Last week the metal magazine Kerrang! asked: "Is the nu metal party over?" Nobody seems to have told Essex rockers InMe. The trio, who grazed the singles chart for the first time this month, transform Northumbria University into a mass of flailing bodies, bonkers hair and flying lager, suggesting that the party may be just getting interesting, in Britain at least.
While the American originators are tiring, and mainmen Slipknot are even talking of retirement, the British acts who have long been trailing in their wake are taking the music into new, intriguing areas.
Vex Red are dabbling with femininity and theatrics, while fellow rising stars InMe are combining sincere, passionate lyrics with melodic tips from classical music. At their best, they sound like a mixture of grunge rock and Debussy.
This is a curious development from a trio who are so young - only just creeping out of their teens. In some ways, though, InMe are veterans: they began playing together aged 13. Bassist Joe Morgan is a skilled violinist, while singer Dave McPherson has either seen enough trauma in his short life to justify lyrics about shattering relationships, hate, confusion and fear, or he has listened to an awful lot of Nirvana.
The Seattle band are certainly the primary influence. McPherson's pained growl is rooted in Kurt Cobain. However, his swoops into an angelic falsetto suggest that there is more in his locker than mimicry, and his passion is rousing and genuine.
It is also impossible to pin down the band, who even dabble with Tangerine Dream-type electro sounds and 1980s raincoat rock, although their chief template is tuneful metal. They are less interesting when they become formulaic and lank-haired McPherson's voice descends into a grumble, but they rock unfeasibly hard for a young band.
As songs like Energy and Underdose (with lyrics that touch on repressed violence and suicide) turn up the heat, the atmosphere flits between tension and exuberance. During the encore, one overexcitable young fan is carried out, collapsed - usually a sign that a band are doing something right.
· InMe play Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, tomorrow (01902 552121), then tour.
