For anyone above the age of 30 may remember their teenage years in the late 90s or early 2000s consisting Adidas clothing, super baggy jeans, chain wallets, facial piercings and red snapback hats. If that is the case then you was most likely a fan of Nu-Metal.
From the crazy guys in Slipknot wearing masks and orange jumpsuits to Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington (R.I.P) combining rap with meaningful and powerful vocals.
Nu-Metal was big!
Nu-Metal was mainstream!
MTV frequently featured these bands. Woodstock featured a line up of Korn, Limp Bizkit, Sevendust and many others. Bands like P.O.D and Papa Roach selling multi platinum albums. Linkin Park released their debut album Hybrid Theory, which was the best-selling debut album by any artist of any genre in the 21st century!
This mainstream success didnt last long though, by 2005 many of these bands were either gone, were experimenting with different sounds or were no longer as popular as they were due to the decline of Nu Metal.
Fast forward to 2018 and today its a scary thought to think how long ago this all was and how people (including myself) feel nostalgic for it. Its a nice feeling listening to music from your youth and remembering all the fun times that went with it.
But for some Nu Metal is not just a thing of the past, it still lives on in the sounds of many bands and the words 'Nu Metal Revival' and 'Nu Metalcore' being thrown around shows its all still here.
In the past few years I have really started to get into some of these more recent bands that have clear Nu Metal influences and would like to share a few of my favourites.
Islander
Islander is an American band from Greenville, South Carolina. They currently have two studio albums. Violence & Destruction was released in 2014 and Power Under Control which was released in 2016.
In 2018 they released a new single called 'I Want Sushi'
(I'm really hoping for a new album release and a UK tour sometime soon)
Cane Hill
Cane Hill is an American band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana. They have two studio albums. 'Smile' was released in 2016 and earlier this year in 2018 they released 'Too Far Gone'
They have two new tracks "Lord of Flies"and "It Follows" which have been selected to be the official theme songs for WWE NXT Takeover and will be peforming live during the show which at the time of writing this is in a few hours.
(I see these guys live earlier this year and it was amazing!)
My Ticket Home
My Ticket Home is an American band formed in 2008 from Columbus, Ohio. They have three studio albums. 'To Create a Cure' was released in 2012, 'Strangers' Only in 2013 and UnReal in 2017.
'Strangers Only' goes hard and one of the standout tracks is 'Spit Not Chewed' (see below)
('UnReal' seems to have taken My Ticket Home in a new direction, still has clear Nu Metal influences but to me it has more of a 90's grunge sound and it was definitely one of the albums of 2017 for me)
Loser
Loser is a 4 piece band out of Detroit, MI. They have one album 'I'm Not the Same' which was released in 2017.
(One of my favourite bands at the moment, can't wait to hear more from them in the future!)
Dropout Kings
Dropout Kings are an American band from Phoenix, Arizona. They have just released their debut track "NVM" off their upcoming album "AudioDope".
(After hearing this track I am really looking forward to their upcoming album!)
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