Is nu-metal music on a revival among Gen Z listeners? Fans, musicians dive into the genre

The songs of Bloodywood, a New Delhi-based nu metal band, is currently a hot favourite among fans of this genre

Ask Khushi Bhuta, a 20-year-old from Juhu about her favourite genre of music and we come away pleasantly surprised. Instead of the usual K-Pop or Taylor Swift, this young music lover tells us she listens to nu metal. She does listen to the other current favourites but nu metal, in her words, is her "main jam".

A sub-genre of heavy metal, nu metal is a fusion of multiple genres, including heavy metal, hip hop, rap metal, and grunge. It took the metal music scene by storm in the late 1990s, when bands such as Linkin Park released their first nu metal album, Hybrid Theory. Alternative metal bands such as Slipknot and Korn were already dominating the heavy metal industry by then: the term ‘nu metal' was increasingly applied to metal bands that had their base in traditional metal, but contained elements of mainstream music genres.

Which is why we found it quite interesting that the young lot is turning back to it today.

Sahil Makhija, Khushi Bhuta, Kayf Khan, Adit Khanzode and Dev RK

Bhuta feels that the genre is gaining ground because "it is acceptable to like dark things these days". "Earlier, music tastes were compartmentalised into metal and non-metal music, but now, it's okay to enjoy metal and other mainstream music," says the nu metal fan. She shows us her Spotify playlist, titled Angry Birds. Korn's Here to Stay, Slipknot's Psychosocial, and Limp Bizkit's Break Stuff feature in the 50-odd songs in the playlist.

Sahil Makhija, frontman of the band Demonic Resurrection, which was formed in 2000, says that nu metal lyrics are "angry, angsty, and basic", making it popular among angry young teens. The 41-year-old musician has had the chance to observe the changing landscape of metal music preferences over the last 23 years.

Makhija tells us that the heyday of nu metal music in India was in the early 2000s. "A lot of bands began embracing and absorbing other genres of music into their style and aesthetics," he explains. "Think of Rage Against the Machine. They were the catalysts to the nu metal movement, and then it was picked up by bands such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, System of a Down, and so on." In Mumbai, he recalls the band Pindrop Violence being all the rage in the nu metal scene.

The genre, which essentially means new metal but is spelled in the "radical" way that was trendy in the '90s, became a post-metal genre that found favour among listeners who were intimidated by the intensity of classic metal bands such as Megadeth and Metallica. At the same time, hardcore metal fans or metalheads treated it almost as an insult, not claiming it as a part of heavy metal because of its fusion with other mainstream genres.

Karan Katiyar, the lead guitarist and founder of the Delhi-based band Bloodywood, which is all the rage in nu metal circles, says they didn't intend to start out with nu metal. "It came naturally due to the influences of the 1990s, the decade which we grew up in," he recalls.

The band was formed in 2016 and quickly went on to establish itself as one of the leaders in nu metal, even winning a top spot on the Billboard and other music charts for their debut album Rakshak last year.

Katiyar says that nu metal was considered "unpolished" when it started becoming popular. "There was a lot of rap, electronica, and turntabling," he explains. "It's not driven by rules; it's very unrestricted in that aspect."

Makhija adds, "Nu metal music takes the traditional metal base of the heavy guitars and drums, and makes it groovier. It has a bit of R&B, hip-hop and rap influences. It's taking a whole bunch of different music elements and bringing them into metal music, and making metal more palatable and accessible to a wider audience. Like any trending genre of metal, nu metal had its time in the sun, and then it faded away, becoming a nostalgia genre now. Now, progressive metal is the trending genre."

India has always had a very uncertain relationship with metal music, because of mainstream Bollywood taking up the spot in top-of-mind-awareness and popular value. But there are dedicated fans of the genre, including Gen Z listeners.

Bhuta herself enjoys a wide range of music, from qawwaalis to ghazals to Bollywood. For her, Slipknot was her entry-point into metal. "Nu metal is for people who are still opening up to the concept of heavy metal. Decades ago, there was a specific audience, like social outcasts, who enjoyed metal. Now, aesthetics such as grunge, metal, and rock are making nu metal acceptable as a genre."

Metalhead Kayf Khan tells us he started out by listening to alternative metal in 2020 and discovered nu metal along this journey.

"My introduction was through Slipknot; I have a vinyl of their album," he says. He is now a huge Bloodywood fan, with their song Gaddar topping his playlist. "I go for metal gigs regularly; I attended a nu metal tribute gig of System of a Down just last month."

The nu metal scene in India today is dominated by tribute gigs by bands performing Linkin Park and Deftones covers. The band Anthracite is one of these. Started in 2012 as an alternative metal band, they went on to specialise in performing only covers of Linkin Park, becoming the first of their kind to do so in the year 2016.
Dev RK, the drummer for Anthracite, says that the band started focusing on covers because of the demand for them. "At every show, we'd see these huge bunch of 17- and 18-year-olds. There are new fans of Linkin Park every day."

Adit Khanzode, founder of the metal music community Blackblood, organises rock and metal gigs in Mumbai. He has an interesting take on why the genre is so appealing to younger audiences. "It speaks of things that can't be spoken aloud: Anger towards governments and social norms. It is a form of expression of this anger and sadness," he muses. "It's actually relatable for a large age range."

So, is nu metal on a revival? Yes and no, according to Katiyar. "Internationally, if you look at any band doing well, such as Bad Omens and Bring Me The Horizon, you see them picking up all the popular elementsof metal and rock," he says. "There is more acceptance for nu metal, both locally
and internationally."

As Kayf puts it, "Nu metal deals with topics that just hit home."