Nu metalcore

Nu metalcore (or nu-core) 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

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. Metal Injection writer Max Heilman specifically stated the style of metalcore that nu metalcore bands draw on is the original 1990s “metallic hardcore” style. 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.

Precursors#

Since its pioneering, nu metal had been influenced by hardcore, particularly beatdown hardcore and its ignorant take on heavy riffing. Vision of Disorder’s 1996 self-titled debut was noted in a 2011 MetalSucks article, by Finn McKenty, to blend nu metal with “Victory-style hardcore”. Pioneering metalcore band Integrity’s fifth album Integrity 2000 (1999) saw the band collaborate with members of nu metal band Mushroomhead. 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). Pioneering metalcore band Earth Crisis released the nu metal album Slither (2000). Slipknot’s 2001 nu metal album Iowa contained elements of late 1990s metalcore, being compared by PopMatters writer Ethan Stewart to Disembodied. 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.” Bury Your Dead’s 2006 album Beauty and the Breakdown described by AllMusic as “straight-ahead, knotty, scorched earth nu-metal” while keeping “the ferocity of Bury Your Dead’s hard-and-metalcore attack”. Other early bands to merge elements of both genres included Ill Nino, Demon Hunter and Maximum the Hormone.

Origins#

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”, Suicide Silence’s 2011 album The Black Crown, which features elements of nu metal and metalcore/deathcore, This wave led Japanese band Dir En Grey to return to their nu metal influence sound while also embracing deathcore on songs such as “Different Sense”. 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. Metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon’s 2013 album Sempiternal embraced elements of nu metal and was widely influential. It peaked at number 3 on the UK albums chart, and was one of the earliest releases by a UK metalcore band on a major label, through RCA Records. My Ticket Home’s Strangers Only (2013) were a notable precedent of the 2010s nu metalcore 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. 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. Their debut self-titled album (2014) peaked at peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart and their second album Headspace (2016) reached number one on the Top Alternative Albums chart. Furthermore, Bring Me the Horizon’s fifth album That’s the Spirit (2015) saw the band fully embrace nu metal, which peaked at number 2 in both the UK and US.

Development#

By 2016, nu metalcore had solidified itself as a movement, when the fusion began to be embraced by Cane Hill, Alpha Wolf and DangerKids. According to The Soundboard in 2016, “nu-metalcore has become … omnipresent.” 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), and Northlane on Alien (2019). 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). 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. 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. 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. The same year, Alternative Press additionally cited Sylar and Void of Vision as “essential nü-metal metalcore bands”. In the 2020s, some nu metalcore bands developed the label “pissed-core” in reference to their emphasis on aggression. This sound had roots in downtempo deathcore, with Blunt Magazine calling it a “a very angsty form of deathcore”. Pissedcore incorporated influences from contemporary styles of hip hop and put a greater emphasis on hardcore punk influence than was common in the genre. Amped Magazine noted elements of beatdown hardcore. It sometimes makes of trap music beats and simple, downtuned power chord grooves. According to Brothers In RAW, Thrown are often called the “poster boys for pissed core”. In a 2024 interview with Metal Hammer the band rejected the term, stating “I’m not sure it’s that accurate, to be honest. I’m not going to pretend that we aren’t super-pissed off about a lot of stuff… but so are a lot of other genres.” Other pissedcore bands include Saltwound.