I used to love nu metal.
I know… that’s not the best way to start off a post. The very mention of nu metal is generally sufficient to earn the scorn of metalheads everywhere, even though a lot of them got started on nu metal just like I did. And to clarify, it’s not like I still listen to a lot of nu metal. I still listen to Incubus’ S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and Mudvayne’s L.D. 50 on occasion, but that’s about as far as I go. Still, I have some fond memories for bands that I discovered during nu metal’s heyday. I mean, System Of A Down (whom I refuse to classify as nu metal) are still personal favorites, and I’m still hoping for a reunion album.
Anyway, that brings me to Knives Out!, a band comprised mostly of former members of two now-defunct bands that I discovered in the nu metal era. Knives Out! features Todd Smith and Jasan Stepp, two guys from Dog Fashion Disco (whose Faith No More/Mr. Bungle worship took the style to a totally new level); Dave Cullen, who plays bass for Polkadot Cadaver, the spiritual successor to Dog Fashion Disco, which also features Smith and Stepp; and Tommy Sickles and Tom Maxwell, formerly of Nothingface, who I suppose played nu metal, but put such a psychotic, violent twist on the music that they seemed to transcend the label. (Maxwell is also a member of Hellyeah, in the interest of full disclosure, but I’m going to ignore that for this band’s purposes.) Nothingface’s Violence and Skeletons were personal favorites for quite sometime and still get a listen now and again, and Dog Fashion Disco’s entire discography still finds a place in my regular listening rotation.
Now, back to Knives Out!. In 2010, they released a 4-track demo called Rough Cuts that served to showcase their musical style, which is basically a logical combination of the music of Nothingface and Dog Fashion Disco. (Thankfully, Maxwell was not allowed to bring in any Hellyeah bits.) It wasn’t really too much of a surprise, but thanks to Smith’s vocals and decidedly twisted lyrics, the music had some allure for me, and so I settled in to wait for a new album.
Finally, almost two years later, Knives Out! have announced that Black Mass Hysteria will be released February 14th, and they’ve released a video for their track ‘Blood Everywhere’. The video features footage from a bunch of old horror movies that are usable under public domain, including Driller Killer, Messiah Of Evil, and Bloody Pit Of Horror, and absolutely no performance footage whatsoever. It is, as the song title implies, a bloody video, but I trust that you guys can handle some violence.
27 Responses to “KNIVES OUT!”
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The video is actually really cool but this song is so bad it makes me embarrassed for the band. WTF is this, 1998? This band is impossibly unimportant.
Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
This is what happens, you let the riff-raff in and they start trying to push nu-metal on us!!!
That being said I need me some new Spineshank asap.
Man, The Height Of Callousness was a pretty good album back in the day.
I nearly gave up on the article after the opening statement, but it hinted that something different was coming. Turned out to be a mistake. No offense meant, of course. But I hate Mr Bungle, and Polkadot Cadaver, and Dog Fashion Disco more than I can put into words. Sorry…
Not a fan of the weird stuff, eh?
I like weird when it makes sense to me. But some stuff, I just can’t grasp onto for some reason. I attribute it to a lack of sophistication in my ears and/or brain.
Yeah, that Mr. Bungle-type weirdness is decidedly not for everyone. Hell, I can’t always listen to their stuff beyond the self-titled album. They take it to a whole other level.
I found the song tolerable. Not something I’d pick up but maybe a new gateway for others. That said, I too still listen to a few nu-metal albums on occasion and it wasn’t even my path to metal.
At least I’m not the only one…
One started out with Linkin Park’s “Hybrid Theory” and Korn’s “See You on the Other Side”…
What do you have to say to that? 😐
I have this to say about that: I loved Hybrid Theory. Every now and then, I still play listen to songs from that album. So there. (since then, of course, Linkin Park has had a long downhill slide into suckage).
That’s true. But, it is somewhat embarrassing to admit that four years ago one used to listen to Linkin Park all day long, while nowadays one listens to Thy Catafalque, Cormorant or Ulcerate all day long.
No reason to feel embarrassment, really. I refer you to VyceVictus’ comment below.
While I technically got started on Master Of Puppets and Mortification, I was there for the rise and fall of nu metal and I was in the thick of it. And I liked Hybrid Theory when it came out, but I got sick of Linkin Park before the second album came out. As for Korn, I was a little late on the self-titled, but fell in line with Life Is Peachy and was a fan up until around Issues.
I’m happy to say I pretty much entirely missed nu-metal in my migration into this genre.
That being said the video was pretty rad, song, notsomuch
Yeah, it’s like a less-interesting version of DFD. Still, I love DFD, so I can appreciate these guys on some level. There’s a nostalgia factor involved, I think.
I advocate the end of nu-metal hate, and I dont mean in some bullshit post-ironic “aww this shit is stupid but wasnt it fun” way. To quote a good associate:
“Nu-metal is still the most cathartic music ever for when you’re angry or frustrated. Some people say that about stuff like Cannibal Corpse but some ignorant stuff like “MOTHER FUCKER YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ALL MAH HATE” is easily 100 times more cathartic than some demented fantasy about making a belt out of vaginas.”
If the style doesnt sonically stike a chord with you that’s one thing. But people always deride it by saying it was just an era marked by a deluge of shitty uncreative bands; well, how many times do we deride contemporary “true” metal bands for being “generic”? You cant go to a single metal site without seeing one band described like that on any given day (this site included). It has nothing to do with the style and everything to do with the fact that majority of bands in any genre has always sucked, and success, or at least respect, is (ideally) a testament to you being better than the rest.
If there’s on thing I would begrudge Nu-metal for, its the rap elements. Not because mixing the sounds is an inherently bad idea, simply the fact that there were so many hilariously wack rappers trying to do it. But when it was good and there was actuall skill going on, the results were phenomenal. In fact I actualy wrote an article on this very concept: http://www.stuffyouwillhate.com/2011/10/lets-talk-about-real-rap-metal/
Im firmly against the concept of “guilty pleasures”. Even though many amongst us experienced this type of stuff in our adolesence, It doesnt make those positive feelings any less real or true, and it doesnt take away the genuine musicianship of those bands back then, as many of you have already attested to with albums you keep in your rotation.
Its time to get over the hate.
If you hear the sound of one person applauding, that would be me. Your point about “guilty pleasures” is especially interesting. I suppose there might be such a thing as a true guilty pleasure — some kind of music you listen to today that you know is crap but you listen to it anyway. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be a “guilty” please to remember a time when you really got into a certain kind of music, even if your tastes have moved to a different place since then, or to continue listening to music that still hits you right, in the right moment, even if it might be unpopular to admit that.
Also, I laughed hard at your associate’s quote at the same time as I was appreciating its truth. Very nice.
I think yes and no.
You are totally right about the generic thing.
But numetal is just so…radio friendly. Sometimes it IS easier to feel connected to numetal than grindcore…. But only about once a year. (Usually when it’s time to “harvest” boar semen for inseminating the sows.) But since that was my gateway to metal, it just feels like I’m going backwards.
I mean, Korn had some good music, but now they don’t stand up to comparison.
I don’t think it’s generic as much as certain tropes just don’t work. Or don’t work as well.
But I do agree that hating something for it see genre is silly.
That said, I often listen to music I think is shitty and enjoy it.
I may also be a fucking moron.
Need more info about harvesting boar semen. Photos would be good, too.
*brofist*
It’s not really hate so much as boredom. One does listen quite a few 90’s “Alternative Metal” bands – Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Helmet, Primus, Faith No More, Tool, Marilyn Manson, Deftones, Kittie… There are also select albums by Korn, Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne, Static-X, Mushroomhead, Chevelle, Darwin’s Waiting Room, Linkin Park, Sevendust, Snot, & Soulfly that one still listens to.
Other late-1990’s / early 2000’s alternative metal / nu metal quickly lost its appeal to one. [One isn’t sure how many of those bands count as “Nu Metal”, though.]
Those songs that one DOES listen to aren’t guilty pleasures at all. Among one’s company, oneself is most likely to break stuff if any of those songs comes on.
You have 1 new recommendation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymLJz3N8ayI&feature=related
Knives Out should stab themselves
So I take it that this is NOT the hardcore band Knives Out that used to be on Deathwish? Damn…
No need to argue for days.
Nu-metal was (and is) the most horrific thing that ever happened in the history of music. There’s not a single element that can redeem it. it sucked big time, lyrics were chidlish, looks were wiggers wannabe, it’s as though they did their best to be despicable as fuck.
Ever since Korn’s debut in 1994 to nowadays, this genre clearly showed the most pathetic side of manking.
Let them die once and for all and do not resuscitate them.