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Metalcore, a portmanteau of metallic hardcore, is a fusion sub-genre of heavy metal. The genre is a diverse blend of a number of elements, melding the genre’s roots in hardcore punk with death metal and and thrash metal. The genre saw its beginnings in the late 80s when bands such as Integrity, Earth Crisis, and Converge began to fuse elements of the hardcore punk scene with the heavy metal and thrash metal scene. Metalcore is not the first metal-hardcore hybrid, and a distinction is made between metalcore and crossover thrash, which is a hybrid of thrash metal and hardcore punk, but which, unlike metalcore which is broader in scope, focuses on a number of specific elements from both genres.
These bands began to develop a similar style, with linear compositions with aggressive verses and melodic chorus with an emphasis on breakdowns, where the music slows and becomes much heavier, which is conducive to moshing and head banging. Breakdowns are generally considered as the defining element of metalcore. From 1989 to 1995, this style of music exploded in popularity in the underground metal community. After 1995, numerous bands began to put more emphasis on melody in their metalcore, fusing more melodic death metal, post-hardcore, and occasionally emo elements into their music. By the late 90s and early 2000s, many metalcore bands had attained a very popular status, with bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, and Atreyu enjoying popularity outside of the normal metalcore scene and successful album sales.
Much of the metalcore genre has a similar and distinct style, which is based upon intense vocal work, much of which is either screamed or growled, and some artists combine these with clean melodic vocals in choruses and other passages, heavy and often at times technical instrumentation with a heavy emphasis on down-tuned, palm muted guitar and double bass-based drumming, and a heavy emphasis on breakdowns and solos. Although some bands are exceptions to this style, the vast majority of metalcore bands share this similar style.
A number of distinct sub-genres of metalcore have emerged over the years, the most prominent being deathcore, mathcore, melodic metalcore and electronicore / trancecore. All have their own child-subs on MMA.
Mathcore emerged in the mid-90s with the work of bands such as Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Botch, is the fusion of elements of math rock, which is rock based on complex time signatures, rhythms, and instrumentation, and metal genres such as thrash metal, death metal, and metalcore itself. This genre has a heavy emphasis on speed, aggressiveness, and intense instrumentation.
Deathcore, which emerged in the early 2000s, is another sub-genre of metalcore which fuses elements of hardcore punk with death metal, technical death metal or brutal death metal. Hardcore fused with melodic death metal is usually refered to melodic metalcore.
Melodic Metalcore can also be called out as a subgenre with acts like Avenged Sevenfold and Killswitch Engage and other acts who mix hardcore punk with melodic death metal.
Electronicore / Trancecore / Synthcore emerged in the 2000s, melding metalcore and post-hardcore with electronic elements. The style was made popular by bands such as Attack Attack!, Crossfaith, Enter Shikari and The Browning.
Another electronic / metalcore hybrid that has gained some recognition is
Nintendocore. Nintendocore fuses chiptune and video game music with modern hardcore punk and heavy metal and was pioneered by groups such as Horse the Band. Increasingly non-Nintendocore bands are utilising the style too as it has become more maintream.
Progressive Metalcore can also be called out as a distinct style, which some include under mathcore, while others distinguish between mathcore and progressive metalcore, with mathcore emphasising technicality and progressive metalcore displaying progressive traits without necessarily being technical. Many progressive metalcore bands describe their music as "djent".
A small but increasingly common style of metalcore is a combination with nu-metal, often called
Nu-Metalcore. These bands will be found under metalcore or nu-metal, depending on which style they are closer to.
Metalcore bands such as Winds of Plague and Across the Sun have begun to incorporate symphonic elements into their style, suggesting the rise of yet another metalcore subgenre - namely, symphonic metalcore (with its corresponding symphonic deathcore).
Metalcore Inclusive Genres:
deathcore electronicore mathcore melodic-metalcore nintendocore Written by Andyman1125 with embellishment from the Metal Music Archives admin team.
Sub-genre collaborators (+ child sub-genres & shared with Hardcore Punk):
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Album · 2005 ·
Mathcore
Vim Fuego
Former New Zealand rugby captain Sean Fitzpatrick was the master of the sporting cliché. When it came to press conferences, the All Black captain had a list of stock phrases he would roll out time and time again, which ultimately told you very little about the match, but not that it mattered, because the All Blacks usually won anyway. One of Fitzy’s favourites was “It was a game of two halves.”
This blindingly obvious observation meant the team had performed to a different level in each 40 minute stretch of the game, usually starting indifferently, and then getting their act together in the second half to annihilate the opposition. This analogy fits SinceByMan’s ‘Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse’ perfectly.
‘Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse’ starts with a leaning toward the mediocre. “Emergency And Me” isn’t the worst Metalcore song you’re ever likely to hear, but it hardly sets the world on fire. Its feel of urban alienation is a little different to the norm, but otherwise, fairly standard stuff- not particularly heavy, a bit angsty, a bit melodic, a bit average.
The standard set, SinceByMan sleepwalk through the next three songs, all of which pique a little interest, but nothing to blow you away. The end result is left hanging in the balance.
But then, the team left the field, received an absolute bollocking from the coach, dosed up on energy drinks, and then hit the field with a new resolve and sense of purpose. Switching from Metalcore’s suffocating standard, SinceByMan take a step to the left field from “Match On Action” onward. The intensity is cranked up, imagination and inventiveness are let loose, and the inspiration flows.
SinceByMan enter the space generally occupied by the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan and Soilent Green, a space where logic becomes chaos, and categorisation is discarded. Sure, this isn’t as chaotic as Dillinger Escape Plan, nor as heavy as Soilent Green, but you’ll find heavily syncopated rhythms, spinning riffs, discordant solos, and plain old fucking with the boundaries of music. Laid back acoustic sections add contrast, as does the heavy Dub intro to the electronically deconstructed “Binary Heart Attack”. “Quid Pro Quo Motherfucker” introduces female vocals, creating breakdowns which sound like Atari Teenage Riot on steroids. “Photographer Ex Post Facto” starts with a riff which sounds like Faith No More’s “Woodpecker From Mars”, but soon twists into something far more dangerous.
This album becomes a tumbling kaleidoscope of jarring guitars, stark contrasts, off kilter percussion, electronic drones, and a conglomeration of concepts. ‘Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse’ is like a shallow dip into madness, without descending to the full on schizoid paranoia of Dillinger Escape Plan or Neurosis. It’s not a world-beater yet, but SinceByMan are heading in the right direction. So, as Fitzy would have said, thanks to the ladies for the afternoon tea, full credit to the opposition, and rugby… er, music was the winner on the day.
Album · 1999 ·
Mathcore
SilentScream213
Botch’s second and final album carries many of the same strengths and weaknesses as their debut.
To start off, the pros: - The drumming. Lord, the drumming is fantastic. It’s varied, it’s technical, it’s metallic and aggressive, it’s capable of slowing down for sludgy, moody sections. Perfectly tows the line between serving the music and standing out. - The songs are long and varied, and cover a greater range of speeds than the debut. More prominent are the slower, sludgier sections, which give the music more room to breath. - The moments they lean towards Atmospheric Sludge Metal are the best. They manage to craft some harrowing atmospheres that actually carry some weight. The best example is the second half of “C. Thomas Howell as the ‘Soul Man’,” which is definitely their best song. The simple chords and double bass drumming at the end are a perfect climax that actually sounds passionate and memorable. Wish the band did more of this.
However, the cons: - Like the debut, it’s not very memorable. It has no hooks to speak of, neither in the vocals nor music, and that’s thanks to being very inharmonious. The songs are neat when they’re playing, but once they’re done, it’s very difficult to remember anything from them. (Swimming the Channel averts this, hence being easily their best song.) - The riffs are angular and dissonant. They don’t really… evoke anything, aside from anxiety. It’s not catchy, but it’s also not evil or anything like that. Just kind of uncomfortable, but not in an emotionally gripping way. - The songs are long and varied, [i]but[/i]… pretty much just swap between slow anxious, fast anxious, mathy anxious… it’s all somehow monotonous despite the variety in playing style. Like, the band can only play one feeling, which is manic discomfort. Which is cool if you like that, but it’d only work for me if the music and vocals/lyrics were more emotional. This isn’t; it’s very abstract both musically and conceptually, so the focus on anxious moods doesn’t evoke anything from me aside from discomfort. - The lyrics are too abstract to deride much meaning, which is unacceptable when vocals are screamed in this way. There’s thought, but no passion. The final track is basically ten minutes of them saying the same thing over and over. - The long Drum n’ Bass track closing the album is the worst track. Weak ending.
For these reasons I find the album good, but not great. I can understand the praise, especially among the genre. But I think this is more niche than the ratings lead on: I think you’d have to be pretty into this kind of music specifically for it to click just right.
Album · 2004 ·
Melodic Metalcore
GwennyLOLmusic
I have no idea why I love this album so much, but damn I love it. The album is themed around Christianity and gospel(?) but, unlike other Christian bands, instead of dancing around the positives of it all, it plunges into the poison womb of the negatives and corruption.
The album, in my eyes, themes itself around an early ages Christian setting, and the songs fit into that with their lyrics, and the keyboard synth in the background, commonly resembling organs.
Individual track notes:
Cannibal is a great example of the album going into the dark and corrupt side of Christianity. This song, as the title somewhat implies, is revolving around cannibalism, specifically feasting on our own children. The song showcases a sound of regret towards the end, with lyrics like "Father, what have I done!", as if they are recognizing their sins and how its too late to change, they've already been damned. Also shown in lyric "We fashion a new generation, who thinks like us, speaks like us, kills for us. Through them we will not die", which I believe refers to that their legacy will not die, and be passed on through their children, if they didn't eat the shit out of them.
Harlot's Womb is just a great full throttle fast paced track. The keys in this track add a lot, even though they are very subtle. NOTE I do not know shit about the bible, I don't know who Emily and Apollyon and Babylon is. (Apollyon referred to in Harlots Womb, Babylon in Drop The Bomb, Emily in Dying Young)
Judas is a great and remarkable song. This song of course goes on about the story of Judas, specifically the betrayal of Jesus. Notable lyrics like "See you standing sober, cutting out my fathers eyes" and "You're like a son to me". The second verse goes right into the betrayal.
Favorite track: Judas. Least favorite track: Morgan Freeman.
Recently got this album on CD. Uploaded the lyrics and info to Genius for y'all.
Lyrics uploaded = https://genius.com/albums/Crucifix-doll/Fuck-this-flower
Album HQ CD Rip = https://archive.org/details/crucifixdoll-cdrip (I'm a huge nerd okay)
-=Additional Album Info=- Recorded, mixed, and mastered in 12 days during the month of September 2004.
Executive Producer – Rick Musmecci. Produced by Dan Faraci. Assistant producer – Kalen Chase. Recorded by Dan Faraci @ Tommy Tedesco Studios and DC11 Productions (Darren’s Apartment). Assistant record engineers – Max Fritz and TJ Helmrich. Mixed by Doug Kern @ Tommy Tedesco Studios. Assistant mix engineer – Dan Faraci. Mastered by Doug Kern @ Doug’s house. All artwork by Jenny Stone. Photo by Debbie Faraci. Layout by Dan Faraci.
Album · 2008 ·
Deathcore
SalamiDickDeath
The Unspoken King is EASILY Cryptopsy's best album.
I came into the Cryptopsy fold with "Once Was Not" and was absolutely blown away. It's a maddening display of Cryptopsy's idiosyncratic Death Metal ways. I adore each and every Cryptopsy album. "The Unspoken King" simply has the most to offer. Other than Jon Levasseur's solos it has everything and more that the other albums have. Clean vocals, more groove and like 37 seconds of keyboards.
I am firm believer that when a band moves in one direction or another this is how you grow and keep things interesting. Making the same album 5 times is incredibly boring. To me this is a pretty decent jump in the forward moving progression of their sound though not wildly so (its not like they are rapping or playing ballads). For the life of me I cannot figure out who in gods name could consider this Deathcore. One of the very few genres I really can't get into at very least for the steroidal vocals and the simpleton breakdowns accompanied by a computer assisted bass drop in practically every goddamn song. Absolutely none of which is found on this pulverizing album.
Its more raging Death Metal at insane speeds with the best vocalist yet. Inhuman alternate picking, palm muting, tremolo picking, blastbeating, insane shred solos with sweeps and all the other Death Metal hallmarks. Plus the wickedly audible bass Cryptopsy has always lead the way with.
"Worship Your Demons" opens the album with a wildly aggressive blast beat that leads to a classic Cryptopsy style riff where guitar and bass are equally heard. The whole song screams Cryptopsy with the lead guitar shining by way of sweeps and tapping. Then "The Headsmen" comes in swinging hard with straight Cryptopsian attitude and simply tortured vocals. Ending with one of the shortest but coolest solo's since "None So Vile". After some cool Punk style riffing in "Anoint The Dead" it also lays waste to the fretboard with a solo of the highest order. "Leach" too opens with a Punk style riff followed by some classic speedy ass tremolo riffing.
Yes there is a sorta spoken word deal going on in "The Headsmen" and in the background of "Bemoan The Martyr", not at all far removed from "Pestilence That Walketh In Darkness" from the previous album. Which Lord Worm uses over a catchy chorus riff later in the song. The difference is that Matt can actually sing and does a badass but brief job of doing so on this ("Bemoan") and a few other tracks.
"The Plauged" and "Bound Dead" also have actual singing. Matt's vocal range is stunningly impressive and is tragically shorted to just this album thanks to the meat-headed blowback from neckbeards and hipsters screaming "sellouts". When the reality is Cryptopsy has enormous balls for taking such an artistic leap that is far and away the most memorable album.
"Contemplate Regicide" opens up with a very heavy yet groovy riff hauling balls and then goes into some tremolo picking and back to the groove before a mid-paced & highly catchy riff opens up with some gritty, clean vocals. This is followed by a brief piano interlude which adds a delightfully dark atmosphere. Ending on another killer solo. "Silence The Tyrants" also makes use of these atmospheric keys to great effect. The album ends on a pretty cool Faith No more style instrumental.
They have always had a Punk attitude tied into their Death Metal riffing style as well as finding a way to squeeze groove into insanely speedy riffing. The whole 5 minutes of singing on an album that's just under an hour. Plus the 2 songs with VERY brief keyboards does not make this album Deathcore. It's a Cryptopsy album in everyway considering the fact that they have always progressed in some way from one album to the next.
I still await the day they open the gates for Matts full vocal range to be unleashed upon the Feral Death Metal (the true genre they should be filed under) songs they craft. Until then 3 Mile Scream will fulfill some of my desires.
Movie · 2010 ·
Melodic Metalcore
Kingcrimsonprog
Madness In Manilla is a live DVD/CD combo released in 2010 by the Massachusetts based American Metalcore band Shadows Fall, which was recorded live at Summerslam Festival in the Philippines back in 2009. The performance features a career spanning sixteen-track setlist that is balanced and which covers all the band’s most well known material as well as a few less expected numbers for variety.
This DVD is a proper full-length concert video of a single concert, as opposed to how either their previous DVD, The Art Of Touring or for example Down’s Diary Of A Mad Band were set out. Luckily for most concert fans, the set isn’t interspersed with home video footage or animations either, just the live performance from beginning to end.
The band play on a large outdoor festival stage along to an incredibly detailed light show, with all sorts of rotating, panning and altering lights, spots and colour changes, as well as lots of dry ice.
The camerawork features lots of movement, with all sorts of cranes and dollys employed along with the usual camera crew, the whole operation is a lot more complex and professional than any of the band’s previously available live videos from bonus discs and such things.
You get a lot of coverage of the instruments being played which is always a plus for viewers who are musicians and a good cover of the band’s famously proficient drummer Jason Bitner. What you also get to see a lot of is singer Brian Fair windmilling his knee-length dreadlocks, which is an interesting sight all things considered.
Whilst there are a lot of positives to be said about the visuals, there are some issues in the shot matching, occasional framing problems and the dry ice can effect the picture quality, it switches from incredibly high resolution shots on cranes and not so great images on handhelds. Furthermore the menus are cheap looking and basic so it isn’t as absolutely perfect as some bigger band’s festival DVDs or equally sized band’s indoor concert DVDs, but is still a strong release overall.
Standout tracks include the furious performance of early classic ‘Crushing Belial,’ which is opened with an enthusiastic yet expletive description of its epic status by Brian, which gives you a good idea of the energy and attitude that then goes into the ensuing performance. Other highlights include the Grammy nominated set closer ‘Redemption’ as well as the newer track ‘War’ which hammers away at a relentless pace.
Additionally; there are bonus features, which include four more live videos for ‘The Light That Blind,’ ‘Redemption,’ ‘Venous’ and ‘Thoughts Without Words,’ from Japan, The Philippines and Korea respectively, although the quality obviously isn’t as high as the main feature.
The sound and mix are great, so judging the product overall; the only real problems with the DVD apart from the previous mentioned visuals are subjective problems with Shadows Fall in general. If for example, you think their material is samey then sixteen tracks in a row may be a bit much for you, and similarly if you are used to their super-polished studio sound, then the live backing vocals or clean sections may well sound odd or strangely out of place.
Otherwise however, Madness In Manilla is a very good release from Shadows Fall that I would definitely recommend to fans. Due to its high sound quality and expansive setlist, it would make a fine introduction to the band for newcomers as well.
