David Ellefson revealed his "Big 4" of nu-metal, a subgenre of metal that became very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s, on his podcast called The David Ellefson Show .
The episode aired last Sunday, March 30th, and also featured the podcast's co-host and former Primer 55 bassist, Joshua Toomey. In a conversation about who was as important to nu-metal as Metallica, Anthrax , and Megadeth were to thrash, David cited the names of the genre's main bands.
“Our genre, the Big 4… I think nu-metal is probably the other one you could claim as the founding fathers. Then again, I’d say: Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and Slipknot .” ( Transcription via MetalSucks ).
David Ellefson praises the bands
He also recalled moments when one of the bands toured with Megadeth and the impact of listening to the bands' albums.
Regarding Korn, who opened a show for the band in 1995, Ellefson spoke about the first time he heard Korn's debut album.
“I remember picking up that CD and saying, ‘OK, this sounds really weird.’ And I remember it was a strange transition, because I don’t even remember what the other CDs were, but none of them were of a genre we would choose to tour with, so to speak. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh yeah, this is a great rock band.’ They were all kind of a new flavor.”
Similarly, he spoke about Linkin Park then and now with the new vocalist , Emily Armstrong. “Linkin Park was a band that I understood why people liked, but it wasn’t really my thing. I love them now, with the new vocalist, I think it’s super cool. I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
And obviously, he couldn't help but talk about Slipknot, a band he's liked from the start because he finds them closer to death metal than other bands.
“And of course, Slipknot, when they emerged, they were really roaring from the start. You know, really the leaders of the masked band movement. And I know there were other masked bands out there — Mushroomhead — but Slipknot certainly nailed it.”
Dave Mustaine disagrees with David Ellefson.
In a recent interview, the Megadeth frontman expressed his disdain for the nu-metal genre. In a recent interview with LifeMinute , he said: “There was a period around 2000 when bands came out called — I think it was 'nu metal' — and they didn't do solos. Why didn't they do solos? Because they didn't know how. And thank God that genre disappeared. People started learning how to do solos. I would say that if you were in a 'nu metal' band, you'd probably have a hard time even playing 'Johnny B. Goode' ( Chuck Berry ). So, I'm glad that's over.”
And in a WSOU 89.5 FM radio , Dave commented that he and his band used to make fun of the style they were "forced" to tour with in the 1990s. "You can't describe how much we laughed at the bands we were forced to take with us on tour, especially during that nu metal phase we went through years ago," he said at the time. "You know, all those bands that didn't play solos and stuff like that."
READ ALSO: Who is Emily Armstrong, the new lead singer of Linkin Park?
