[QUOTE="Darth-Caedus"]Hate em, along with the entire nu-metal genre, tis a bastardization of real metal if you ask me >.>epayps2
What makes something nu-metal? Is System of a Down nu-metal?Nu metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that emerged in the mid-1990s which combines grunge music, alternative rock, and alternative metal with hip hop and various heavy metal genres, such as funk metal, industrial metal, groove metal and thrash metal.Nu metal bands often feature aggressive vocals that range from melodic singing similar to pop and rock, guttural screaming and shouting from various forms of metal, hardcore punk and, like funk metal, rapping is often used. Some distinction is usually maintained between bands who use rap vocals prominently, and those that do not. Bands featuring almost prominently rap vocalization are sometimes loosely called "rap metal," while the less common term rapcore is used to describe bands who use a combination of singing, screaming, and/or rapping (for example, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Slipknot and P.O.D. have songs that combine the ****). Distortion and other post-production effects are often added to vocals in the nu metal genre. Korn's Jonathan Davis, Deftones's Chino Moreno, Chevelle's Pete Loeffler, Slipknot's Corey Taylor, Taproot's Stephen Richards, Disturbed's David Draiman, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, have all cited Maynard James Keenan's signature ****as their main influence, with Durst also calling the band Tool (in general) both his biggest musical influence and favorite band.[5] Mike Patton of Faith No More is also credited for vocally influencing nu metal, particularly Jonathan Davis of Korn. Some bands have vastly different vocal ****, such as reggae influences on P.O.D.'s album Testify, most notably those songs featuring Matisyahu.
Guitar
Unlike traditional metal, the overall defining trait of nu metal guitar playing is the emphasis on mood, rhythm and texture over melody and complex instrumentation, achieved largely through performance or effects. However, guitar playing in nu metal still often varies vastly in complexity, sound, usage and riffs. Bands take elements from several forms of music when composing the riffs for their guitars, causing a high variance between the bands. One common trait of most nu metal bands, however, is to emphasize the guitar as a rhythmic instrument. Riffs often consist of only a few different notes or power chords played in rhythmic, syncopated patterns. To emphasize this rhythmic nature, nu metal guitarists generally make liberal use of palm muting, a technique inherited from thrash metal that is often widely spaced out and blend easily into the surrounding riffs, in a manner similar to grunge and hip hop. Another common technique with nu metal guitarists is the use of detuned strings whose lower pitch creates a thicker, more resonant sound. Strings down-tuned in this way are often drop-D or lower, sometimes adding a seventh string. When Korn first began its career, members of the band stated that guitar solos had become saturated and too boring in the rock industry, thus they felt no need for them. However, some Nu Metal bands, such as Drowning Pool and Godsmack, occasionally used guitar solos in their older Nu metal material.
Bass guitar
The speed and skill of a bassist in traditional heavy metal plays a large role in the band's sound, complementing percussive tempos (and occasionally the guitar riffs) and adding strong rhythmic pulse to the band. Nu metal bass parts are often reminiscent of hip hop or funk grooves, and in some songs, slap bass technique is used to give the music a funk groove. The bass in nu metal is occasionally the driving force behind the music, such as in certain Mudvayne or Korn songs. However, almost all Nu Metal bassist use 5 string over a 4 string bass.
Turntables
Many notable nu metal bands feature a DJ for additional rhythmic instrumentation (especially for music samples, scratches, and electronic backgrounds). Examples of nu metal DJs include DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit, St1tch of Mushroomhead, Sid Wilson of Slipknot and Mr. Hahn of Linkin Park.
Drums
Nu metal drumming often consists of hip hop, funk, and heavy metal influences. Double bass drumming is not very common in the **** except in certain bands such as Ill Niño, Disturbed and Slipknot. But unlike the long passages of double bass that death metal and black metal drummers utilize, most nu metal drummers use double bass in "stop-go" bursts. However the drumming in nu metal varies.Many bands in the genre apply a commonly used hard rock and metal technique which involves a swift double-kick roll before and between snare hits. Soulfly has also integrated certain aspects of middle eastern and tribal music in its ****
Song structures
A popular format is to have a song structure of instrumental introduction, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. The bridge is often a climax to the song, has a relatively different sound to the previous two and sometimes is just one line repeated, getting gradually louder. It is generally louder in the instrumental parts and the choruses than in the verses. Nu metal shares most of these characteristics with grunge. And yes, they are.
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