5 Nu Metal Albums You Should Own

And here we are fellow Otaku & Metalheads. The end of the Summer of Nu.

I had a bit of fun with this musical festival. Like Hair Metal, it was nice to look at a metal subgenre that was ejected from the spotlight when it’s time was done. Much like that previously mentioned style, there are still people who look back on Nu Metal with a weird kind of nostalgia, and there are still a small few bands that keep the torch aloft to this very day. So to conclude this month, as I always do I’ll show off the 5 albums from the subgenre I look at that you genuinely need in your musical library. So here are the 5 Nu Metal albums you should own.....enjoy!

1) Faith No More - The Real Thing (Song)

An absolutely groovy record, Faith No More’s first outing with Mike Patton was an absolute classic! The copious amount of experimentation that everybody was doing led to a very unique album, and one in which still holds up after 30+ years. Even with the longer tracks, of which I complained about in my review back in June (Read here), still manage to be unique, and would help the newly emerging Nu Metal scene emerge from the shadows of the 1980s a few short years after that decade ended. It might be a little archaic by the standards of what little remains of Nu Metal nowadays, but one can’t deny it’s energy.

2) Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (Song)

Despite my gripe with Pantera basically disowning their Hair Metal roots and embracing a more “Dude Bro” attitude, I can no longer deny the catchiness & iconic status of Cowboys From Hell. From the riffs, to the vocal work, the band really embraced a new style that would help usher in Nu Metal just a few short years after CFH came out. I don’t think I’ll ever come back to this record all that often again, but maybe if the mood is right.....a couple songs off this classic might flow through my headphones once again.

3) Kontrust - Time To Tango (Song)

I talked about Kontrust’s 2nd release a week ago, and as such I won’t be repeating all that much here. I will say that compared to most of the bands on this list, and in the wider world by extent, it’s their decision to bring in other musical styles (Metallic or otherwise) that gives them such a colorful personality, it’s kind of hard to believe that Kontrust is a Nu Metal band at their core. That’s all I got to say!

4) Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber (Song)

Right at the start of August, I talked about the intensity & groove that was Coal Chamber’s self-titled debut. It still isn’t that much different from bands like Korn & Deftones, yet the emphasis on amping up the energy of the music, not to mention the previously mentioned thick grooves, still manage to give the record it’s own identity. It never lets up across it’s entire run time, and it also has it’s own beats & rhythms that are distinctively Coal Chamber. While I would say that this release isn’t the most essential when it comes to exploring Nu Metal, at the same time it’s still something to seek out for your library if you’re looking for more of a turn your brain off kind of album.

5) Korn - Korn (Song)

This album. This one right here. This is the precise record that gave birth to the Nu Metal movement of the 90s. Like I said last month, you can easily tell what decade it comes from, but simultaneously has aged like a metallic fine wine in the nearly 30 years since it came out. From the way the instrumentation was played, to how Jonathan Davis’s way of singing, the band’s self-titled debut gave birth to the Hair Metal equivalent of the 1990s. Even all of these decades later, the record still has a high level of quality, and it still rightly praised by Korn fans after all of this time. If for some reason you haven’t sat down to listen to this release, then I highly recommend you do so. You won’t regret it.

And those were the 5 Nu Metal albums that should be in your library. Even though the subgenre fell mostly out of favor once it hit the year 2000, it somehow managed to survive in a few adherents, as well as a few more fans even in 2023. So with that, the Summer Of Nu comes to an end, and I hope you all had a fun time. Meanwhile, September is just a few weeks away, so get ready for this blog’s 9th birthday. See you soon.