'''Alternative metal''' is... what the hell is it, anyway?

OK, let's try this... you know AlternativeRock? Stuff like Music/{{REM}}, Music/{{Radiohead}} and Music/TheyMightBeGiants? Well, imagine alternative rock. Imagine all its weirdness, all its... "[[ShapedLikeItself alternativeness]]". Now, imagine that with the sonic amplitude of [[Music/HeavyMetal metal]], and you've basically got alt-metal.

Alt-metal started off in the mid-to-late-eighties as a response to HairMetal, which was the commercial darling of MTV and had in many people's eyes reduced (non-underground) metal to a watered-down pop movement; consequently, alt-metal bands sought to bring back metal's original fire. There was no specific "scene" for alt-metal bands, and not even a specific sound, but they were all united by experimental flourishes and influences from other genres.

The genre became popular in the late eighties/early nineties (around the same time that alt-rock got its big break) thanks to a few bands that are considered the founding members of the genre; these bands included Music/FaithNoMore and Music/{{Primus}}. A couple of years later, Music/{{Tool}} took alt-metal [[DarkerAndEdgier and made it considerably darker]].

The genre is wide enough that bands will often have totally different sounds to each-other (compare Primus and Korn - do they sound the same?), which causes a fair bit of annoyance with people who like to categorise their bands. At the end of the day, though, alt-metal is a handy catch-all term for bands that are both ''arguably'' metal and hard to classify.

See also NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly, a trope that many alt-metal bands possessed.

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Bands typically classed as alt-metal include:

* 10 Years (also falls under PostGrunge)
* Music/AliceInChains (Nominally {{Grunge}}[=/=]Music/HeavyMetal. Certainly the most metal-influenced grunge band alongside Music/{{Soundgarden}}.)
* Alien Ant Farm (not normally considered a metal band, although some of their work definitely draws from the genre. Also falls under AlternativeRock, NuMetal, PostGrunge and PopPunk).
* Music/AlterBridge
* Music/{{Audioslave}}
* Music/AvengedSevenfold
* Biohazard (fused with RapMetal and ThrashMetal)
* BreakingBenjamin (Also counts as PostGrunge)
* Breed 77 (uniquely overlaps with Spanish flamenco music)
* Music/{{Candiria}}
* Music/{{Chevelle}} (easily the most straightforward example, as they pretty much are a straight hybrid of metal and radio-friendly alternative rock)
* Music/{{CKY}}
* Music/{{Clutch}} (mixed with StonerMetal, HardRock, FunkMetal, and far too many other genres to list)
* Music/{{Crush 40}} (also HardRock and Music/HeavyMetal)
* Music/{{Deftones}}
* DemonHunter (also GrooveMetal and {{Metalcore}})
* DirEnGrey
* Music/DogFashionDisco
* Music/{{Evanescence}} (also GothicMetal and AlternativeRock)
* Music/FairToMidland (overlaps with FolkMetal and ProgressiveMetal)
* Music/FaithNoMore (one of the few alt metal bands commonly enjoyed by true metalheads, along with Primus, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden)
* Music/FearFactory (mainly IndustrialMetal and GrooveMetal, but you can hear alt-metal elements like the melodies they use)
* Music/{{Fozzy}} (they also have strong traditional Music/HeavyMetal influences)
* Music/{{Helmet}} (bordering on NoiseRock)
* Music/{{Incubus}} (mainly their early material)
* Music/{{Ill Nino}} (fused with Latin and NuMetal music)
* Music/JanesAddiction
* Music/{{Katatonia}} (later)
* King's X (also falls under HardRock and ProgressiveMetal)
* Music/{{L7}} (also Grunge and Riot Grrrl)
* Music/LacunaCoil (later)
* Life of Agony
* Music/LimpBizkit (also NuMetal, FunkMetal and RapMetal)
* Music/LivingColour
* Music/MachinaeSupremacy (also PowerMetal)
* Music/MarilynManson (mainly IndustrialMetal)
* Mastodon (recent material. mainly progressive/sludge metal.)
* Music/MaximumTheHormone
* Melvins
* Mr. Bungle
* Music/{{Mudvayne}} (also ProgressiveMetal, GrooveMetal and NuMetal)
* {{Mushroomhead}} (also IndustrialMetal)
* Music/NineInchNails (mainly IndustrialMetal)
* Nonpoint
* Music/{{Primus}} (overlaps with FunkMetal and ProgressiveRock)
* Quicksand (example of alt-metal post-hardcore fusion.)
* Music/RageAgainstTheMachine (also RapMetal and FunkMetal)
* Rollins Band (a band that never really had a clear genre. Also falls under HardRock, FunkMetal, {{Jazz}} and PostHardcore)
* {{Seether}} (also PostGrunge)
* Music/{{Sepultura}} (later, fused with GrooveMetal)
* Music/{{Skindred}}
* Music/{{Slipknot}} (Also NuMetal and GrooveMetal)
* Music/TheSmashingPumpkins (also influenced by {{Shoegazing}}, ProgressiveRock, PsychedelicRock, DreamPop, GothRock and AlternativeRock - basically, think Deftones but with more nasal vocals, and you'd be reasonably close.)
* Soilwork (also MelodicDeathMetal)
* Music/{{Soulfly}} (early material, fused with NuMetal / GrooveMetal; later became ThrashMetal / DeathMetal)
* Music/{{Soundgarden}} (nominally {{Grunge}}, but heavy enough to fit here as well, like Alice in Chains)
* Staind (also PostGrunge and NuMetal)
* Music/SystemOfADown (Perhaps the most commercially successful and popular alternative metal band.)
* ThreeDaysGrace (Also counts as PostGrunge)
* Music/{{Tool}} (Also ProgressiveMetal)
* Music/TypeONegative
* [[Music/RobZombie White Zombie]]

!!Tropes that apply to the alternative metal genre:

* [[GatewaySeries Gateway Music]] - If you're a metalhead, and you're close to graduating college, you either got into metal through this or NuMetal. More likely the latter, but the trope still applies to alt-metal.
* Music/HeavyMetal
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness - Usually most bands under alt-metal tend to be in the 5-7 range, with a few bands getting up to 8.
* MorePopularSpinoff - Nu-metal was this to the original alt-metal movement for a period.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly - Demonstrated by many bands in the subgenre, whether prominently (Faith No More, Primus) or subtly (Living Colour, Deftones).
* TropeCodifier: {{Primus}}
* TropeMaker - Generally considered to be {{Faith No More}}.
* UrExample: Possibly Mother's Finest.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: NuMetal is perceived as being more commercial than Alternative Metal, and the current lack of commercial interest in NuMetal has kept Alternative Metal from reaching or even eclipsing the popularity NuMetal once had.
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