Nu-metal: a bizarre but fruitful time in metal’s history, or a pock-marked white boy shitshow in parachute pants? Towards the end of its reign as Earth’s dominant guitar-based lifeform, nu-metal was considered about as shitty as it got, merging whiny suburban rap and solo-less metal to create tough-guy music for posers. But now, as bands like Code Orange, Vein, and Avatar incorporate the genre’s heavy drops and honest angst into their sounds, fans are asking themselves: was nu-metal as terrible as we remember it being, and if so, why was it so huge?
Thankfully, on this week’s episode of our heavy metal talk show Last Words, hosts Jordan Olds (Two Minutes To Late Night), Katy Irizarry (Season Of Mist), and Doc Coyle (Bad Wolves/Ex Man Podcast) are joined by someone who lived through Hurricane Nookie and lived to tell the tale. Morgan Lander, vocalist for famed Canadian metal act Kittie, joins the crew to discuss her own firsthand experience with the subgenre she and her band never asked to be included in.
After a truly goonish laugh at 2:25, Jordan asks Morgan if she’s excited to see nu-metal “back.” Her response isn’t as cut and dry as “Hell yes” or “Hell no.”
“You know, honestly, I have heard all these rumblings of, Nu-metal is coming back,” says Morgan, “and I definitely have experienced a lot of younger people who are discovering Kittie now, who are saying, This is amazing, I love your band, it’s amazing to see women in a more aggressive genre of music…but I could not for the life of me tell you about a new nu-metal band, or what they’re all about. And perhaps that’s how the genre has evolved. Like, are there still JNCOs involved? Where is this going?”
Check out the full episode below:
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Words by Chris Krovatin
