Alternative Metal

Alternative metal, put simply, is a collaborative effort between metal and non-metal styles. There is no one particular alternative metal sound, but rather an amalgam of outside influences being thrown into the metal melting pot. Though, to some, today it seems as though alternative metal has now become synonymous with "pop metal," it is undeniable that the genre stems from somewhere original, creative, and groundbreaking.

Alternative metal is one of those rare types of music that actually began with one of its subgenres. In this case, it first arrived in the form of rap metal. Judging by the name, the concept is not difficult to comprehend: metal music with rapped vocals. It first found its footing with the well-known thrash metal band Anthrax and their collaboration with the legendary political hip hop group Public Enemy on the track "I'm the Man." Anthrax wore their influence from early rap rock groups like Beastie Boys on their sleeve, and from that point on, rap metal was born. Bands like Lone Rager, Biohazard, Faith No More, Body Count, Stuck Mojo, Senser, and the kings of the style Rage Against the Machine followed suit. The genre has since mostly fallen off, though seems to be coming back with bands such as Fever 333.

Recommended rap metal listening:
1. Body Count - Body Count (1992)
2. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)
3. Biohazard - Urban Discipline (1992)
4. Senser - Stacked Up (1996)
5. Stuck Mojo - Pigwalk (1996)

Alongside rap metal's inception, standard alternative metal took root in the mid-1980s. Heavier alternative rock bands like Jane's Addiction and hardcore punk legends Bad Brains were some of the first to introduce metal aspects to non-metal sounds. Other bands like The Big F and Last Crack did the same. However it wasn't until the early 1990s when the sound really took off, with bands like Helmet, Warrior Soul, Life of Agony, Therapy? and Rollins Band taking the reigns on the early wave. Established metal bands like White Zombie, Prong, Sepultura, and Melvins also began to show influences of alternative metal.

Recommended first wave alternative metal listening:
1. Bad Brains - I Against I (1986)
2. Warrior Soul - Last Decade Dead Century (1990)
3. Helmet - Meantime (1992)
4. Life of Agony - River Runs Red (1993)
5. Therapy? - Troublegum (1994)

Though not an established style of metal per se, grunge was a hugely popular yet short-lived offshoot of alternative rock that erupted in the early to mid-1990s. Despite bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam being much more closely related to punk and alternative music than metal, others like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden were massively important driving forces in early alternative metal. The genre combined elements from all over the musical underground, congealing into one single depressive, angsty flannel shirt covering the entirety of Seattle, Washington for the better half of a decade. Then Kurt Cobain of Nirvana passed away and post-grunge happened. We don't talk about that, though.

Recommended grunge listening:
1. Mother Love Bone - Apple (1990)
2. Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)
3. Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
4. Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger (1991)
5. Alice in Chains - Dirt (1992)

Another alternative metal trend of the 1980s that caught on a bit more than rap metal was funk metal. Being very rhythmic in nature, funk metal revolves around the core values of metal and punk, but plays in the context of funk. As a result, this unlikely combination of styles produced a wealth of creative output in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Such bands to take on this niche sound were Faith No More, Primus, Fishbone, 24-7 Spyz, Infectious Grooves, Praxis, mid-career Extreme, Living Colour, and sometimes even funk rock bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and 311 would dabble in funk metal territory.

Recommended funk metal listening:
1. Living Colour - Vivid (1988)
2. Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)
3. Primus - Frizzle Fry (1990)
4. Fishbone - The Reality of My Surroundings (1991)
5. Extreme - III Sides to Every Story (1992)

As the latter half of the 1990s drove on, alternative metal finally began to create a unified shape. Though influences still poured in left and right, there was a general thick, ebbing and flowing atmosphere to most of the alternative metal bands at the time. Focusing heavily on experimentation within alternative metal blueprint, bands started incorporating ideas from progressive metal, shoegaze and dream pop, gothic rock, post-industrial music, and all forms of experimental music to carve their own unique niches in the genre. Such bands included Deftones, Tool, Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, Dir en Grey, Mr. Bungle, Katatonia, and many others.

Recommended second wave alternative metal listening:
1. Faith No More - Angel Dust (1992)
2. Tool - Ænima (1996)
3. Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar (1996)
4. Deftones - White Pony (2000)
5. System of a Down - Toxicity (2001)

One wave of alternative metal that became near-synonymous with late-'90s metal was the nu metal explosion. Combining both the hip hop and funk influence from alternative metal's previous subgenres, a new level of angst and insecurity was reached in the nu metal crowds. Baggy pants, backwards-turned flat-bills, and rapped/screamed vocal duality characterized the nu metal wave. Started and then quickly abandoned by Deftones, and carried by Korn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, and Coal Chamber, nu metal gained huge commercial success. As the 2000s began, bands like Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Sevendust, Disturbed, Mudvayne, and Static-X continued the trend. The sound fell off around the mid-2000s, but there has been a recent revival with metalcore-hybrid bands like Sylar, Ded, and Emmure.

Recommended nu metal listening:
1. Korn - Korn (1994)
2. Deftones - Around the Fur (1997)
3. Slipknot - Slipknot (1999)
4. Mudvayne - L.D. 50 (2000)
5. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

In the 2000s and 2010s, alternative metal has witnessed a downward fall in terms of creativity. Though bands like Tool and Deftones continued to release quality material, influence from post-grunge and radio rock melded into alternative metal. Not only did the once energetic and creative nu metal bands like Korn and Slipknot quickly devolve into by-the-numbers alternative metal, but bands like Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Seether, and many others come onto the scene all sounding very similar. While these bands all found massive successes around this time, and did admittedly spawn a generation of metal listeners by creating an easily-accessible gateway into heavier music, it is undeniable that the vibrant creativity of the original waves had stalled. That's not to say that original bands aren't appearing at all though, as hope lies in bands such as Alter Bridge, Devin Townsend and his endless experimentation, Machinae Supremacy, Junius, Klone, and Moon Tooth.

Recommended third wave alternative metal listening:
1. Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance (2006)
2. Tool - 10,000 Days (2006)
3. Devin Townsend Project - Addicted (2009)
4. Deftones - Koi No Yokan (2012)
5. Alter Bridge - Fortress (2013)

Alternative metal, despite its relative fall from grace, is undoubtedly serving a valiant purpose. It serves as a perfect introduction for young, malleable minds into the beautifully expansive world of what metal music can be. Nearly every Napalm Death fan once started out as a Three Days Grace fan. Alternative metal, and alternative music in general, provides a new perspective on a pre-existing layout; a way to look into another world from another's eyes, and step back to see the bigger picture.

Note: Hey all! I wrote this on a bus in NYC. I recently moved from South Carolina to New York, so things have been pretty hectic. As a result, I didn't get much time to proofread this one initially. If anything is wrong or odd, let me know! And if not, I done good! Thanks so much for reading, if you are reading this, and I'll see y'all next time.