normaloctagon: New Wave of Am. Heavy Metal is (?)

normaloctagon 10.18.22	So goddamn easy to write this…you’d think it’d fill up a page
0xME 10.18.22	it never made sense as a genre, it's even worse than nu metal at least the NWOAHM genre descriptor isn't very far spread
Heppasodge 10.18.22	mish mosh
Dedes 10.18.22	Its an odd and largely pointless descriptor. All of these bands can generally be condensed into one or two pre-existing genres, i.e Lamb of God as Thrash/Groove Metal, As I Lay Dying Metalcore etc.
IsisScript80 10.18.22	It was a press and label-led catch-all for a surge of popularity and focus to bands that brought back speed, technically and solos to a landscape utterly dominated by nu-metal and its tropes. Spearheaded really, by the commercial and critical success of bands such as Killswitch, God Forbid, Lamb of God and the like. Big ol' mainstream turn away from Adidas and turntables in the metal genre, hence 'New Wave...' as companies were falling over themselves to sign bands with vaguely capable clean singers tag-teaming with unclean verses-types. Got played out, but definitely was an industry trend at the time.
JKing92 10.18.22	I was always quite averse to the "New Wave of American Heavy Metal" myself. It felt like old-school metalheads sermoning nu metal fans with, "Hey, look at these bands who play solos! AREN'T THEY SO GREAT?!" It also sort of struck me as the equivalent of "disco sucks" or "rap is crap," and just as racially suspect (as if white metalheads felt the need to "reclaim" a genre that was starting to take more influence from black music like hip-hop). Frankly, even discounting that, most "New Wave of American Heavy Metal" music I've heard just bores me (Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying, the particularly odious Lamb of God, etc). There are tons of artists whose work from that era was a lot more interesting to me, whether it was hip-hop like Outkast, Eminem, and Kanye West, or even other hard rock bands like Deftones and System of a Down (I'm excluding bands like Tool and Green Day, who continued making great work during the 2000s, due to their age). Thankfully, most of those NWOAHM bands are a footnote now, with artists like Outkast, Em, and SOAD being rightfully revered as some of the most important acts of the 2000s. That's the beautiful thing. 😌
Josh D. 10.18.22	NWOAHM to me is the 2000s metalcore bands.
Josh D. 10.18.22	There is WAYY too much going on in this thread. Racially suspect? A genre? Comparisons to hip hop? Guys, it's a phrase borrowed from NWOBHM to describe a style that was popular at a time, mainly New England metal/hardcore bands in the new millennium and their peers like aforementioned bands (not Pantera though, wtf). Jesus, relax.
TheSpirit 10.18.22	i think it's more all encompassing than metalcore, but agree it was applied to heavy music veering way from nu-metal
Josh D. 10.18.22	I don't think is though, the bands that were surging in popularity when they got coined with that term were KsE, AILD, SF, Unearth et al.
TheSpirit 10.18.22	along with bands like lamb of god, chimaira, and slipknot, bands that were decidedly not metalcore
IsisScript80 10.18.22	^ Yeah, pretty much it. LoG are often referred to as groove metal (Pantera influened), but at this time they were really technical and also considered tech along with bands like Mastodon when they were doing things like 'Remission and 'Leviathan'. "along with bands like lamb of god, chimaira, and slipknot, bands that were decidedly not metalcore" FWIW, Slipknot were lumped in with nu-metal and weren't considered part of this circa 2004 thing. It felt like old-school metalheads sermoning nu metal fans with, "Hey, look at these bands who play solos! AREN'T THEY SO GREAT?!"' Nah, it really wasn't that.
TheSpirit 10.18.22	Slipknot were absolutely considered part of the NWOAMH and in fact were considered one of its progenitors https://www.ebay.com/itm/363279301212
IsisScript80 10.18.22	@TheSpirit: Hmmm... just peeped the Wikipedia, and yes, you're right, they are included (also, hysterically, Pantera, and the nu-metal bands mentioned). I just know it as the differential term for the 2000s non-nu-metal bands that were the industry hot shit. I think that's the context in which they are thought of, despite how incredibly nebulous this definition is rapidly appearing.
IsisScript80 10.18.22	"...starting with the third album they moved into the NWOAHM genre." Aha, yes! That's the only album of theirs I bought. It was very good and a contemporary update of what they were about. Fucking genres. Lol.
AlexKzillion 10.18.22	in terms of "sound" - i've very much always thought of NWOAHM as early-mid 2000s metalcore that leaned far more into thrash/groove metal than hardcore and had decent radio appeal... lamb of god, all that remains, trivium, bullet for my valentine, killswitch, as i lay dying, post-iowa slipknot very catch all term and imo more of an era-descriptor than an actual genre really