Metalcore

Metalcore is a musical genre consisting of a mix between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Although the genre has risen in popularity since the turn of the millennium, it is not a new genre, as many would believe, since bands such as Integrity have been around since the late 1980s.

Defining the metalcore sound is not an easy task, as various bands have fused a hardcore-influenced sound and attitude with many different types of metal. The earliest signs of this before being labelled metalcore was 'crossover thrash'. The band that declared the crossover was Dirty Rotten Imbeciles on their late 1980s album of the same name. Other bands, like Nuclear Assault, are bleeding edge pioneers themselves.

It should be noted that metalcore and crossover are generally considered separate identities, with "crossover" referring to a mix of thrash metal and hardcore punk, and metalcore being a slower, heavier, hardcore-rooted style influenced by thrash metal and death metal.

Early scene

Nuclear Assault was amongst the first to call their music a heavy metal/hardcore punk hybrid, though still thought of as a metal band by most. On the other hand, while not thought of as a metalcore band by many today, Breakdown was arguably one of the earliest to fuse heavy metal-influenced riffing with a more traditional hardcore sound without being a thrash metal band. Around the same time, bands such as Integrity, Maximum Penalty, Leeway, Biohazard, Madball, Judge, and Raw Deal began releasing demos and albums, laying the foundation for metalcore bands to come. Most songwriting by these bands was similar to New York hardcore but differed in a more metallic sound, due largely to the use of double bass drums, harsher distortion, heavier riffs, and metal influenced vocals. This basic form of metalcore has received the epithets - which can be used both with and without derision - "tough guy hardcore" due to the lyrical focus, which is often similar to older hardcore in that they call for moral and mental strength and integrity, but may also have a slight focus on violence, and "moshcore", due to the often breakdown-centric, mosh-friendly songwriting that some bands use.

During the middle of the 1990s, bands started expanding the metalcore sound, prime examples being All Out War who used straightforward thrash riffing, as well as bands such as Rorschach, Starkweather, Orange County's Adamantium, and Deadguy, who experimented with looser, often discordant songwriting as well as more untraditional rhythm. Converge, although starting out as self-confessed "hardcore kids with leftover Slayer riffs", have since bloomed into a hybrid of hardcore, metal and progressive instrumental and electronic experimentation, they like to call "punk-metal". Zao is another band that left a mark upon metalcore, particularly Christian metalcore, with their Carcass-like vocals and varied songwriting.

Later scene

From the late 1990s and particularly after the turn of the millennium, metalcore has grown immensely, to the point where major record companies are taking interest in the genre. Recent (2005) releases, such as Norma Jean's "O God, the Aftermath" have managed to sell well enough to make it onto Billboard charts.

One sound that has become immensely popular (dubbed by fans as "Gothencore") is to mix Gothenburg melodic death metal, popularized by bands such as At the Gates and In Flames, together with old school metalcore. Today, many popular metalcore bands play this style, including Killswitch Engage, Trivium, Caliban, Inner Surge, and Unearth

Some bands, such as Botch, expanded on the blueprints of Rorschach and Deadguy, bringing forth intense mathematic influenced guitar riffs, as well as songs.

Contemporary metalcore scenes are notorious for social hierarchies, the promotion of violence, and the organization of its members into gangs typically known as "crews." Metalcore fashion is not dissimilar to that of "hipster" or "indie" college students, replete with tight shirts with band logos on them, tight jeans, and highly stylized hair. Tattoos, piercings, and an extreme devotion to the music also characterize the scene. Of course, these are just some common stereotypes.

Breakdowns

Central to many bands of the genre, quite a few of which eschew traditional verse-chorus-verse songwriting, is the breakdown (also known as a down beat or beatdown). Stereotypically, a breakdown consists of slowing a song down, giving the guitars room to play a set of rhythmically oriented riffs, usually on open strings so as to achieve the lowest sound for which the guitars are tuned. These riffs are often accented by the drummer through double bass drums and the overuse of the china cymbal. Breakdowns are usually responded to by an audience by hardcore dancing. Vocalists also tend to throw in a single, repeated statement throughout the breakdown, giving those who are not dancing an opportunity to sing along. Many metalcore bands rely on having memorable breakdowns rather than memorable choruses. Songs with breakdowns have become more common, and some bands have used them far more often than was previously the norm, with some songs even resembling one elongated breakdown.

Early scene

Later scene

Breakdowns

Bands

Metalcore genres

See also

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Metalcore

Early scene

Later scene

Breakdowns

Bands

Metalcore genres

See also