It seems to be the dominant rock genre today. Is this nu metal?

I believe the official term is "crap."

Sounds like you might be talking about EMO. Don't worry, it will pass.

Although the latest CD from THRICE-which is like an emo version of HELMET is pretty darn good.

It's just an evolution of the soft verse/loud chorus thing that the Pixies helped start and was picked up as a core component of grunge and other 90s pixies-influenced bands.

How about 'Pixinian', then?

Mall-core.

I liked the Pixies. This sounds nothing like them.

I always liked the soft/loud dynamic, as I hate songs that sound the same all the way through.

But then again I'm biased as early-mid 90s grunge is still my fave.

No, I think I know what he means..the music starts very softly, acoustic guitar, tender voice..and then suddenly becomes very hard and aggressive..I have heard songs like this from Linkin Park, Cold Play, and other other similar bands..

It is trash and very sad....especially since no one can do it right....

That's just a matter of opinon

Nirvana did it great IMO, as does Linkin Park (one of the few new popular bands of the past few years I actually like)

screemo? maybe not.

and from reviews i've read of bands like linkin park, etc., i've heard them referred to as "ripoffs" but ripoffs of what? who started this genre is beyond me.

I didn't list NIrvana, they are a band of high musical quality even though I do not enjoy their music I will say that they are a talented band that changed a lot of things

It doesn't have to sound LIKE the pixies. It's just a mechanic we're talking about, just like we can define "sonata form" and still realize that Paganini and Beethoven don't sound the same.

Nirvana was heavily pixinian in this same soft verse/loud chorus vein.

You didn't list them, but you said that "no one can do it right" so you pretty much listed every band in the world that does this style of music.

Well sorry, here

Nirvana does it right

And so do classical composers, there are quite a lot of incredible pieces that start out real mellow..and go crazy near the middle or end..

Er, that's the idea of classical music. Ya know, dynamics. I can't imagine sitting through an entire classical piece that didn't follow that, or some variation on, that formula.

And Nirvana didn't even go from whisper to explosion in the sense that some other bands do, specifically post-rock bands. Unfortunately (or fortunately), post-rock is largely considered a premature and/or exhausted genre, and therefore ignored.

But to address the question at hand, none of that is a genre. It's a musical pattern and it was around long before the Pixies. Nothing makes loud seem LOUD like a lil' bit of quiet.

Not sure exactly what you're talking about, but it sounds like emo-core.

Listen to some Thrice, Taking Back Sunday, and Thursday and tell me if that's what you're talking about.

linkin park, specifically?
NIN < Depeche Mode < Joy Division
etc., etc.

It sounds like what you're describing is just a more extreme form of what The Who did with "Behind Blue Eyes". But yeah, in contemporary music the pioneers were The Pixies, followed by Nirvana.

How about a Lullabye Scream?

Picture someone softly singing to you as you relax and close your eyes. The stress and tension leaves your body as you are soothed. Then suddenly they scream in your face while your eyes are closed.

Can't say I enjoy it.

I dont think you limit one genre as doing this. IMO it is a musical technique that can be incorporated into any form of music. For example nas did something like that in one mic.

many people call it emo or emo-core. at the very least it is influenced by music throughout the emo genre.

more info than you probably want to know:
emo began as screamy, hardcore punk music with introspective and poetic lyrics (try the bands rites of spring and embrace for a sampling). over the course of time, the music and vocals became more melodic and also more dynamic. the most influential band in this sort of middle phase of emo's development was sunny day real estate. perhaps the defining characteristic of that mid-nineties emo phase was the dynamic transitions from melodic and soft to heavy and screamy within a single song (try the songs "in circles" or "48" from sunny day's diary album for the most pronounced examples of this dynamism) along with the ever-present hyper-poetic lyrics that inspired the genre title in the first place. a ridiculous number of bands were heavily influenced by that early sunny day sound and the emo label began to run rampant. today, everything from dashboard confessional to thrice gets labeled as emo.

coldplay and linkin park are similar bands? are we thinking of the same coldplay?

my (old) band opened up for taking back sunday on our first gig. i quit 6 months ago.