Alternative metal

Influential alternative metal band Helmet

The origins of the genre can be traced back to funk rock music of the early to mid-1980s, when alternative bands like Fishbone, Faith No More and the Red Hot Chili Peppers started mixing heavy metal with funk, creating the alternative metal subgenre funk metal.[33] Other early bands in the genre also came from hardcore punk backgrounds.[34] Bands such as Faith No More, Jane's Addiction and Soundgarden are recognized as some of the earliest alternative metal acts, with all three of these bands emerging around the same time, and setting the template for the genre by mixing heavy metal music with a variety of different genres in the mid to late 1980s.[4][35][36][37][38] During the 1980s, alternative metal appealed mainly to alternative rock fans, since virtually all 1980s alt-metal bands had their roots in the American independent rock scene.[4]

The emergence of grunge as a popular style of rock music in the early 1990s helped make alternative metal more acceptable to a mainstream audience, with alternative metal soon becoming the most popular metal style of the 1990s.[4] Several bands associated with the genre denied their status as metal bands.[39][40] Helmet drummer John Stanier said "We fell into the whole metal thing by accident, we always hated it when people mentioned metal in conjunction with us."[40] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of Pitchfork Media stated "bands like Faith No More, Soundgarden, Primus, Helmet, the Rollins Band, and dozens more were initially marketed as quasi-metal acts. This was only possible in a climate where record labels, journalists, and college radio DJs understood that the metal audience could embrace new, albeit arty variations on the form."[41] The alternative music festival Lollapalooza conceived by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell, helped bands associated with the movement such as Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Primus, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains gain exposure.[4] The progressive rock-influenced band Tool became a leading band in the alternative metal genre with the release of their 1993 debut album Undertow; Tool's popularity in the mid-'90s helped kick off an era of bands with alt-metal tendencies also classified in other genres like industrial (Nine Inch Nails) and rap rock (Rage Against the Machine).[5] Spin stated in August 1998 that "It was Helmet that spawned the idea of alternative metal with the punk crutch of 1992's Meantime [and] bands such as Rage Against the Machine took the concept a crucial step further, integrating hip hop to connect with skate rat kids raised on Metallica and Run D.M.C.."[42] Many established 1980s metal bands released albums in the 1990s that were described as alternative metal, including Anthrax,[43] Metallica[44][45] and Mötley Crüe.[46]

In the latter part of the 1990s, a second, more aggressive wave of alternative metal emerged; dubbed nu metal, it often relied on hardcore punk,[4] groove/thrash metal,[4][47] industrial[4] and hip hop[4] influences, as opposed to the influences of the first wave of alternative metal bands, with this style subsequently becoming more popular than regular alternative metal.[5][4][22] It resulted in a more standardized sound among alternative metal bands, in contrast to the more eccentric and unclassifiable early alternative metal bands.[4] Korn, a band formed in 1993, released their self-titled debut the following year, which is widely considered to be the first nu metal release.[48] MTV stated that Korn "arrived in 1993 into the burgeoning alternative metal scene, which would morph into nü-metal the way college rock became alternative rock."[49] Stereogum similarly claimed that nu metal was a "weird outgrowth of the Lollapalooza-era alt-metal scene".[50] During the late 1990s and early 2000s, nu metal was prevalent in the mainstream, with bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Slipknot and Staind all attaining success. AllMusic has compared nu and alternative metal's commercial success during this period to the rise of the glam metal phenomenon in the 1980s, stating that it is "ironic, given alternative metal's vehement rejection of hair metal's attitude."[4] Some nu metal bands managed to push musical boundaries while still remaining commercially viable, such as Mudvayne (who combined progressive[51] elements) and Deftones, who have incorporated post-hardcore and dream pop influences.[52][53]

Joel McIver believes that the band Tool is important to the development of this genre; he wrote in his book Unleashed: The Story of Tool, "By 1996 and '97 the wave of alternative metal spearheaded by Tool in the wake of grunge was beginning to evolve into nu-metal". However, Tool's vocalist Maynard James Keenan was quick to separate himself from this movement saying "I'm sick of that whole attitude. The one that puts Tool in with [nu] metal bands. The press... can't seem to distinguish between alternative and metal."[39] Other alternative metal bands considered influential to the nu metal genre such as Helmet have also tried to distance themselves from the movement.[54][55]

A number of bands from the nu metal era — such as System of a Down,[56][57][58][59][60] Godsmack,[61][62][63][64] Karnivool[65][66] and Deftones[67][68][69] — are still primarily classed as alternative metal, due to lacking specific elements associated with the nu metal genre. In 2016, Jason Heller of Vice wrote "The term alternative metal still pops up from time to time, but it’s no more relevant or meaningful today than alternative rock. Instead, it’s a relic. But the brief, nebulous era of alternative metal in the late 80s and early 90s remains a snapshot of a vibrant time when a brash new generation of heavy-leaning bands threw everything against the wall to see what stuck."[70]

• Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-81127-8.