Nu metalcore
{{Short description|Music genre}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name = Nu metalcore
| other_names = Nu-core
| stylistic_origins =
| cultural_origins = 2000s–2010s, United States, United Kingdom and Australia
| instruments =
- Electric guitar
- bass guitar
- drums
- turntable
- synthesizer
- vocals
| popularity =
| derivatives =
| subgenrelist =
| subgenres =
| fusiongenres =
| regional_scenes =
| other_topics = {{hlist|List of nu metalcore bands|rapcore|beatdown hardcore|deathcore|electronicore}}
}}
Nu metalcore (or nu-core){{cite web |last1=Heilman |first1=Max |title=ALBUM REVIEW: Orthodox drops a nu-core masterwork with 'Let It Take Its Course' |url=https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/orthodox-let-it-take-its-course/ |access-date=7 September 2024}} is a fusion genre that combines elements of nu metal and metalcore. The genre often makes use of a combination of screamed and sung vocals, in addition to breakdowns, hip hop-influenced drum beats and electronic music elements.
During the 1990s, many nu metal groups took influence from the hardcore scene, and metalcore bands including Integrity, Norma Jean and Bury Your Dead embraced elements of nu metal at varying points in their careers. In the 2000s, some deathcore bands like Suicide Silence, Emmure and Whitechapel took influence from nu metal, pioneering a nu deathcore style. This led to the first wave of nu metalcore in the 2010s. In 2013, genre defining works such as Bring Me the Horizon's Sempiternal, My Ticket Home's Strangers Only and Sworn In's the Death Card were released. By 2016, the formations of Cane Hill, Ocean Grove and Issues had led to a solidified first wave. A second strain of the genre, originating from the hardcore scene, soon emerged with Code Orange's Forever (2017), Vein.fm's Errorzone (2018) and Harm's Way's Posthuman (2018). In the 2020s, the genre continued to gain traction, with a new wave of groups including Loathe, Tetrarch and Tallah.
Characteristics
Nu metalcore often makes use of both screamed and sung vocals, breakdowns, heavy guitar riffs, hip hop-influenced drum beats and electronic music elements. Loudwire described the style as mostly based around nu metal and hip hop, while also incorporating the breakdowns of hardcore punk and the guitar tones of djent.{{cite web |title=The 10 Best Nu-Core Bands, Chosen by Vexed The 10 Best Nu-Core Bands, Chosen by Vexed |url=https://loudwire.com/best-nu-core-bands-chosen-by-vexed/ |website=Loudwire |date=14 July 2023 |access-date=9 September 2024}} Metal Injection writer Max Heilman specifically stated the style of metalcore that nu metalcore bands draw on his is the original 1990s "metallic hardcore" style.{{cite web |last1=Heilman |first1=Max |title=Nü Kids on the Block: 5 'Core Bands Doing Nü-Metal Right |date=25 September 2021 |url=https://metalinjection.net/lists/5-core-bands-doing-nu-metal-right |access-date=9 September 2024}} An editorial for Thrash Hits cited Contemporary R&B as a key influence on the genre, comparing it to the influence hip hop had on the original nu metal genre.
History
File:Integrity live 2.JPG embraced nu metal influences on their 1999 album Integrity 2000]]
=Precursors=
Since its pioneering, nu metal had been influenced by hardcore, particularly beatdown hardcore and its ignorant take on heavy riffing.{{cite web |last1=Warwick |first1=Kevin |title=Eight Bands Re-Inventing the '90s Hardcore Breakdown |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/90s-hardcore-list |website=Bandcamp Daily |date=November 17, 2016 |access-date=26 August 2023}}
Pioneering metalcore band Integrity's fifth album Integrity 2000 (1999) saw the band collaborate with members of nu metal band Mushroomhead.{{cite web |last1=McKenty |first1=Finn |title=What is UR Favorite Classic Nu-Metal Band?? |url=https://www.metalsucks.net/2010/09/29/what-is-ur-favorite-classic-nu-metal-band/ |website=MetalSucks |date=29 September 2010 |access-date=7 September 2024}} The same year, Chimaira released the This Present Darkness EP, which merged elements of nu metal and metalcore, a trend that would be continued on their debut album Pass Out of Existence (2001).{{cite web |last1=Mills |first1=Matt |title=The Genius Of… The Impossibility of Reason by Chimaira |url=https://guitar.com/features/opinion-analysis/the-genius-of-the-impossibility-of-reason-by-chimaira/ |access-date=7 September 2024}} Pioneering metalcore band Earth Crisis released the nu metal album Slither (2000).{{cite web |last1=Connick |first1=Tom |title=6 Albums That Nearly Ruined Bands' Careers |url=https://www.kerrang.com/albums-broke-bands-careers-nfg-discharge |website=Kerrang! |date=6 July 2020 |access-date=13 November 2024}} Slipknot's 2001 nu metal album Iowa contained elements of late 1990s metalcore, being compared by PopMatters writer Ethan Stewart to Disembodied. Influential metalcore band Norma Jean formed in 1997 playing nu metal under the name Luti-Kriss, before transitioning into metalcore with the release of Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child (2002).{{cite web |title=Norma Jean Biography by Alex Henderson |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/norma-jean-mn0000387219#biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=7 September 2024}} Japanese band Dir En Grey, formed in 1997, making music which Metal Hammer writer Alec Chillingworth referred to as "cutting edge, genuinely innovative music, taking influence from every pocket of the genre whether it be extreme metal, metalcore or nu metal."{{cite web |last1=Chillingworth |first1=Alec |title=Dir En Grey: (Not Just) Big In Japan |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/dir-en-grey-not-just-big-in-japan |website=Metal Hammer |date=12 May 2015 |access-date=7 September 2024}} Bury Your Dead's 2006 album Beauty and the Breakdown described as "straight-ahead, knotty, scorched earth nu-metal" while keeping "the ferocity of Bury Your Dead's hard-and-metalcore attack".{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=mw0000446054|pure_url=yes}}|title=Beauty and the Breakdown Overview|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=5 May 2011}} Other early bands to merge elements of both genres included Ill Nino, Demon Hunter and Maximum the Hormone. As early as 2007, Lambgoat.com writer Rob Parker used the term "nu metalcore" to refer to the sound of Demon Hunter.{{cite web |last1=Parker |first1=Rob |title=Demon Hunter Storm the Gates of Hell |url=https://lambgoat.com/albums/2538/demon-hunter-storm-the-gates-of-hell/ |access-date=7 September 2024}}
= Origins and development =
In the mid-to-late 2000s, many deathcore groups began to embrace elements of nu metal, with Whitechapel and Suicide Silence making use of a "heavier and more groove-driven sound than their predecessors and increasingly bordered nu-metal", and Emmure, Winds of Plague and the Acacia Strain embracing its urban, black aesthetics. As early as 2011, publications including MetalSucks had begun to use the term "nu-deathcore" or "nu-dethcore" to refer to a wave of bands combining nu metal and deathcore, including Emmure, Suicide Silence, Here Comes the Kraken, Upon a Burning Body and Gorelord.{{cite web|author-link=Finn McKenty |url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2011/10/24/is-nu-dethcore-the-next-big-thing-bouncewitme/ |title=Is Nu-Dethcore The Next Big Thing?|publisher=MetalSucks |date= 24 October 2011|accessdate=June 27, 2014}} Suicide Silence's 2011 album The Black Crown, which features elements of nu metal and metalcore/deathcore, peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200 chart.{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-black-crown-mw0002165230/awards |title=The Black Crown – Suicide Silence
File:Issues 2016.jpg' merger of nu metalcore and contemporary R&B saw widespread commercial success]]
These nu deathcore bands, led to a popularisation of nu metal elements in metalcore beginning around 2010, when Infected Rain, In This Moment, Butcher Babies and Attila began creating a "proto nu metalcore" sound.{{cite web |last1=Pritz |first1=Matthew |title=Nu Metalcore: An Inventive Genre of Music is Blowing Up Right Behind Our Ears |url=https://nahswingspan.com/13438/showcase/nu-metalcore-an-inventive-genre-of-music-is-blowing-up-right-behind-our-ears/ |access-date=10 September 2024}} Metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon's 2013 album Sempiternal embraced elements of nu metal and was widely influential.{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Stephen |title=This is Sempiternal: how Bring Me The Horizon made this generation's definitive metal album |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/this-is-sempiternal-how-bring-me-the-horizon-made-this-generations-definitive-metal-album |website=Metal Hammer |date=31 March 2023 |access-date=31 August 2023}} It peaked at number 3 on the UK albums chart,{{cite web |title=Bring Me The Horizon |website=Official Charts |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/5240/bring-me-the-horizon/ |access-date=15 May 2021}} and was one of the earliest releases by a UK metalcore band on a major label, through RCA Records.{{cite news |title=BRING ME THE HORIZON ANNOUNCE NEW RECORD LABEL |url=https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/bring-me-the-horizon-announce-new-record-label? |website=RockSound |access-date=15 May 2021}} My Ticket Home's Strangers Only (2013) too was a notable precedent of this wave, seeing a previously established metalcore act merge their style with dark, nu metal influence, together with Sworn In, they were one of the first to establish the modern nu metalcore sound.{{cite web |last1=Sievers |first1=Alex |title=From The Editor: The Best Releases Of The 2010s |url=https://killyourstereo.com/features/from-the-editor-the-best-releases-of-the-2010s/tqSiqKuqraw/04-02-20 |access-date=31 August 2023}} Issues' merger of nu metal, metalcore and contemporary R&B gained them significant commercial success, with a number of publications crediting them as ushering a new wave of nu metal.{{cite web |date=17 April 2013 |title=Issues: The Band That (Finally) Gets Nu-Metal Right |url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/04/17/issues-the-band-that-finally-gets-nu-metal-right/ |access-date=27 June 2014 |publisher=MetalSucks}}{{cite news |title=Are Issues Ushering In A New Wave of Nü-Metal? |work=Metal Injection |url=http://www.metalinjection.net/editorials/are-issues-ushering-in-a-new-wave-of-nu-metal |url-status=live |access-date=27 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001649/http://www.metalinjection.net/editorials/are-issues-ushering-in-a-new-wave-of-nu-metal |archive-date=4 March 2016}} Their debut self-titled album (2014) peaked at peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart{{cite magazine |title=Chart History Issues |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/issues/chart-history/tlp/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=31 August 2023}} and their second album Headspace (2016) reached number one on the Top Alternative Albums chart.{{cite magazine |title=Chart History Issues |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/issues/chart-history/alt/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=31 August 2023}}
Furthermore, Bring Me the Horizon's fifth album That's the Spirit (2015) saw the band fully embrace nu metal,{{cite news |last1=Bakare |first1=Lanre |title=Bring Me the Horizon: That's the Spirit review – nu-metal reanimators |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/10/bring-me-the-horizon-thats-the-spirit-review |website=The Guardian |date=10 September 2015 |access-date=31 August 2023}} which peaked at number 2 in both the UK and US.{{cite magazine |title=Chart History Bring Me the Horizon |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/bring-me-the-horizon/chart-history/tlp/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=31 August 2023}}{{cite web |title=Official Albums Charton 18/9/2015 18 September 2015 – 24 September 2015 |website=Official Charts |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20150918/7502/ |access-date=31 August 2023}}
By 2016, nu metalcore had solidified itself as a movement,{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Ethan |date=31 August 2021 |title=SLIPKNOT TRANSFORMED MODERN METAL WITH 'IOWA' 20 YEARS AGO |url=https://www.popmatters.com/slipknot-iowa-album-atr20 |access-date=7 September 2021 |website=PopMatters}} when the fusion began to be embraced by Cane Hill, Ocean Grove,{{cite web |last1=Sievers |first1=Alex |title=Album Review: Ocean Grove – 'Flip Phone Fantasy' |url=https://themusic.com.au/reviews/ocean-grove-flip-phone-fantasy/NiQiKCsqLSw/20-03-20 |access-date=7 September 2024}} Alpha Wolf{{cite web |last1=Sievers |first1=Alex |title=Album Review: Alpha Wolf – 'Mono' |url=https://themusic.com.au/reviews/alpha-wolf-mono/dKpsZmloa2o/10-07-17 |access-date=7 September 2024}} and DangerKids.{{cite web |title=Thrash Hits – Nu metalcore |url=http://www.thrashhits.com/2013/09/nu-metalcore-is-definitely-happening-why/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315001209/http://www.thrashhits.com/2013/09/nu-metalcore-is-definitely-happening-why/ |archive-date=15 March 2017}} According to The Soundboard in 2016, "nu-metalcore has become [...] omnipresent."{{Cite web|url=https://thesoundboardreviews.com/2016/10/13/album-review-pain-joy-ecstasy-despair-by-shvpes/|title=ALBUM REVIEW: 'Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair.' by SHVPES|last=thesoundboardreviews|date=October 13, 2016|website=The Soundboard|access-date=July 18, 2017}} Many bands who had already made a name for themselves playing metalcore began to shift their sound towards nu metalcore, including Parkway Drive on Atlas (2012), Of Mice & Men on Restoring Force (2014) and Cold World (2016){{cite web |date=7 February 2014 |title=Of Mice & Men – Restoring Force (Album review) |url=http://crypticrock.com/of-mice-men-restoring-force-album-review/ |publisher=Crypticrock.com}}{{cite web |title=Of Mice & Men – Restoring Force (2014) |url=http://www.megustareviews.com/2014/01/of-mice-men-restoring-force-2014.html |publisher=Megusta Reviews}}{{cite web |title=Review: Of Mice & Men – Restoring Force |url=http://www.themonolith.com/music/review-mice-men-restoring-force/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701175203/http://www.themonolith.com/music/review-mice-men-restoring-force/ |archive-date=1 July 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |publisher=The Monolith}} and Northlane on Alien (2019).
Metallic hardcore band Code Orange saw critical acclaim and success with their Roadrunner Records debut Forever in 2017. It saw the band embraced the influence of nu metal, and according to PopMatters writer Ethan Stewart, led to nu metalcore becoming "one of the most prominent flavors of contemporary metal". Forever's title track was also nominated Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2018.{{cite magazine |last1=R. Weingarten |first1=Christopher |last2=Shteamer |first2=Hank |last3=Bienstock |first3=Richard |last4=Grow |first4=Kory |last5=Epstein |first5=Dan |title=20 Best Metal Albums of 2017 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/20-best-metal-albums-of-2017-196307/code-orange-forever-3-197921/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=1 March 2020 |date=6 December 2017}}{{cite web |author=Loudwire Staff |title=25 Best Metal Albums of 2017 |url=https://loudwire.com/25-best-metal-albums-2017/ |website=Loudwire |date=27 November 2017 |access-date=1 March 2020 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Code Orange |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/code-orange |website=GRAMMY.com |access-date=1 March 2020 |language=en |date=19 November 2019}}{{cite magazine |last1=Exposito |first1=Suzy |title=Code Orange: Metal's Rising Stars on Their Grammy Nod, Breakthrough Year |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/code-orange-metals-rising-stars-on-their-grammy-nod-breakthrough-year-204507/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=1 March 2020 |date=13 February 2018}} Because of its influence, many metallic hardcore bands began incorporating nu metal and industrial into the sound, leading to the releases of the White Noise's AM/PM (2017), Vein.fm's Errorzone (2018) and Harm's Way's Posthuman (2018).{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Ethan |title=CODE ORANGE'S 'THE ABOVE' IS 2023'S MOST AMBITIOUS HARDCORE ALBUM |url=https://www.popmatters.com/code-orange-the-above-review |website=PopMatters |date=28 September 2023 |access-date=7 September 2024}}
In 2020, Metal Hammer published an article titled "The most exciting new sound of 2020 is... nu metal", citing Loathe, Blood Youth, Tetrarch, Ocean Grove and Tallah as the bands fronting the newest wave of nu metalcore.{{cite web |last1=Leivers |first1=Dannii |title=The most exciting new sound of 2020 is… nu metal |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-most-exciting-new-sound-of-2020-is-nu-metal |website=Metal Hammer |date=10 July 2020 |access-date=7 September 2024}} Loathe's second album I Let It in and It Took Everything (2020) saw critical acclaim, and was consistently praised for expanding the scope of metalcore by incorporating elements of nu metal, shoegaze, emo, post-rock, progressive metal and industrial music.{{cite web |title=Loathe take prog-metalcore to dazzling heights on new single |url=https://www.altpress.com/loathe-take-prog-metalcore-to-dazzling-heights-on-new-single/ |website=Alternative Press |date=20 September 2019 |access-date=1 September 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Yoo |first1=Noah |title=I Let It In and It Took Everything |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/loathe-i-let-it-in-and-it-took-everything/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=1 September 2023}}{{cite web |title=FAN POLL: 5 BANDS MOST LIKELY TO BREAKOUT IN 2020 |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/fan-poll-5-bands-most-likely-breakout-2020#3-loathe |website=Revolver |date=23 January 2020 |access-date=1 September 2023}} The band's use of the Fender Bass VI guitar, which tunes to an octave below a standard tuning guitar, became widely sought after following the album's release.{{cite web |last1=Astley-Brown |first1=Michael |title=How an oddball baritone became one of the most valuable Squier guitars of all time |website=Guitar World |date=31 March 2021 |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/how-an-oddball-baritone-became-one-of-the-most-valuable-squier-guitars-of-all-time |access-date=1 September 2023}} The same year, Alternative Press additionally cited Sylar and Void of Vision as "essential nü-metal metalcore bands".{{cite web |last1=Smith-Engelhardt |first1=Joe |title=11 essential nü-metal metalcore bands to have on your playlist |url=https://www.altpress.com/best-nu-metal-metalcore-bands/ |website=Alternative Press |access-date=9 September 2024}}