New album Foregone out February 2023

[Xpyro125]

As far as the 2000s are concerned, I'd say "bro attitude" would have been more prevelent in pop-punk like Blink-182 and Sum41 than Alt Metal. Maybe you could count shit like Limp Bizkit, Zebrahead or a few others if you'd even classify them as Alt Metal - but generally, no, I still wouldn't say Alt Metal had any "bro attitude". Hell, In Flames themselves were Alt Metal for most of the mid-2000s. Our American friends Xpyro, Galvanized and Phobiac can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing the frat boys back then weren't slamming beers, hazing recruits and having wild parties to the soundtrack of March of the Pigs, Angry Chair, Sober, Black Hole Sun, My Sweet Shadow, Freak on a Leash, Du Hast, The Beautiful People, and so on... but it's possible I'm wrong.

I know that particularly nu metal in the 90s and early 2000s and early 2000s basic/alt rock were incredibly fratty (Shit, Fred Durst “sang” about sniffing panties in Eat You Alive), but I wouldn’t say that Americans completely devolved to have that culture— A lot of TV certainly did, i.e. early Big Brother, but it wasn’t completely common outside of that. Of that list I could see frat boys liking Freak on a Leash, but that’s mainly because Korn was just ‘in’ back then, and in fairness, they’re absolutely one of the better nu metal bands, opinions on JD’s vocals be damned. My Sweet Shadow definitely wasn’t on anyone’s minds back then as far as I know, but I didn’t have nearly as much exposure to diverse music as I do now, so I could be wrong there. I only really knew of classic rock, alt rock/metal, nu metal, and thrash back then. Really, the only bro thing In Flames has done that I can think of is Touch of Red’s music video, which isn’t that great to me anyways. It certainly didn’t become an American mainstay with that.

 

[The Grayfox]

Seeing Limp Bizkit mentioned reminded me that I had to sit through that terrible, terrible band once. I went to Summer Sanitarium in 2003 strictly to see Metallica. It was a long day for me, as I had to sit through Mudvayne, Deftones, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit (in that order), none of whom I enjoy. At all. I would, however, watch any of the first three over sitting through Limp Bizkit again. You couldn't pay me to do it. I will say that I have a strict "do not boo the live act" rule. I think you should respect the fact that there is a live band playing and have a little bit of class even if it's not your thing. I broke my own fucking rule one time and this was it. No excuses, but I boo'd the shit out of Limp Bizkit along with like 50,000 other people. When they played their cover of Sanitarium, something which they clearly thought would get the crowd on their side, we all boo'd harder. It was absolutely brutal.

 

[Xpyro125]

Seeing Limp Bizkit mentioned reminded me that I had to sit through that terrible, terrible band once. I went to Summer Sanitarium in 2003 strictly to see Metallica. It was a long day for me, as I had to sit through Mudvayne, Deftones, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit (in that order), none of whom I enjoy. At all. I would, however, watch any of the first three over sitting through Limp Bizkit again. You couldn't pay me to do it. I will say that I have a strict "do not boo the live act" rule. I think you should respect the fact that there is a live band playing and have a little bit of class even if it's not your thing. I broke my own fucking rule one time and this was it. No excuses, but I boo'd the shit out of Limp Bizkit along with like 50,000 other people. When they played their cover of Sanitarium, something which they clearly thought would get the crowd on their side, we all boo'd harder. It was absolutely brutal.

Genuinely surprising to see Mudvayne at their peak in that list. I do decently enjoy Deftones and Linkin Park, but I absolutely get why people would say their music isn’t as good as people say it is, though that was before Mudvayne went full basic rock with Lost and Found. But yeah, fuck Limp Bizkit— Fred Durst specifically. I think the other guys are actually genuinely talented musicians, but the fact that they willing put up with and enjoy making music with Fred Durst makes the band shit to me. I’d absolutely recommend Borland’s side project, Black Light Burns though, it’s a really cool industrial project whose debut I rather enjoyed. Haven’t listened to BLB’s other stuff, but the debut album was good.

 

[The Grayfox]

I wouldn't say I hate any of the acts mentioned, save for Limp Bizkit, who I do think is awful, but they're just not my cup of tea. Borland is a good guitarist but even he couldn't save it because, well, this was during his 'hiatus' from the band, so he wasn't there. Deftones is one of those bands that I just never got into. Their fanbase reminds me of Tool's a bit, as they're always falling back on "oh but they're so talented!" Lots of bands are talented. That doesn't necessarily form a connection between fan and band alone. For instance, your band could be the most talented group of musicians in the world, if your frontman is Maynard James Keenan, one of the biggest twats in existence, I couldn't care less how talented your band is. Linkin Park is catchy and I really don't have anything against them, it's just not for me. And Mudvaye, I don't care for either. That nu-metal era is not in my wheelhouse.

I'll check out Black Light Burns, as I have been known to enjoy industrial from time to time.

 

[Xpyro125]

Oh fuck, you’re right, Results May Vary came out in late 2003, so you probably had to listen to some of the shitty singles from that album too— Fuck, maybe you did have to hear Eat You Alive. That’s heartbreaking, man, I’m sorry.

I’ll agree completely about both Deftones’ and Tool’s fanbases, it’s sort of a similar thing to Sleep Token’s rabid fanbase now that I think about it. White Pony has quite a few awesome songs, though you probably got stuck with quite a few songs from the self-titled (Which I can’t remember shit from) since that came out in May that year. I’ve actually never been able to get into Tool though, I have absolutely no idea what people love about them.

But that’s fair enough when it comes to that era of nu metal. Limp Bizkit had ruined it, it was a couple years before Head would leave Korn (They were shit without him, I’m sorry), Mudvayne was about to stop being progressive, Slipknot was about to release Vol. 3 (Never listened to it, but I know it’s divisive), and all the nu metal cash grab bands that oversaturated the subgenre were eating away at it by that point. 2003-2005 definitely marked the end of it definitively, as well as the end of rock and metal’s dominance in the mainstream– At least in America–, so it is pretty fucking depressing to think about.

 

[DE4life]

I enjoyed Rollin' as a novelty song, but generally speaking, yeah, Limp Bizkit absolutely suck and always have.

Linkin Park I've always been fine with. Simple, catchy music, and I thought Chester's vocals were pretty unique. I don't listen to them regularly, but there are various songs I like on their albums up until and including Minutes to Midnight. I haven't heard anything they did after that so can't comment on what they've done after 2008.

Mudvayne, Deftones, Tool... none of those are my type of music at all. Pretty much the exact opposite of what I enjoy for the most part. 'Sober' is a decent song by Tool, but that aside I don't enjoy their music. I wouldn't say any of those bands suck in the same way as stuff like Limp Bizkit, though, it just isn't my kind of music.

 

[Xpyro125]

Linkin Park I've always been fine with. Simple, catchy music, and I thought Chester's vocals were pretty unique. I don't listen to them regularly, but there are various songs I like on their albums up until and including Minutes to Midnight. I haven't heard anything they did after that so can't comment on what they've done after 2008.

One Thousand Suns was after MtM in 2010, and it was kinda shit imo. Just too complicated and pretentious without much payoff aside from the final minute of some songs. The Catalyst is actually pretty good, but it’s a shining example of how OTS went wrong.

I don’t know what it was like over there, but when Burn it Down came out in 2011-2012 it was pretty much unavoidable— Which I was fine with, I like the song. Living Things is a *very* simplified album, definitely overly correcting OTS’ mistakes, but I still quite like it.

The Hunting Party was in 2014, and Jesus fucking Christ are the instrumentals awesome. Just straight up heavy rock and roll, almost punk-y with Chester’s vocals. I’d recommend Guilty All the Same to see if you like the album. It’s arguably the most authentic and natural-sounding the band’s ever been, like garage band rock with good production.

Fuck One More Light. That is all.

 

[The Grayfox]

I fully recognize that Tool is a very talented band. It's their douchey fan base that ruins it for me mostly. They act like before Tool, there were never any talented bands, that they somehow invented prog metal, which to be fair, they aren't even really a metal band. I would say they lean closer to prog rock. But their fans seem to want to pretend that bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Symphony X, etc. didn't exist before them. Or tech death bands that make Tool sound like a garage band. Their fans are elitist in a very weird way.

There's nothing wrong with Linkin Park, they're just not for me. They were definitely influential and had a huge following though. I'd say half the crowd was into them and half wasn't. Really it was Metallica's fault -- specifically Lars, who picked the support bands as I recall. He picked bands that he liked, which is fine, but it didn't resonate with the crowd much. It would be like if Slayer chose Papa Roach as their support band. The crowd would've ripped them apart. In this case, I'm sure all of it was to drive ticket sales by having a diverse line-up.

 

[Xpyro125]

I fully recognize that Tool is a very talented band. It's their douchey fan base that ruins it for me mostly. They act like before Tool, there were never any talented bands, that they somehow invented prog metal, which to be fair, they aren't even really a metal band. I would say they lean closer to prog rock. But their fans seem to want to pretend that bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Symphony X, etc. didn't exist before them. Or tech death bands that make Tool sound like a garage band. Their fans are elitist in a very weird way.

I have met exactly two Tool fans in my life, and I agree with everything you’ve said here.