Song structures

Normally, nu metal songs have a song structure of instrumental introduction, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. The bridge is often a climax to the song, has a relatively different sound to the previous two and sometimes is just one line repeated, getting gradually louder. It is generally louder in the instrumental parts and the choruses than in the verses. Nu metal shares most of these characteristics with grunge. Verses also tend to have rapped verses and sung/screamed choruses e.g. Linkin Park have Mike Shinoda rapping the verses and Chester Bennington singing/screaming the choruses on most of their earlier work (Meteora) in particular.

Drums

Nu metal drumming often consists of hip hop, funk, and heavy metal influences. Double bass drumming isn't very common in the style with Slipknot and Ill Nino being notable exceptions. But unlike the long passages of double bass that death metal and black metal drummers utilize, nu metal drummers use double bass in "stop-go" bursts. System of a Down and Soulfly have also integrated Middle Eastern and tribal music in their styles respectively.

Turntables

Many notable nu metal bands feature a DJ for additional rhythmic instrumentation (especially for music samples, scratches and electronic backgrounds). Some examples of nu metal DJs are DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit, Mr. Hahn of Linkin Park and DJ Sid Wilson of Slipknot.

Bass guitar

The speed and skill of a bassist in traditional heavy metal plays a large role in the band's sound, complementing percussive tempos (and occasionally the guitar riffs) and adding strong rhythmic pulse to the band. Nu metal bass parts are often reminiscent of hip hop or funk grooves, and in some songs, slap bass technique is used to give the music a funk groove. The bass in nu metal is often the driving force behind the music, which can be heard in bands such as Mudvayne.

Typically, most nu metal bands use basses that require more than the traditional four strings, such as five-string basses, which provides an extended lower register. Fieldy of Korn, Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne, and Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit use five string basses. Paul Gray of Slipknot also uses a 5 string on occasion, although he is also known to use a 4 string, tuned to B-E-A-D, the last 4 strings of a 5 string bass.

Guitar

Unlike traditional metal, the overall defining trait of nu metal guitar-playing is the emphasis on mood, rhythm, and texture over melody and complex instrumentation, achieved largely through performance or effects. Generally speaking, the emphasis in the music is on either communicating feelings of angst and hostility, or motivating a crowd to move with the beat—ideally, both at once.

However, guitar-playing in nu metal still often varies vastly in complexity, sound and usage. Bands take elements from several forms of music when composing the riffs for their guitars, causing a high variance between the bands. One common trait of most nu metal bands, however, is to emphasize the guitar as a rhythmic instrument. Riffs often consist of only a few different notes or power chords played in rhythmic, syncopated patterns. To emphasize this rhythmic nature, nu metal guitarists generally make liberal use of palm muting, a technique inherited from thrash metal that is often widely spaced out and blend easily into the surrounding riffs, in a manner similar to grunge and hip hop.

Another common technique with nu metal guitarists is the use of detuned strings whose lower pitch creates a thicker, more resonant sound. Strings detuned in this way are often drop-D or lower, sometimes adding a seventh string. This technique is often criticized as a misuse of alternate guitar tunings, with detractors emphasizing the ease and frequency with which power chords are played. When Korn first began its career, members of the band stated that guitar solos had become saturated and too boring in the rock industry, thus they felt no need for them. This is typical of nu metal bands in that guitar solos are rare in nu metal songs in general.

Vocals

Nu metal bands often feature aggressive vocals that range from melodic singing similar to pop and rock, guttural screaming and shouting from various forms of metal and hardcore punk, and rapping akin to hip-hop and rap music.

Some distinction is usually maintained between bands who use rap vocals extensively, and those that do not. Bands featuring almost exclusively rap vocalization are sometimes loosely called "rap metal," while the less common term rapcore is used to describe bands who use a combination of singing, screaming, and/or rapping (for example, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and P.O.D. have songs that combine the styles).

One method of rapping common in nu metal merges rap with "shouting", which is basically a mesh of hardcore punk and rap with only some metal influences, commonly called rapcore. Another common method is simply utilizing the different styles in different parts of the songs, such as a "screaming" chorus breaking up rapped verses. The style and lyrical themes of nu metal's rapped verses are generally very different from those of mainstream hip hop. Distortion and other post-production effects are often added to vocals in the nu metal genre.

Tool is a recognizable origin for some nu metal vocalization; Chevelle's Pete Loeffler, Taproot's Stephen Richards, Disturbed's David Draiman, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst have cited Maynard James Keenan's signature style as an influence, with Durst also calling the entire group (in general) both a biggest musical influence and favorite band.

Definition

The term was first used for a review of a 1997 Coal Chamber Concert in Italy. Categorization of specific artists as "nu metal" is difficult, an issue made more prevalent in the online community by traditional metal fans who take offense to the term. Nu metal began as a mix of different genres, so the definition is not solid. Linkin Park's Meteora, for example, is listed as "alternative" on AOL Music Now, and three different genres ("rock", "metal", and "alternative") on Metacritic. Because their style was not clearly defined, nu metal bands were often considered within multiple other genres. For example, Korn cross into Alternative metal, Limp Bizkit and P.O.D. cross into rapcore, Disturbed crosses over into hard rock, and Linkin Park crosses into alternative rock.

While Korn was one of the bands that founded the nu metal genre, they do not want to be placed in this category. In interviews, the band claims that they "... hate the nu metal term," arguing that it "... doesn't mean anything.