2000: How metal briefly went mainstream
It was the late 1990s. The dust of Britpop was settling, and the “meet-me-in-the-bathroom” era of New York indie music was just a reflection in some aviators. Music was in a lull, and the industry sought something new to burst through the ranks. It came in a form as unpredictable as it was exciting: nu-metal.
Genres aren’t created by the development of new sounds anymore. Instead, they are made by the merging of sounds. This happens frequently in modern music, but one of the first instances when it was done so blatantly was in the development of nu-metal. It’s a genre often looked back on with trepidation, as people sometimes cringe at those who performed it, but it was very innovative for its time, and it undoubtedly still holds up and reflects a unique time when metal music was mainstream.
Even in the modern age, where lines between genres are so blurred, they are hardly visible, and artists are encouraged to try to blend different sounds, no movement has managed to accomplish this freedom better than nu-metal did. Bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit and Disturbed took inspiration from alternative metal, alternative rock, hip-hop, grunge, hard rock and funk to create something new that one could dance, mosh and sing along to.
Korn are often said to be the godfathers of nu-metal. They burst onto the scene in 1994 with their self-titled debut, which used massively tuned down guitars, funk-infused vocal melodies and noise-inspired vocals. They were different, but something about them was intriguing, to the point that audiences couldn’t stop listening.
Other bands followed in their wake as Deftones released Adrenaline, Limp Bizkit brought out Three Dollar Bill Y’all and System of a Down were delightfully confused with their wacky self-titled debut. All of these albums had hard rock as the overriding sound but infused tracks with different styles, even bringing in rappers and DJs to expand their sound as much as possible.
Once the public had a taste for the nu-metal sound, it was only a matter of time before bands went from significant to astronomical. Outfits that used metal sounds continued to do well in the charts, as Slipknot dominated along with Linkin Park, whose debut album Hybrid Theory was one of the biggest-selling albums of the century. “They told us that the album was the best-selling album in the world, is what our manager said,” recalled Mike Shinoda, “and we were like ‘Oh yeah, like in the world.’ He’s like, ‘no literally in the world, it’s the biggest selling best-selling album on the planet.’”
The genre didn’t stay in the limelight for long, though. In the early 2000s, many bands started to deviate from the sound, and a new wave of indie began to make headlines as The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Libertines were stealing the public’s attention. However, despite the genre losing a bit of popularity, it never entirely left the spotlight. Groups such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Linkin Park have always been relatively high up on festival lineups, and in recent years, thanks to TikTok, the genre is resurgent.
The younger generation is starting to discover and identify with nu-metal. When you consider how much modern music merges genres, and given nu-metal was one of the first products of genre-merging, it’s no surprise it is so well received. Pair that with the nostalgia factor that it offers people who were around when it first became prominent, and we’re entering a brand new era of mainstream metal.
This is personified by the fact that Korn has recently announced their biggest-ever UK show, as they will be heading to Gunnersbury Park for a headline slot this summer. Given that the debut album will be celebrating its 30th year, 2024 is the perfect time for Korn to celebrate everything they’ve done.
“We’re really excited to play a big show for our London fans in a different kind of setting,” said Jonathan David, “It’s been seven years since we last played London, so we’re ready to bring it to Gunnersbury Park with our incredible supporting artists: Denzel Curry, Spiritbox, Wargasm, and Loathe.”
The crowd at this show will likely reflect the crowd who listen to nu-metal today, which is very mixed. It’s exciting to see specific genres have a resurgence, especially when their time in the limelight was only short-lived. Something like nu-metal in the modern music landscape has no bounds, so it’s exciting to consider where it might go compared to when it started in the late ‘90s.
