Originally Posted by Ambival

the same can be said about Slayer copying early Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne copying John lennon's image (glasses) and style in some songs (No more tears), Future Doom metal bands copying the sound of "Black Sabbath" song etc. That's the way the whole art goes. Sepultura stole korn's sound, korn stole primus's sound, primus stole (or rather mixed) Pink Floyd and Rush's sound. If what you do is a DIRECT (not modificated in any significant way) copy of something else, then (and only then) it's plagiarism. While Avenged Sevenfold's song "This Means War" may be considered a rip off of Metallica's "Sad But True", notably different riffs, melody and lyrics may affect such view. I still consider it as a typical "inspired" song.

Originally Posted by Ambival

As a big fan of Nu metal, I wanted to state some things. As said before, Nu metal mix variety of different sounds. Because of that people have problems with familiarizing with the genre and I think that is the source of all the hate (except for its popularity between 1995 and 2005). Some say industrial, grunge or hip hop elements are the main traits of the genre, but quite frankly they are not. Usually Nu bands referred to those genres have also another label attached to it, that is Industrial metal, Rap metal etc. The variety of sounds in nu metal (and thus variety of bands - Slipknot, Evanescence, Soulfly, Para roach, System of a down. You may think they are uncomparable, labeling them all "nu metal" sounds like an insult) comes from the flexibility of three main, unarguable elements:
- simplicity - The biggest problem for metal purist. Metal should be brutally technical, with mind blowing solos and complex structures,but at the same time we have Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Megadeth's symphony of destruction and Judas Priest's Breaking the law. In Nu metal simplicity referres to its classic structure and easy riffs, but there is no rule. If you want more complex sound then you can have it (Slipknot's Skin Ticket and Disasterpieces, Otep's Bloody Pigs and TRIC etc.)
- Emphasis on rhythm - has much in common with simplicity, as all the greatest riffs in nu metal are more rhythm than melody oriented (Slipknot's Duality and (SIC), Korn's ***et etc.)
- Groove - The most important and obvious element of Nu metal. ALL Nu metal bands have groove in their sounds (although some mix it with headbanging speed, like in case of Slipknot's debut). This made Nu metal a derivative form of Groove metal. Both are groovy, but Groove metal is more technical.

The basic inspirations for Nu metal are Groove, Funk and Hip hop, because of their Groove. DJ's presence and rapping arethere only to strengthen the Groove, but they don't make the Genre, same with Industrial, Grunge (this one is there only for it's simplicity and angst in lyrics), hardcore punk and some others. The perfect example for Nu metal is the album that created the genre - Korn's debut. Lack of DJ's work, rapping or industrial and music critics still consider it the most "pure" of nu metal albums.

Coming back to the variety of bands. There is a big misunderstaning about which bands are Nu metal. Quite frankly, in terms of Purity, there is only ONE Nu metal band in the world - KoRn. All the others are more or less Nu metal, mixing the genre with some other elements (Slipknot/Otep - thrash and Death metal, Limp Bizkit/LinkinPark - Rap metal, Dope/Static X/Spineshank - industrial, Coal Chamber/Evanescence - gothic metal, Staind/Godsmack - post-grunge, System of a down - some-crazy-**** for sure) or simply making a Nu metal debut and then moving on a completely new territory (Debuts of Disturbed, Chimaira, Kittie, Deftones's Adrenaline and Around the fur).

Thank you for your attention.

Originally Posted by Necro

I know im being late on this thread, but this topic is interesting to me.
I should say i agree with you on the 2 traits of nu-metal, id just like to add that i also consider hardcore a major influence on nu-metal, heck id even consider nu-metal a remote subgenre of hardcore, since both are groove based but too simple/different to be called groove metal, so that leaves hardcore as the only heavy groove based genre that nu-metal can fit in. Cos admit it, its not rock, nor hard rock, nor hip hop, the guitars are too different, theres no blues/pentatonic bases tonality in songs and the vocal styles/screams are reminiscent of hardcore too.

Also, as a side note, i dont get how nu-metal being too simple is a problem for people, if anything it makes them sound hypocritical, cos those same people also happen to like ****in Beatles and if you hear a Beatles song with technical shredding and face-ripping riffs let me know.
And in general, this nu-metal-hate argument reveals a lot of hypocritical straw-man bull**** in that, the things those people criticise in nu-metal, i can find them in their favorite genres.
And nu-metal isnt my fav genre, neither in heavy music, nor in general, just sayin'.