"It was darker than other bands but it really got me to let go of the old and embrace the new." The late 80s alt-metal album that Korn guitarist Head says accidentally invented nu metal

Korn guitarist Head photographed against a black background.

Few bands can legitimately lay claim to pioneering an entire new genre, but Korn are one of them. With their self-titled 1994 debut album, the band from Bakersfield, California single-handedly ushered in the nu metal movement which would go onto dominate the rest of the decade and the start of the next one.

But nothing exists in a vacuum, and even trailblazers need inspiration. For the members of Korn, their sound was shaped by a melting pot of metal, hip hop and funk. But there was one classic late 80s alternative metal album that did more than any other to open up the future Korn members’ minds to different styles and sounds.