GENRES DATABASE

This obscure and often forgotten genre, in general, assumes the loud guitars and riffs of heavy metal and merges them to the bass lines and syncopated rhythms of funk. Funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger funk underpinning than the heavy metal of the time. Faith No More have been described as a funk metal band that dabbled in so-called 'rap-metal', while Rage Against the Machine's mix of funk and heavy metal not only included rap, but also elements of punk rock. Primus, a band that crosses many genres, has been widely described as funk metal, though bandleader/bassist Les Claypool dislikes the categorization. By the later part of the 1990s, the genre was represented by a smaller group of bands, including Incubus, Sugar Ray and 311.

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