In a recent interview with SiriusXM Octane host Jesea Lee, ASKING ALEXANDRIA guitarist Ben Bruce discussed the “nu-metal” genre, which gained popularity and reached its peak during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Ben said: “People say now, ‘Oh, what a terrible era.’ I think it was one of the best eras of metal ever because it was so huge, but it also birthed… That was the cool thing about nu metal. If you listen to, like, ’80s metal bands, a lot of them sound very similar. But they spawned, the ’80s spawned some incredible bands. Same with the ’60s — same with every generation and era of music. And nu metal was so diverse. I feel like when you say nu metal, an automatic sound goes into your head.
“But the reality is you’ve got SLIPKNOT on one end of that spectrum, LINKIN PARK on the other end of the spectrum you’ve got EVANESCENCE somewhere in the middle, you’ve got SYSTEM OF A DOWN, you’ve got KORN, you’ve got all these great bands that came from nu metal, and they all sound so different; they’re so unique. SLIPKNOT is a nu metal band — they are — but they do not sound anything like LINKIN PARK, and LINKIN PARK do not sound anything like SYSTEM OF A DOWN. So I just think it’s such a great era. I still listen to it.”
“If I’m gonna put on a metal album, chances are — eight, nine times out of 10 — it’s gonna be a nu metal record from that era,” he continued. “Probably Toxicity or something or Iowa, but it’s gonna be from that era. And I still love listening to METALLICA and all kinds of other metal bands too, but nu metal — I don’t know — holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s my age.”
