Origins and early development
Alternative metal has its origins in the 1980s and the term has been in use since that decade. The genre began with bands such as Faith No More, Living Colour, Soundgarden, and Jane's Addiction and emerged from a variety of musical backgrounds including funk rock, hardcore punk, noise rock, the grunge scene, stoner rock, sludge metal, gothic metal, groove metal, and industrial.
Evolution or diversification
The genre came into prominence in the 1990s with bands like Helmet, Tool, and Alice in Chains. Other genres associated with the alternative metal movement included rap metal and funk metal, and these influences contributed to the development of nu metal. In the late 1990s and early 2000s nu metal expanded the alternative metal sound and combined its vocal stylings and downtuned riffs with elements of hip hop, funk, thrash metal, hardcore punk, and industrial metal, with mainstream acts including Korn, Limp Bizkit, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Disturbed, System of a Down, Linkin Park, Slipknot, Deftones, and Staind.
Cultural or musical significance
Alternative metal achieved commercial success in the 1990s and was described contemporaneously as an alternative branch of metal appealing to listeners between alternative rock and traditional metal. Commentators noted its position between bands like Nirvana and Metallica, and publications characterised it as offering an alternative metal that could reach large audiences. By the mid-2000s nu metal's mainstream popularity began to decline, with many bands moving on to other genres.
