10 Greatest Nu Metal Albums Of All Time
1. System Of A Down: Toxicity (2001)
System of a Down’s sophomore masterpiece released just 7 days before the 9/11 attacks occurred. Politicised like next to no one else in the nu metal scene, System of a Down’s Toxicity lambasted the CIA, police brutality, the incarceration system and the many environmental issues plaguing the modern world.
Nu metal was slowing down by 2001 as Hybrid Theory had seemingly peaked the genre’s potential. Toxicity provided the defibrillator to keep the scene chugging along for another couple of years..
Regarded as a nu metal classic, System of a Down blended the genre with a variety of offbeat choices including prog rock, traditional Armenian and Greek music respectively, folk and even hints of jazz. Instruments such as the banjo and sitar were also introduced to flesh out the album’s eccentric sound.
Lead single Chop Suey! continues to be a meme favourite to this day and both thrilled and confused listeners at the time of release. A macabre track focused on the unpredictable nature of death, it employed Biblical references throughout its famed chorus. Imagery of supernatural, sometimes psychedelic concepts run through out the album. Learning from The Beatles’ knack for plugging left of centre, often whacky sounds and notions into more accessible tracks, the result is an LP bursting with both imagination and intensity.
A landmark moment in music history, Toxicity captured everything great about nu metal and mixed it with both heart and intellect.