System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian has named the greatest nu metal album of all time (in his opinion).
The 57-year-old, whose band became stars of the nu metal era around 2001 album Toxicity, reveals his pick in a new interview with Revolver, naming Korn’s debut album as the genre’s masterpiece.
“I’m gonna have to say Korn’s first record,” Tankian says, “because it seems like that was the time that the term ‘nu metal’ was created. I actually think people don’t think of System Of A Down as nu metal. But Korn, for sure.”
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Korn’s self-titled debut, released in 1994, is frequently described as the first nu metal album by observers. Such scene stars as Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and Soulfly all named it as a key influence.
Metal Hammer journalist Stephen Hill wrote of Korn in 2022, “More than a quarter-century after it was released, Korn’s debut album instigated a seismic shift in metal. From the moment [frontman] Jonathan Davis asked us if we were ready on Blind, he changed our scene forever. They drew on the influence of Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine and hip-hop, but turned it into something brand new.”
In the same interview, Tankian also reveals the concert that he’s ever played. “One of my worst shows was in Atlanta with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,” he remembers. “In fairness to them, orchestras in the U.S. don’t get a lot of prepara-tion time for modern compositions. Whereas in Europe, they give you some time to actually work through the material, so it turns out way better. But we did the Atlanta show with just a soundcheck, and they just couldn’t get it down. It was a fucking disaster.”
Tankian continues to perform with System Of A Down, though the band haven’t released a new album since 2005. The singer released a memoir, Down With The System, earlier this year and recently also put out an EP of solo material called Foundations.
