Jeff Walker Says Carcass “Kind of Are Responsible” for Nu-Metal
There are plenty of great bands that inadvertently helped create nu-metal, ranging from Faith No More to Anthrax to Rage Against the Machine (whose bassist, Tim Commerford, actually once apologized for influencing Limp Bizkit).Generally, though, the metal community does not hold Carcass responsible for the rise of bands like Static-X and Drowning Pool.
According to Carcass bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker, though, we absolutely should hold Carcass responsible for those bands.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, Walker says, in characteristically self-deprecating Walker fashion:
“I think because we did something different, we obviously had an impact on people and on other bands. We don’t get credit for it, but hey, that’s just tough shit.”
It seems a bit loco for the frontman of one of the most important and influential death metal and grindcore bands of all time to say they don’t get credit for having an impact. But Walker has something specific in mind… and that’s when he says the band accidentally helped to nu-metal:
“We downtuned to B and we kind of introduced that to the world of metal as far as I’m concerned. There probably was somebody else who tuned to B, but I can’t think of anyone. It had some disastrous side effects, such as nu-metal.”
Even though he just took credit for nu-metal, the interviewer then asked Walker if he was taking credit for nu-metal, which Walker confirmed he was:
“In some respects, we kind of are responsible.
“They [nu-metal’s top-tier bands, including Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot] all worked with [producer] Ross Robinson, and he was a Carcass fan – he stole Symphonies of Sickness from Tower Records in Los Angeles when it came out. A lot of those bands tuned to B. But they don’t know why they’re doing it half the time.”
In other words, assuming Carcass did influence nu-metal, that still doesn’t mean that nu-metal bands know who Carcass are. I buy that.
Carcass’ new album, Torn Arteries, is out this Friday, September 17. Listen to the most recent single, “Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 in B),” here.
