Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock or heavy metal that began to develop in the late 1980s as a reaction to the stagnation of other metal sub-styles.
Alternative metal is characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music. The alternative music festival Lollapalooza helped the genre gain traction early on. Representatives: White Zombie, Therapy, Marylin Manson, Korn.
Origins of the genre
Funk rock band Mother’s Finest, from the album “Iron Age” (1981), is considered an early example of alternative metal. Originally, alternative metal was built on the appeal of alternative rock fans, as almost all alt metal bands throughout the 1980s had their roots in American alternative rock.
Bands of the alternative metal genre usually came out of genres such as hardcore punk (Corrosion of Conformity, Biohazard), noise rock (The Jesus Lizard, Helmet), grunge (Soundgarden, Alice in Chains) and industrial (Nine Inch Nails,Ministry). These bands were associated with incorporating traditional metal influences and various musical experiments on the genre.
A new wave of alternative metal roughly emerged from 1993-1994. This new sound is called nu metal (nu metal). This sound influenced Rage Against the Machine, White Zombie, Pantera, Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Faith No More. It combines the aggressive riffs of the band Korn, the acoustic ballads of Staind and the rap-rock of Limp Bizkit. Korn’s Neidermeyer’s Mind (1993) demo is considered the band’s first new metal album. In the late 1990s, nu metal bands started playing with a combination of some genres such as thrash metal, industrial, hip hop, grunge and hardcore punk. New bands such as Linkin Park drew from the same influences as Nine Inch Nails, Helmet, Faith No More, Korn, Rage Against the Machine and Deftones.
It has been established by many music critics that metal bands of the 1980s, in the 1990s were already releasing albums that have been described as alternative metal (including Metallica and Anthrax). It was also found that this musical genre was given a second wind thanks to bands such as HIM, Linkin Park and many others.