“I have a different outlook on nu metal” – Shavo Odadjian reveals his point of view on this subgenre

Bassist Shavo Odadjian of System Of A Down discussed his involvement in the so-called “nu-metal” movement, which dominated the airwaves and briefly peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in a recent interview with Matt Pinfield of 95.5 KLOS’s “New & Approved” broadcast.

Someone asked me recently about being a ‘nu metal’ band. And I have a different outlook on nu metal. It’s not a style. It was an era where bands played heavy music, but did it in another way. They didn’t do the basic ’80s heavy. They mixed rock-metal with something different, whether it be hip-hop, punk rock, eclectic stuff, complicated, progressive stuff, psychedelic prog. People did different things. For example, Deftones had that Portishead vibe that they brought into metal. It’s so freaking cool. There’s a whole style now — there’s a whole Deftones-style music right now popping off on TikTok. If you think about it, bro, even though we got villainized a little bit — the nu metal thing was cheesy for a while because every era comes out and it’s cool. Then some bands come up that ruined that cool vibe… Heavy metal was great in the ’80s. Then these bands came out that kind of ruined it, the cheesier glam metal bands came out. I don’t wanna name ’em, but some cheesy bands came out.