Industrial Nu Metal
Located in 2 routes
Nu metal welded to machine rhythms: programmed drum loops, sequenced synth pulses, sampled noise and metallic textures layered over downtuned, staccato chug riffs. Tempos sit in a driving mid-range with a mechanical, danceable four-on-the-floor or stomping groove; guitars are processed, gated and percussive rather than warm. Vocals range from snarled, distorted barks to robotic, effected sing-song and electronic-tinged hooks. The aesthetic is cold, futuristic and club-adjacent, swapping the funk-bounce of pure nu metal for a glossy cyber-industrial sheen indebted to EBM and electro.
History
This hybrid took shape in the late '90s as nu-metal bands absorbed the programming and electronics of industrial-metal forebears Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Fear Factory. Static-X's 1999 debut 'Wisconsin Death Trip' defined the template with Wayne Static's 'evil disco' pulse, while Orgy's synth-glossed new-wave covers, Powerman 5000's sci-fi sci-fi B-movie bombast, and dope's drum-machine aggression pushed it onto rock radio and the Ozzfest/Family Values circuit. Cleveland's Mushroomhead and Spineshank added sampler-heavy density, and Linkin Park's electronic-laced 'Hybrid Theory' carried the DJ-and-programming side into the mainstream, cementing a glossy, machine-driven offshoot distinct from both organic nu metal and pure industrial metal.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- AllMusic: Industrial Metal / Nu Metal genre overviews
- Wikipedia: Static-X
- Industrial metal
- Louder Sound / Metal Hammer features on Static-X and the nu-metal era