Trivium's Paolo Gregoletto is not a fan of nu metal, it seems, dubbing it a "very, very bad genre".
Speaking of the nu metal boom of the late 90s to early noughties in a recently-posted series of tweets which have now sparked a big online debate, the bassist expressed his distaste for the subgenre, noting that he thinks all nu metal bands aside from the genre's biggest ones are "grim".
He argues: "Nu metal, as a whole, was a very very bad genre. Once you get past the first layer or two of big bands that survived it gets very grim. Anyone saying otherwise is a sicko.
"I think you could take pretty much any other genre of metal down to the local level and still be like yea that’s very good," he added. "[It was] Hell shit in the local scenes of 1999-2001".
Unsurprisingly, a number of disgruntled music fans have responded to Gregoletto, with one user writing: "Yeah..bad take. Nu Metal was a gateway genre for a lot of people, myself included. Just cuz you don't like it, doesn't make it bad."
In response to the fan, Gregoletto replies: "Give me the best 5 that aren’t korn, SOAD, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, (don’t like them but respect their impact) Deftones, and ? Anything new? I just don’t think it has much outside the big bands that stuck around."
Another tweeter suggests: "Majority of good nu metal in recent years isn’t strictly nu metal, but always very heavily nu metal influenced. Stuff like Vein, Tallah, Emmure, etc. Not necessarily my thing these days but the entire 2015 midwest metalcore wave was very nu metal influenced".
While a good majority disagree with the take, some fans do see truth within Gregoletto's point, as one writes: "Everyone wants you to be wrong, whilst they know you are right. To be honest I can't remember ever seeing a good nu metal band that weren't cringy as fuck, apart from the obvious few", to which the Trivium man responded: "Yea, that’s my point. And yes stuff is subjective, but once you get past the real great stuff it’s a hard drop off unlike any other genre of metal besides like hair metal."
Following the mass of aggregated responses, it seems as though Gregoletto has taken it all on the chin and since softened his original opinion: "I have very normie nu metal tastes I guess" he proposes. "I liked the big stuff and what I saw on TRL school in the late 90’s."
In recent years, nu metal has undergone a resurgence, with the nu wave of nu metal seeing bands like Spiritbox, Wargasm, Tallah and Tetrarch bringing the sound back from obscurity. Pop artists such as Rina Sawayama, rapper Bree Runway and Grimes have even incorporated some of the genre's key elements - such as big riffs and hip hop-style vocals and dynamics - in their material, pushing nu metal into even wider and more mainstream audiences.
Back in April, recent data collated via Google Trends showed nu metal to be currently just as popular as it was two decades ago.
Nu metal, as a whole, was a very very bad genre. Once you get past the first layer or two of big bands that survived it gets very grim. Anyone saying otherwise is a sicko.July 6, 2023
