The Top 40 Nu-Metal Albums -20-11

As we continue to delve deeper into our list of the Top 40 Nu-Metal albums, things begin to require a more objective view in order to shed the sense of nostalgia carried for certain albums from this era. These are the forty albums from the genre that have best stood the test of time. We have not leaned too  heavily on  any one band, in fact there is only one band that made a large enough contribution to perhaps the genre’s entire existence to merit more than one entry, These are not the album with singles that got the most plays from Carson Daily or sold the most units back in the day when bands sold albums, but the ones with the best songs. Popularity means nothing, as sheep will just follow the leader. I am also not just limiting it to the mid to late 90s. There are plenty of nu-metal albums released recently that got right what bands before them did not catch onto, as well as a few that preceded the label of nu-metal. 

 Don’t be quick to break out the cardboard just yet, as album that relied solely on rapping are in the minority, as they all ended up sounding like what the Beastie Boys did on “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun”, and if your entire career can not exceed the dynamic range of a single Beastie Boys album, then chances are you are not the best of any genre. I also am standing fast by the metal part, this meant excluding a few great albums by bands who were more post-hardcore or even just intense rock albums that were not metal. Don’t expect to see the Beastie Boys on here either, if you can’t understand they don’t belong on a metal list, then it’s time to drown yourself in the next convenient body of water you can find. With that let’s dig into our Top 40 nu-metal albums.

20-Orgy - "Candyass" 1998

Signed to Korn's Elementree Records , this band called their sound death pop, the aggressive more metallic elements sometimes got overshadowed by the dense mix of synths. Johnathan Davis has a guest vocal spot on this album. The bass got thumped enough for them to share the stage other nu-metal bands of the time despite gaining radio traction with their cover of "Blue Monday". 

            

 19- 3teeth -"Metawar" 2019

Not only did this band take the industrial strength grooves of the 90s and polished them up with modern production value, but they made them darker and heavier. The lack of JNCOs and chain wallets, some how makes me able to take this more seriously. These songs bump where most metal today grinds. 

   

 18- Fear Factory- "Obsolete" 1998.

These are the top 40 nu metal albums, not the best albums of every artist represented careers, since "Demanufacture" would be Fear Factory's and many of their fans might wince at theme appearing here. However let me point out that Burton C Bell uses vocals that have an almost rapped cadence. They crossed over into a wider audience with this album  Given when this album was released the grooves went in a direction where metal was heading not against the grain. 

 

 17- Mindless Self Indulgence - "Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy" 2000

Jimmy Urine's absurd delivery is accompanied by even more over the top instrumentation that takes punk, dark wave and hip-hop into an almost parodying blender that does what Limp Bizkit did but better and without the frat boy pandering. 

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16- Turnstile - ''Glow On" 2021

The third time prove to be the charm for this band that did what nu-metal had always attempted to achieve in the past, it was genre fluid. Like many nu-metal bands the hard core past of this band gave their dynamic range more punch, but they did not have to tune down to b in order to achieve this. If you stripped the 90s sound of nu-metal of it's Hot Topic trappings the results would be this album. 

   

 15-Strvngers - "Amor / Noir" 2018 

  This album is the antithesis of what Turnstile did on their 2021 album. Instead of stripping away the Hot Topic elements, this duo amplified those. More aggressive and organic than dark wave, the grooves of this album proved to be even more addictive than the heroin sex drenched anthems collected here. 

 

 

14- Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists - 2005 

Take away the mutant chimp sounds and yelling at Mrs. Drainman and you begin to get the idea that these guys were into Judas Priest more than Tool or Korn, but the record label wanted what the record label wanted. This album of anthemic metal bridged traditional metal to nu-metal, even more than Rob Halford did with his TWO side project. The riffs are more ripping for sure .

 

13-Sepultura- "Roots" 1996

The former death metal tinged thrash band was so inspired by where music was heading they infused nu-metal with ode to the tribal roots of the ancestral folk music. The result was something powerful and more gripping than anything that they would do after this. Guest spots from Mike Patton and Johnathan Davis solidified the spot here. 

 

 12- Rage Against the Machine - "Evil Empire"  1996

One of the band's this genre owes perhaps the most to, the created almost Zeppelin like grooves to pummel with their explosive enthusiasm. The most writing was more refined than their debut album and more matured in the expression of anger, with lyrics that make a little more sense, though years later the joke seems to be on their audience as these guys have always been raging for the machine. But the music is fun, so we can pretend they are not. 

 

 11-White Zombie - "Astro Creep 2000" 1995

The band's last album found all the pieces fall into place to create their final form. "La Sexorcisto" grooved but it was rooted in a more Metallica like form of thrash, a change from the band's sludged out crusty punk beginnings. A more  electronic pulse took those grooves to booty shaking new levels. 

Frontline Assembly : " Wake Up the Coma"

The project's 20th album finds them pumping out what you would want from them. Aggressive dystopian dance music with slithering grooves. The first departure from their tried and true formula is on their cover of Falco's " Rock Me Amadeus" with Jimmy Urine from Mindless Self Indulgence on vocals. Things get darker on "Tilt" that almost borders on dark wave. It's amazing that 20 albums later these guys are still making things that sound fresh. By fresh the nature of the genre certainly owes much of it's identity to the 90s . These songs don't seem like a total plea for nostalgia and work in 2019. Then again I about a drug store trip away from dyeing my hair black on any given Friday so I am partial to this sound. I would think if you are taking the time to read this review you probably are as well.

I really dig the synth sounds on this album. They are mean and dark. The vocals are in that whispered rasp. They drops down to a lower more gritty spoken tone. Almost sung , but not quite. "Hatevol" is the first song that comes closest to being the more run of the mill 90s industrial. I think there is enough love in the song writing to keep it from defaulting to that. The sheen dulls a little on the marginally more upbeat "Proximity". They coming back bumping really hard on "Living a Lie" that has a more aggro beat reminding me of KMFDM. Nick Holmes from Paradise Lost sings on the title track, which is not as heavy as you would think it might be with him on the track. It's more like Gary Numan.

There is more of a techno pulse to " Mesmerized". Though it's darker than your typical Lords of Acid song more on par with My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. It is not the album's strongest song , but it still works with what they do. Right from the first few bars it is obvious that "Negative Territory is a better. It's more melodic and moodier. "Structures" is fine for what it is. It doesn't feel as inspired as the previous song, but better than any pretenders to their throne. The pairing with Chris Connelly  is pretty smooth. Connelly who now fronts a Bowie tribute band called Sons of the Silent Age, tries to use his best Bowie croon. It sounds more like late 90s Bowie. I'll give this album a 9.5 , it's going be hard for other industrial bands to beat this one this year.