There was a pretty long stretch of time where nü-metal certainly had its fans, but wasn't exactly well received by the metal masses. Now in 2022 between the new wave of nü-metal and massive popularity of bands like Korn and Slipknot, nü-metal is clearly here to stay.
In an interview with Josh Toomey of the Talk Toomey podcast, Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza recounts starting the band and being very vocal about his love of nü-metal. Which in his words was "a big fucking no-no" in 2002.
"I'm better about [people loving the genre again] now, but when there was like… Now it's cool to wear a Coal Chamber shirt, and a Korn shirt and a Slipknot shirt, it's cool. Those bands have earned it, where they're legendary bands with classics, or kind of classic t-shirts I guess, it's kinda weird.
"But I mean, when [Suicide Silence] first started in 2002, we were very vocal about nü-metal. I wore the Korn shirts and long hair at a hardcore show—which if you didn't know, was a big fucking no-no. I'd be around the pit and people would throw kicks at me. So I was a nü-metal kid at a hardcore show. But we didn't care, we talked about how much we loved Korn, we were very vocal about it on camera, to our friends, and people around the scene when it wasn't cool to do so.
"Which has led to a friendship with Korn and it's really cool… But I'm kinda bitter like [new] band's sounding nü-metal or like wearing the shirts, I'm like 'Where were you twenty years ago?' But it's fucking crazy, it's a classic genre. It's badass. And it's still getting bigger."
