8 Rock & Metal Bands That Drastically Switched Genres

8. Slayer

As one of the "big four" of Thrash Metal, Slayer built a reputation on the fast-paced riffs, hard drumming, and aggressive vocals that are synonymous with the genre. After treading this water for fifteen years, Slayer decided to try their hand at something new in 1998.

Diabolus in Musica was the band's eighth studio album, and was their first and only endeavour into Nu Metal. Coming at a time when when the genre was at the height of it's popularity, guitarist Jeff Hanneman said that when writing the album, he was looking for something to beat, but nothing was heavy enough to even bother contesting, which resulted in the Thrash icon putting his own unique spin on the genre.

Though the album did have it's positive reviews, the majority were negative, and sure enough, by the time their next release, God Hates Us All, came around, the band had returned to where they belong, the brutal lands of Thrash Metal, and have stayed there ever since.