of the options.
Another peculiarity of Nu Metal is the frequent dissonance of the harmonies caused by the use of the tritone . It is not uncommon for many songs based on jazz core to show a rather complex harmony mess. Nu-Metal bands pay little attention to the rules of classical harmony when writing songs ; their way of working is mostly of a purely experimental nature. Nevertheless, there are sometimes quite complex harmonic structures, such as the so-called pitch axis system .
Style criticism
Nu Metal is as often criticized by conservative metal fans and bands as its forerunners from the various genre branches of Alternative Metal . Both commercialization and watering down of metal were accused of nu metal. The true metal band Manowar played a special role in this review, and they consistently spoke out against the style.
In addition to this conflict between value-conservative Metal and an open freedom of development of Metal, there is also the assumption that Nu Metal is not a new branch in the Metal family tree. Nu Metal is seen by critics as a mere continuation of Alternative Metal with increased media attention.
Well-known representatives
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Alternative Metal on AllMusic
- ↑ a b c NuMetal on elixic.de
- ^ Post-grunge on All Music
- ↑ Prong Review on FLMetal
- ↑ Interview with Prong
- ^ Homepage of Raymond Herrera ( Memento from February 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Interview with Max Cavalera
- ↑ Interview with James Munky Shaffer. The Reeper, archived from the original on January 6, 2009 ; accessed on November 30, 2015 .
- ↑ Article on Mr. Bungle on Rolling Stone
- ↑ a b c d e Nu Metal development on gibSchub
- ↑ Fred Durst Bio on FredDurst ( Memento from March 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Tomahawk Review on laut.de
- ↑ Korn reached number 72 on the American Billboard Album Charts in 1996
- ↑ Korn reached number 1 in the American and Canadian album charts in 1998, number 1 in the American and 2 in the Canadian album charts
- ↑ Korn reached number 12 in the German album charts according to Music Line in 1998 ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and since 1998 8 single successes in the German charts according to Music Line ( Memento of the original from September 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Coal Chamber reached number 22 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1999 and number 34 on the Billboard Album Charts in 2002
- ↑ Coal Chamber reached number 61 in 1999 and number 70 in 2002 in the German album charts according to Music Line ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Deftones reached number 29 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1997 and number 3 on the Billboard Album Charts in 2000
- ↑ Deftones reached number 11 in the German album charts according to Music Line in 2000 ( Memento of the original from August 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ SoaD reached number 134 on the Billboard charts in 2000 and number 1 on the Billboard charts in 2001
- ↑ SoaD reached number 24 in the German album charts in 2002 according to Music Line ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and also in 2002 number 14 in the German album charts according to Music Line ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and in 2005 number 1 in the German charts according to Music Line ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Limp Bizkit reached number 22 in the Billboard album charts in 1999, number 1 in the Canadian and American Billboard album charts in the same year and again number 1 in the American and Canadian Billboard album charts in 2000
- ↑ Limp Bizkit reached number 13 in the German album charts according to Music Line in 2000 ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and between 2000 and 2008 9 single hits in the German charts according to Music Line ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Entry to place 5 according to the history of the chart success on Music Line ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ POD - Satellite reached number 6 on the American Billboard charts in 2001
- ↑ Hybrid Theory on the Billboard Album Charts
- ↑ Hybrid Theory on Music Line ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Hybrid Theory in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Hybrid Theory in the European album charts
- ↑ Meteora on the Billboard Charts
- ↑ Meteora in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Meteora in the European charts
- ↑ Slipknot on All Music
- ↑ Slipknot in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ International and European charts
- ↑ Iowa in the international charts
- ↑ Iowa in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Iowa in the German Charts ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Iowa in the American charts
- ↑ Nu Metal on Give Push
- ↑ Nu Metal on MTV
- ↑ white pony on plattentests.de
- ↑ Deftones on plattentests.de
- ↑ Interview with guitarist Brad Delson on laut.de Interview: "We are not a political band" ( Memento from January 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on December 30, 2012)
- ↑ SoaD on Motor.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Review of Untitled on Stormbringer
- ↑ All Hope is Gone on Metal.de
- ↑ Limp Bizkit on Indie Impact ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Joey De Maio in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung on Manowar.at (accessed on June 25, 2010)
- ↑ Interview with Karl Logan on Manowar on Mortado.com (accessed June 25, 2010)
