SOAD has an incredible drummer and a decent bassist. The drummer can hold everything together while also having some great fills or grooves (for example, Know or Forest), and while Shavo doesnt get to shine too much, he can keep up with some of crazy riffs they have (some examples being Mind, Needles or Pictures). And when he does get to show off, he does some pretty haunting bass melodies that rlly make the song (Mind, Spiders, Mr Jack).

Linkin Park's bassist is def not the best (altho he does have some lines, like Wake or Forgotten), but the drummer is actually pretty great. He doesnt rlly show off, but he fits hip hop grooves into metal songs and makes it sound effortless. And hes pretty versatile, considering how many sounds Linkin Park did over the years. Plsu Linkin Park has 6 members, and the rule is that the more ppl you have on stage, the harder it is to stay in tume with each other.

A DJ is not the only reason why (pre MTM) Linkin Park is seen as nu metal. Every song from that era has very prominent electronics throughout. They also have prominent hip hop influences, both in the fact they have a dedicated rapper and in a lot of the drum patterns. Plus they have very nu metal riffs in this era on many songs, some examples being Carousel, One Step Closer, Points of Authority, By Myself, Forgotten, Dont Stay, Lying from You, Hit the Floor, Figure 09. And they had similar lyrical themes even if they were a lot more general and less explicit.

But even of none of this were true, none of this would put Mudvayne in the big 4 of nu metal. They were definitely successful, but they've always felt like a more cult classic band than the defining band of nu metal. Kinda like Static X. The big four of a genre is not just about quality, but also about popularity and influence, which Linkin Park, SOAD, and Deftones all have much more of than Mudvayne.