Metalcore

Metalcore is a broad fusion genre of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is an amalgam of the names of the two genres, distinguished by its emphasis on breakdowns,[1] which are slow, intense passages that are conducive to moshing.[1] Pioneering metalcore bands—such as Hogan's Heroes,[2][3] Earth Crisis, and Integrity[3][4]—are described to lean more toward hardcore, whereas later bands—such as Killswitch Engage, Bullet for My Valentine, Underoath, All That Remains, Trivium, As I Lay Dying, Parkway Drive, The Devil Wears Prada and Bury Tomorrow—are described to lean more towards metal.[5] Sepultura, who have been said to have "helped to lay the groundwork" in the 2000s,[6] and Pantera,[7] who influenced Trivium, Atreyu, Bleeding Through and Unearth, have been particularly influential to the further development of metalcore in the 2000s.

History

Precursors

Main articles: Hardcore punk and Crossover thrash
Hogan's Heroes are a pioneering metalcore band formed in 1984.

Black Flag[8] and Bad Brains,[9] among the originators of hardcore, admired and emulated Black Sabbath. British street punk groups such as Discharge and The Exploited also took inspiration from heavy metal.[10] The Misfits put out the Earth A.D. album, becoming a crucial influence on thrash.[11] Nonetheless, punk and metal cultures and music remained fairly separate through the first half of the 1980s. Cross-pollination between metal and hardcore eventually birthed the crossover thrash scene, which gestated at a Berkeley club called Ruthie's, in 1984.[12] The term "metalcore" was originally used to refer to these crossover groups.[13] Hardcore punk groups Corrosion of Conformity,[14] Dirty Rotten Imbeciles and Suicidal Tendencies[15] played alongside thrash metal groups like Metallica and Slayer. This scene influenced the skinhead wing of New York hardcore, which also began in 1984, and included groups such as Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, Agnostic Front[16] and Warzone.[17] The Cro-Mags were among the most influential of these bands, drawing equally from Bad Brains, Motörhead and Black Sabbath.[18] Cro-Mags also embraced straight edge and Krishna consciousness.[19] Other New York metal-influenced straight edge groups include Crumbsuckers who formed in 1982. In 1984 Hogan's Heroes were formed in New Jersey. 1985 saw the development of the hardcore breakdown, an amalgamation of Bad Brains' reggae and metal backgrounds,[20] which encouraged moshing. Agnostic Front's 1986 album Cause for Alarm, a collaboration with Peter Steele, was a watershed in the intertwining of hardcore and metal.[21] During this time, thrash metal groups began to borrow a great deal from hardcore punk, and in 1987 Metallica paid tribute to Discharge and Misfits.[22]

Metallic hardcore (1990s)

Between 1984 and 1995, a new wave of hardcore bands emerged.[5] These included Hogan's Heroes,[23][24] Merauder, All Out War,[25] Integrity,[26] Biohazard, Hoods, Earth Crisis,[26][27] Converge,[27] Shai Hulud,[28][29][30] Starkweather, Judge,[27] Strife,[26] Rorschach,[31] Vision of Disorder[31] and Hatebreed.[26][31]

Hogan's Heroes drew influence primarily from hardcore bands such as Government Issue, Bad Brains and Misfits, combining it with elements of NWOBHM as well as the extreme metal bands such as Venom.[32] Integrity drew influence from the hardcore band G.I.S.M., thrash metal band Slayer, with others like Septic Death, Samhain, Motörhead and Joy Division.[33] Earth Crisis, Converge and Hatebreed[34] borrowed from hardcore punk and death metal.[35] Earth Crisis's 1995 album Destroy the Machines was particularly influential to the development of the genre.[36] In guitarist Scott Crouse's words; "It was a very mixed reaction. I'm often quoted as saying that Earth Crisis was the first hardcore band with a metal sound. Of course we weren't the first, but I think we definitely took it to another level. We heard a lot of, 'These guys are trying to be Pantera,' which we all took as a great compliment!"[36]

Biohazard, Coalesce and Overcast were also important early metallic hardcore groups.[37][38] Journalist Lars Gotrich wrote, "Along with key records by The Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch, Give Them Rope (1997) is an underground milestone that helped pioneer what was soon called 'metalcore'. At the risk of sounding too reductive — metalcore was the natural progression where extreme metal and hardcore met, but with spiraling time signatures that somehow felt more aggressive."[39] Shai Hulud's 1997 album Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion became especially influential in the latter part of the decade.[28][29][30]

Commercial success (2000s to present)

Killswitch Engage are considered one of the breakthrough bands to bring metalcore to the spotlight.

In the early 2000s, metalcore started to gain more prominence, with several independent metal labels, including Century Media and Metal Blade, signing metalcore bands. A new subgenre, melodic metalcore, strongly influenced by Swedish melodic death metal, has formed and quickly came to the forefront of metalcore's rise to popularity. By 2004, Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache,[40] Shadows Fall's The War Within,[41] and Atreyu's The Curse debuted at numbers 21, 20, and 36, respectively, on the Billboard album chart. Also, in 2006, Atreyu's third studio album, A Death-Grip on Yesterday debuted at Number 9 on the Billboard 200, only to followed up by 2007's Lead Sails Paper Anchor, which debuted at Number 8. All That Remains' single "Two Weeks" peaked at number 9 at the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. The song peaked on the Modern Rock Tracks chart at number 38. In 2007, the songs "Nothing Left" by As I Lay Dying and "Redemption" by Shadows Fall were nominated for a Grammy award in the "Best Metal Performance" category. An Ocean Between Us (the album that included "Nothing Left") itself was a commercial success, debuting at number 8 on the "Billboard 200".

Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine's second album, Scream Aim Fire, went straight to number 4 on the Billboard 200,[42] which was later surpassed in 2010 by their third album Fever, which debuted at number 3 selling more than 71,000 copies in its first week in the United States and more than 21,000 in the United Kingdom. Underoath's fifth album Define the Great Line, released in 2006, peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 98,000 copies in its first week.[43]

The Devil Wears Prada have achieved much commercial success with their album, With Roots Above and Branches Below, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200 upon its release.[44] Trivium have met with very strong success, making the top 25 positions on charts in several countries, including the United States, and top 10 positions in both Australia and the United Kingdom (where it even achieved Gold status). Hatebreed, God Forbid, and As I Lay Dying have also charted.[45][46][47]

Underoath's album Lost in the Sound of Separation reached number 8 on the Billboard 200 and sold 56,000 copies in its first week of sales in the United States alone,[48] with Killswitch Engage's self-titled fifth album reaching number 7 on the same chart and selling 58,000 copies.[49] The album Reckless & Relentless by British band Asking Alexandria (which sold 31,000 copies in its first week), and the 2011 album Dead Throne by The Devil Wears Prada (which sold 32,400 in its first week)[50] reached up to number 9 and 10,[51] respectively, on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 2013, British band Bring Me the Horizon released their fourth studio album Sempiternal to critical acclaim. The album debuted at #3 on the UK Album Chart and at #1 in Australia. The album sold 27,522 copies in the US, and charted at #11 on the US Billboard Chart, making it their highest charting release in America.

Characteristics

Vocals

The vocal technique of metalcore usually employs screamed vocals, common among many 1990s metalcore groups. Today, a significant number metalcore bands combine this with the use of clean vocals usually during the bridge or chorus of a song. The death growl technique is also sometimes used.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation of metalcore includes heavy guitar riffs, double bass drumming, and breakdowns. Drop guitar tunings are often used. Most bands use Drop D, Drop C#, Drop C, Drop B, and occasionally Drop A#. Drummers typically use a lot of double bass technique and general drumming styles across the board. Blast beats are also heard at times.

Ideologies

Metalcore emerged from the subcultures of heavy metal and hardcore punk. Although some metalcore groups, such as Hogan's Heroes in their early years, have adhered to abstinence from alcohol and other drugs (typical of the straight edge movement), other prominent ones such as Integrity and Asking Alexandria have not.[5] Converge have lyrically focused on personal anguish and experiences of failed romantic love.[52][53] There has been a significant number of Christian metalcore bands, building on the genres of Christian metal and Christian hardcore; bands with Christian members include Zao,[54] Haste the Day, The Devil Wears Prada, Norma Jean, August Burns Red, Texas in July, Oh, Sleeper and Underoath.[55][56]

Subgenres

Melodic metalcore

Main article: Melodic metalcore

The early 2000s included a wave of metalcore bands who placed significantly greater emphasis on melody. These bands tend to fuse melodic death metal and hardcore punk.[57]

Melodic metalcore bands include Killswitch Engage. As I Lay Dying, Trivium, Dead by April,[58] All That Remains,[59] Atreyu,[57][60][61] Bullet for My Valentine,[62] Bury Tomorrow,[63] Darkest Hour,[60] Shadows Fall, and August Burns Red.[64][65][66] These groups took major influence, cues, and writing styles from Swedish melodic death metal bands, particularly At the Gates,[60] Arch Enemy, In Flames and Soilwork.[67] Melodic metalcore often makes use of clean vocals.[68][69]

Mathcore

Main article: Mathcore

Mathcore began with the mid-'90s work of Converge,[70] Botch[71][72] and The Dillinger Escape Plan.[73] The term mathcore is meant to suggest an analogy with math rock. Mathcore is characterized by increased speed, technical riffing, and unusual time signatures.[74][75] Bands such as Fear Before also combine the metalcore sound with odd time signatures, as well as progressive elements.[76]

Deathcore

Main article: Deathcore

Deathcore is a fusion of metalcore and death metal.[77][78][79] Deathcore is defined by breakdowns, blast beats and death metal riffs.[80][81] Bands may also incorporate guitar solos and even riffs that are influenced by metalcore.[77] New York-based death metal group Suffocation is credited as one of the main influences for the emergence of deathcore.[82] Some examples of deathcore bands are Suicide Silence,[83] Whitechapel,[83] Knights of the Abyss,[84] Carnifex[83] and Chelsea Grin.[85]

See also

References

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  2. 1948-1999 Muze, Inc. Hogan's Heroes. "Pop Artists Beginning with 'Hod'", Phonolog, 1999, p. 1. No. 7-278B Section 207.
  3. 3.0 3.1 HXC Revolution. "History of HC". 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2012-03-18. Judge, Integrity and Hogan's Heroes were some of the earliest bands to bring this level of intensity to hardcore—an amalgamation of deep, hoarse vocals (though rarely as deep or guttural as death metal); downtuned guitars and thrashy drum rhythms inspired by earlier hardcore bands; and slow staccato low-end breaks, known as breakdowns. Thrash metal and melodic death metal elements are also common in metalcore.
  4. "Shai Hulud, interview with Punknews.org – 05/28/08". Retrieved 2008-09-21. As far as coining the term 'metalcore' or coining a sound, I don't think we did. There were bands before Shai Hulud started that my friends and I were referring to as 'metalcore'. Bands like Burn, Deadguy, Earth Crisis, even Integrity. These bands that were heavier than the average hardcore bands. These bands that were more progressive than the average hardcore band. My friends and I would always refer to them as 'metalcore' because it wasn't purely hardcore and it wasn't purely metal. It was like a heavier hardcore band with hardcore ethics and attitude but clearly a metal influence. So we would joke around and say 'Hey, it's metalcore. Cool!' But it was definitely a tongue-in-cheek term.
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    • McClard, Kent. Hogan's Heroes |quote="Hogan's Heroes is a four piece that plays a speedy type of clean metallic guitar orientated hardcore.Their approach is unique and up-beat. Attitude wise, they are right on. Built To Last is more than an acetylene burst of energy. It is a positive affirmation of the greatness of the alternative hardcore scene.". No Answers, November 1988, p. 13, 14, 15, 16.
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  28. 30.0 30.1 "In at the Deep End Records". Regardless of whether or not you liked Shai Hulud, it is undeniable that Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion was an oft-imitated and highly influential release in the mid-to-late nineties.
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  57. "Taste of Chaos", Revolver, June 2008, p. 110. "This is the Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour, a night when heavier melodic-metalcore bands like Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold intend to position themselves as the next generation of bands to actually pack arenas (...)".
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  74. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Heaven Shall Burn". Allmusic. Retrieved May 31, 2008. Munich, Germany's Heaven Shall Burn specialize in highly controversial and politicized death metal fused with hardcore; a hybrid style often referred to as death-core.
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Bibliography