I normally don't agree with Unfan on most stuff, but I'd hardly consider him being a **** just because he has a higher standard for music than you or I do.
And whether SOAD are truly nu-metal or not, they are a good gateway band for anyone who has started getting into metal. Other than that, I have yet to hear a halfway decent song by them. They're catchy at best. Their instrumentation to me is just not interesting enough. There's no quality in their guitar riRAB, and their solos, if any, are unimaginative. The only conceivable reason I would think anyone would listen to them is because their easy on the ears for anyone who likes all that candy-coated-easy-to-swallow vein of metal. Then they go and say "They're experimental." You want experimental? One word; Arcturus.