Dave Mustaine May Hate Nu-Metal, But David Ellefson Has a ‘Big 4’ of the Subgenre
Ahhh, nu-metal. That nostalgia-tinged subgenre from a much easier time that’s regained serious popularity in recent years. Much like grunge in the early and mid-90s, it’s a subgenre that’s more a product of a time period rather than a particular sound.
And for every person that still loves bands like Snot and Disturbed and Mudvayne, you’ve got people like Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine who absolutely hate it. But you know who doesn’t hate nu-metal? Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson — you know, the guy who got fired by Mustaine over a non-controversy. In fact, in a recent interview, he went out of his way to do for nu-metal what’s already been set in stone for thrash metal: he named what he considers to be the “Big 4” of nu-metal.
The conversation around nu-metal came about on Ellefson’s podcast, the creatively named The David Ellefson Show. While speaking with his co-host and ex-Primer 55 bassist Joshua Toomey, Ellefson opined about the subgenre before sharing who he thinks were as important to nu-metal as Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth were to thrash.
“Our genre, the Big 4 … I guess nu-metal is probably the other one that you could claim the founding fathers. So again, I would say: Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Slipknot.”
Yeah, that’s about right. Ask most people and they’d probably land on the same four bands. While talking about his choices, Ellefson recalled each time one of those bands either played with Megadeth out on tour or made an impact on him after listening to one of their records.
For instance, Korn opened for Megadeth back in 1995, so he talked about listening to the band’s debut self-titled album:
“I remember getting that CD and going, ‘OK, this sounds very weird.’ And I remember it was a weird transition, because I don’t even remember what the other CDs were, but none of them were of a genre that we would pick [to tour with us], 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 talked about Linkin Park, who came out a few years later but also initially raised Ellefson’s suspicions.
“Linkin Park was a band that I understood why people liked them, but it wasn’t my thing. I love them now, with the new singer, I think it’s super cool. I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
But one band that nailed it right from the get-go for Ellefson was the mighty Slipknot, which honestly makes sense since they are more akin to a death metal outfit than other bands in the subgenre.
“And of course, Slipknot, when they came out, they were pretty roaring out of the gate. You know, really the leaders of the masked band movement. And I know there were other masked bands around — Mushroomhead — but Slipknot certainly took that.”
It’s honestly not that much of a shocker that between Ellefson and Mustaine, it was “Little Dave” that was way more open-minded about shit. Still, it’s great to see at least one member of the old guard was up to give nu-metal outfits their flowers.
