Cast your mind back to the year 2000, and it's hard to think of many parts of the metal spectrum that weren't experiencing some kind of tectonic shift. Nu metal was, of course, an all-conquering monster by that point, with its biggest ever graduates about to drop their first album (more on that in a second). But look beyond that mainstream-leaning sheen and metal was doing exciting things all over the place.
From death metal bringing in keyboard-powered pop hooks to grindcore and gabber becoming unlikely bedfellows, it was a time of experimentation, boundary-pushing and rule-breaking. With that in mind, here are seven metal tracks from the year 2000 that were miles ahead of their time.
