Thanks to Hot Topic, the wave of Nineties teen slashers, and the mall goth movement of the late Nineties and early Aughts, nu metal and Halloween are forever entwined in a cultural tryst. We have spoken at length about nu metal horror in various Nu Metal Cinema columns, as well as talked on soundtracks and a starter pack of quintessential nu films. As a change of pace for this Halloween season, we have assembled a collection of nu metal and nu-adjacent albums which dropped on this deadliest of holidays.
As luck would have it, there are a handful of releases which came into the world on the day in which the veil between the realms of the living and the dead is thinnest, and as it's already a holiday, never mind queer Christmas, it's a hell of a big deal for us in the nu world as well, and these six records are fitting for your cider-infused celebrations, should you participate.
And even if you don't, these are some pretty great records.
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill III: Temple of Boom (1995)
Though it was released to mixed reviews, Cypress Hill's Temple Of Boom sold over one million copies, earning the group a platinum record.
The only real interesting parts of this album are the diss tracks which reference the beef between Ice Cube and Cypress Hill, after the group accused of Cube of stealing flows, specifically the hook of the track "Throw Your Set in the Air," which they claimed was lifted for Cube's song "Friday", written and recorded for the titular film. The group alleged that this was intentional, as Cube visited the same studio during the recording of Temple of Boom. Other shots include those pointed at rap news outlets The Source and XXL, specifically surrounding the behavior of music critics James Bernard and Reginald Davis.
While it has plenty of spooky beats and instrumentation, this is really a year-round album. "Boom Biddy Bye Bye" is the only real single that was successful, but outside of that, "Illusions" and "Throw Your Set in the Air" are the only real spooky-sounding songs.
-rosiegothicc
Slipknot - Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996)
Technically speaking, this album was given a limited release of 1,000 copies, and the band themselves don't acknowledge it as their first. Even then, everyone and everything has to start somewhere, and with this horrific little number, the Iowa nine began. The band's only record with Anders Colsefini, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. leans more into death metal, deriving its title from Werewolf: The Apocalypse, proving that big scary metal guys are, more often than not, just big ol' fuckin' nerds. The barcode of this rarity of a release gave what would become their self-titled album its intro track title, "742617000027," forever marking this grungy anomaly in the history of the masked nonet.
Even though it's a bitch to find anymore, MFKR is a fundamental piece of nu metal history, even if the band's then-frontman would not end up being such.
-Lucia Z. Liner
Godsmack - Awake (2000)
What’s the scariest Halloween monster out there? US imperialism.
Awake was a transitional moment for Godsmack, a moment before. They'd broken big with their first album, but that success came with a shift of identity. It’s hard to stay a bootstrapping underdog when you’re already 3x platinum. They’re sanding off some of the occultic edges of their earlier work, but not all the way to a corporate polish (with the band even going so far as to record in a converted warehouse rather than a traditional studio to maintain a raw sound), and Sully Erna hadn’t yet reached the peak of buttrock-Backstreet Boy splendor he’d achieve in the coming years. They’ve got a sound, an image, an audience, and this is where they start refining, perfecting, industrializing it.
The album itself put up a respectable performance, debuting at number 5 on the charts, selling 250,000 copies in the first week, and was generally received by critics as “yep, that sounds like Godsmack.” It’s not an album with surprises; they set the tone up top, and by god, that’s what every song is going to sound like. A 2000 release date spares us from the obligatory post-grunge ballad; the closest we get is the spoken word track “Vampires,” an appropriately Halloween-themed number that puts musings about the human attraction to the undead over an instrumental indistinguishable from the rest of the album. This earns them a Grammy nomination. But where Awake excels is in its timing. Even before 9/11 turned the world upside down, the cultural shifts were already underway as the US escalated conflicts abroad and became increasingly dissatisfied with resting on its laurels as the global hegemon. When it came time for a closing ranks around what the sound of America was, nu metal silliness was out, post-grunge aggression was in, and Godsmack were poised to make the most of it.
The lasting memory of Awake isn’t its artistry (or even a lack thereof, as is often the case for nu metal), it’s as a tool of empire. In 2001, the US Navy was looking for a way to revitalize its image. A sentimental call to service wasn’t cutting it; they needed to be cool. This wasn't new, it’s been a trend since the 70s as it became harder and harder to justify service on moral grounds, but the scale of the GWOT and the amplification allowed by the internet and cheap TVs took it to a whole new level. In a $457 million advertising contract, the Navy adopted a new slogan, “Accelerate Your Life.” The legend goes that a random servicemember happened to be a Godsmack fan and suggested them as a soundtrack. For $457 million, I’m not sure I buy it. No matter the truth of the initial connection, Godsmack was game. “Awake” was licensed from 2001 to 2004 and the contract was renewed to include the album opener “Sick of Life” from 2004 and 2007 for a series of ads desperately trying to convince 17-30 year old men to enlist as support for the war cratered. Erna has always bristled at the idea that he bore any responsibility for the use of his music, adamant that the appeal of his music is the energy not jingoism, even storming out of an interview when pressed on it, but that’s exactly the strategy at play. Keep the details light, emphasize the energy, don’t ask questions, look how badass it is to jump out of a plane. You like this music? Then this is the place for you. How much more full throated an endorsement can you give when the only “enemy” shown is a life driving beige minivan in the suburbs.
-Riviera
Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist (2006)
Back in 2006, Deftones were in a tough spot. Deftones, the follow up to the breakthrough album White Pony, was seen as something of a disappointment. It had its moments ("Minerva" was a hit and "Bloody Cape" is an underrated gem) was very much the album detractors had always accused the band of making: leaden riffs, meandering songs, tuneless screaming. Switching out long-time producer Terry Date for legend Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Thirty Seconds To Mars), it's clear the band wanted to switch things up.
The album debuted at #10, a marked downturn from their self-titled's #2 placement three years earlier. Diminished first-week sales can easily be chalked up to Deftones' reception and Saturday Night Wrist's marketing. Fortunately, the album is great. While the recording process was a difficult one, plagued by intra-band conflict, substance abuse, and Chino's failing marriage, the band proves adept at turning pain and frustration into powerful musical statements. Saturday Night Wrist finds the band challenging listeners, and themselves, in new and surprising ways. On previous album, the epic, dissonant "Beware" would have made great closer; on Saturday Night Wrist, it's only the third track. "Cherry Waves" runs circles around their earlier flirtation with shoegaze, "Minerva," with minimal effort. "Mein" with it's galloping drums, rushing guitars, and Serj Tankian guest vocals might seem like an odd choice for a single, but makes a certain kind of sense given surface similarities to the jagged beauty of "Be Quiet And Drive." Probably the biggest surprise, the moody, post-rock inspired instrumental "U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B,Select,Start" is also one of the album's best. Sometimes the band's waring impulses collide to wonderful effect, like on the punchy, soaring "Kimdracula." Other times, the band splits off into different directions, almost to the point of incoherence. The mathy, pummeling "Rats!Rats!Rats!", largely attributed to guitarist Stef Carpenter, is one of the heaviest tracks in band's catalog. And it sits next to Chino's Depeche Mode-cum-hip-hop track "Pink Cellphone." Yes, Annie Hardy's spoken word outro–since excised from later releases–is the album's nadir, but it's a fascinating experiment in self-sabotage.
It's fitting that Saturday Night Wrist's impact in a conflicted one. The uncharacteristic seven-month gap between singles suggests the label didn't know what to make of the album at the time. The band's constant touring is another possible explanation. Or maybe the dissolution of System Of A Down was just too much to bear. The album is also notable for featuring the last material the band recorded with original bassist Chi Cheng before his car accident in 2008 and passing in 2013. Between the loss of Cheng and the album's tumultuous recording, it's understandable why the band would be reluctant to revisit this material. And yet, several tracks have found a second life thanks to viral exposure on TikTok. A whole new generation of Deftones fans have been birth thanks to tracks "Hole In The Earth," Beware," and "Cherry Waves." Nearly twenty years on and all three still makes regular appearances in the band's live setlist. While not the unqualified success the band achieve on later releases, it remains a quintessential Deftones record.
-Drew Davis
Poppy - Am I A Girl? (2018)
Poppy first introduced herself to the world with creepy YouTube content and a first EP that sounded nothing like her latest metal works, dominated by electronic pop songs. It was her second album Am I a Girl? that laid the groundwork for what would start becoming her new more aggressive and versatile sound, keeping the electronic aspects while adding influences from diverse subgenres of metal such as metalcore, nu metal, and industrial metal.
Am I a Girl? was released on October 31st, 2018, containing 16 songs and two interludes which divide the LP into sections. the first one being the most pop and containing hits like "In a Minute". The second part starts after interlude 1 and is more experimental, witht the first appearence of guitars in the song "Hard Feelings" and a more notorious influence of vaporwave. Finally, the third act is where the nu begins, because after the second interlude we find three more songs that lean heavily into metal. The title track "Am I a Girl?" featuring distorted guitars in the chorus, while the song "Play Destroy" featuring Grimes opens with a very nu metal, syncopated guitar riff and drums that create a strong contrast with the more pop and synth-driven choruses. Wrapping the album up is "X" a track that has a similar approach, going back and forth between pop and metal.
All this to say it is an album that, just like the artist, has a smooth transition from synthpop to bouncy, nasty guitar riffs.
-Alvaro XeroM
Limp Bizkit - Still Sucks (2021)
During a time of constant uncertainties, both the COVID-19 pandemic still going strong and whether or not Limp Bizkit would release another album period, the band dropped Still Sucks on Halloween day October 31st, 2021, ten years after release of Gold Cobra.
During their Lollapalooza set in 2021, Fred Durst announced the only single from the album "Dad Vibes," finally announcing that a new album was finally about to drop, after years of any new Limp Bizkit material being in development hell. Leading up to the release, Durst and other Bizkit members would drip little previews of the album's cover on their accounts, with Durst even doing a poll whether drop individual songs or drop all the songs at once. Ultimately, Durst confirmed the album's release date for Halloween.
The album was well received by fans and critics alike, showing that the bands style still holds true after almost three decades of Activity. Wes Borland's unique and powerful riffage is on full display, accompanied by the chaotic but charismatic wordplay that Durst is known for. Even though most of the albums songs are not present on most modern day Limp Bizkit's live setlist, this collection of tracks belongs firmly in the greater Bizkit catalogue, with its greater impact being the reassurance that the band still enjoys making music as a whole.
- Stephan Carrizales
