When Staind’s Break the cycle dropped in 2001, it was a massive nu metal success, topping the Billboard charts and producing anthems of frustration and self-loathing. But in 2025, Staind’s cultural legacy feels different, especially with frontman Aaron Lewis now making headlines as a conservative country artist. 

In this episode, Marc Lajeunesse and Safa Hachi break down the album’s themes, Staind’s place in nu metal history as well as why Gen Z isn’t embracing the band’s legacy like they have for Limp Bizkit and Rob Zombie. From its emotional weight to its ideological contradictions, we explore whether Break the Cycle was always leading to this moment.

Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe (1998) blended nu metal, industrial and horror aesthetics, influencing music and pop culture beyond its release. Marc Lajeunesse and Safa Hachi discuss how horror, rebellion and theatricality define the album’s impact, and why its energy is being revived in today’s music. 

From Playboi Carti’s Opium collective to Megan Thee Stallion’s metal collaborations, this episode connects nu metal’s past to its surprising influence on Gen Z’s music landscape.

In July 2021 - amidst a seemingly endless barrage of pandemic misinformation and American political turmoil - an unexpected topic began trending on Twitter: Limp Bizkit. Twenty-two years after their first Billboard number one album Significant Other, the flagship act for turn-of-the-millennium disgruntled youth returned with surprising fanfare and cultural relevance. After nearly two decades of popular media obscurity, Limp Bizkit was the standout act of Lollapalooza 2021, one of the most popular music festivals in the United States. Band frontman Fred Durst, wearing a grey wig accompanied by a dusty handlebar mustache and pink-shaded aviator glasses, refers to himself as ‘Dad’ as the crowd goes wild. Durst’s presentation alongside the energetic crowd transforms what might otherwise be a flaccid nostalgia act into something surprisingly self-aware and curiously resonant for a young modern audience.

How did we get here? How did a genre as maligned as nu metal reenter the cultural moment? Sonic Subcultures Season One looks at nine nu metal records to understand what nu metal even meant in the first place, and how the genre has found renewed cultural relevance.