While some old-school metalheads may not be super fond of the nu metal scene, one band from the subgenre stands out big time to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.
During a past feature with Rolling Stone, Ulrich was asked to name his 15 favorite hard rock and metal albums.
Among his picks are some really iconic records; but while Ulrich shouts out a lot of classic albums from legendary rock and heavy metal acts, his one nu metal mention is fascinating.
Among his 15 favorite hard rock and metal albums, a record the Metallica drummer really loves is System of a Down‘s 2001 album Toxicity.
Speaking about how much he really likes this System of a Down album, Ulrich shares the following:
“The first System record came out and it obviously had a lot of attitude. It was a new kind of sound, and Rick [Rubin, producer] was doing it.
“You could hear that the music came from different roots and different influences, and I didn’t know they were Armenian at that point; you could just hear different things.
“And then when Toxicity came out, which was obviously the second record, when you heard ‘Chop Suey!’ that was just amazing.
“When that hit the radio on MTV and then the title track, ‘Toxicity,’ and ‘Aerials’ and all the rest of them and I started getting into the record and heard ‘They’re trying to build a prison … for you and me to live in,’ it was just… ah! It was political, it was crazy, it was kooky, it was energetic, it was incredibly, from a songwriting point of view, well-crafted.
“It was very inspirational on what we did, and I loved the whole thing about how the songs were so short and to the point and that was something we never had a lot of luck with, and it’s just one of the all-time great records.”
What do you make of Ulrich being a fan of System of a Down and including Toxicity as one of his all-time favorite metal albums?
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