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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 and death metal.
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 · 2021 ·
Mathcore
siLLy puPPy
Mathcore is one of the ultimate extreme expressions of the metal universe by incorporating caustic jackhammer musical deliveries and fortifying them with brutal prog time signatures, unrelenting random breakdowns and dungeon torture vocals that must surely have torn a few lead vocalists throats to shreds. While an interesting subsection at the metal supermarket, mathcore also has the unfortunate attribute of possibly becoming very sterile and one-dimensional as a pummeling sonic haze sort of passes the listener by like an exploding warehouse of stored fireworks with everything happening to fast for the casual listener to comprehend.
That’s part of the appeal for me actually is that this style of music demands that you fixate your attention upon it like a pileup of motor vehicles in a bloody accident on the freeway. While it seems the supply of mathcore bands is endless, it’s actually one of the lesser roads travelled in the metal world due to the stamina and technical prowess required to perform such virtuosic wankery as well as the fact that this isn’t the biggest money maker in the world of music by attracting only the most hardcore and extreme noise addicts out there. True that this is not music i would play nonstop lest i lose my sanity however it certainly is a challenging and explosive type of cacophony that gets my juices flowing. Sort of like swallowing a whole bottle of niacin pills!
FRONTIERER is one of many mathcore bands out there these days. This band comes from Edinburgh, Scotland and formed in 2011. The band released its debut EP “The Collapse” in 2013 and then followed with two albums “Orange Mathematics” and Unloved” in 2015 and 2018. While following the standards of loud, abrasive djent fueled guitar riffing at mathcore speeds, FRONTIERER has pretty much remained a true underground noise making act that has caught on fire. Things have changed a bit with the band’s third album OXIDIZED released on Oct 1, 2021. While retaining all those mathcore elements that delivery orotund bombast and angst fueled complexities into a tapestry of dissonance, abstractness and surreality, FRONTIERER takes the genre into a slightly different arena than its competition.
Heavy as ever, OXIDIZE has corralled the frenetic loose electric wire in water effect randomness of many a mathcore band and created a more dare i say “mature” package of sixteen tracks that collectively blast the eardrums with over 49 minutes of uncompromising extreme core metal fury. What’s different about OXIDIZE from most it that it doesn’t mellow out the speed and agression to add all the other elements like bands like Converge and Botch have done. Rather it employs a form of glitch electronica to offer an equally chaotic electronic counterpoint as well as offering a few moments of melodic recesses from the otherwise manic madness that is unrelenting. Even within the most technically demanding speedcore meltdowns there are more variations in riffing styles, rhythmic drives and breakdowns.
Add to that there are even moments of downtempo with sort of rapped vocals. In many ways FRONTIERER has followed Between The Buried And Me with its lauded album “Colors” and simply adds more textures and timbres to an otherwise bleak core soundscape. While the general delivery is indeed like a nuclear bomb detonated on an unsuspecting city, the key moments of melodic touches and electronic extras provide just the perfect recipe to smooth things over enough to sweeten the bitter poison but make no mistake about it, FRONTIERER do not skimp on the extremities that make mathcore so violently repugnant to even most hardened metalheads. These guitar riffs sounds like they’re juggling electrons while the machine-gun rapid-fire blastbeats exhibit irregular but discernible carnage.
Oh yeah! The glitch electronica may sounds like a bad idea but it is used sparingly and as an equivalent to making an “ambient” accompaniment. In other words it’s an angry and equally chaotic counterpoint to the chaotic apocalyptic soundscape of a sonic battle in full force but given these extra sounds makes it sound more futuristic than most music in the core section of the metal supermarket. Thing of Car Bomb with The Prodigy and you’re on the right track. Fiery fueled mathcore with a futuristic touch and lead singer dude sounds a bit like a more manic version of Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de la Rocha at times! I like!
Album · 2021 ·
Deathcore
Necrotica
Back in a 2010 interview with Noisecreep, when asked about being part of the deathcore scene, Carnifex vocalist Scott Lewis stated: "We're not one of those bands trying to escape the banner of deathcore. I know a lot of bands try and act like they have a big problem with that, but if you listen to their music, they are very 'deathcore.'” And that mentality has been incredibly important to the Carnifex sound over the years. Many bands have tried to escape deathcore’s large, infamous shadow to seek what a large constituent of the metal scene would consider more “respectable” genres of extreme music. Just think back to Job for a Cowboy’s eventual transformation into a progressive death metal act with Sun Eater, or Whitechapel’s excursion into more experimental territory with 2019’s The Valley. But Carnifex are a bit different. While they’ve added a nice helping of black metal influence and a menacing atmosphere to their music over the years, there’s something to be said for a group that stays in the same genre and tries to perfect it as much as they can.
With Graveside Confessions, this trend most certainly continues. While the lack of Jordan Lockrey’s solos continues to be felt, Cory Arford’s relatively diverse guitar leads fill in the cracks nicely. Something that immediately stands out about this record compared to past Carnifex albums is that the transitions are starting to become much smoother, whether it be the seamless fusion of melodic and groovy segments that make up “Carry Us Away” or the way the beautifully melancholic instrumental “January Nights” is followed up perfectly by the furious aggression of “Cemetery Wander”. The black metal elements are also on full display on Graveside Confessions, and they remain a welcome presence. “Countess of Perpetual Torment” (which already sounds like a Cradle of Filth song title as it is) is probably the biggest example of such, even combining its tremolo guitar riffs with a nice backdrop of symphonic keyboards to increase the spookiness factor.
But again, the band still haven’t strayed away from the beaten deathcore path they’ve trodden since their inception; instead, it’s all about the little tweaks they’ve made to their sound over time. Even the breakdowns themselves have become much more creative; while the end of “Cursed” sports a pretty simple chug, the strange out-of-tune guitar lead in the background immediately provides a more intriguing and haunted feel to the outro as a whole. Then you have “Talk to the Dead”, which has a recurring melodic riff that’s presented in different ways throughout the tune. It starts out in a black metal-influenced tremolo-picked manner, only for Arford to eventually fashion a harmonized guitar outro with the same melody. Little bits of diversity like this are what often separate Carnifex from the deathcore pack, and perhaps the best song to represent this would be the instrumental track “January Nights”. It’s worth noting that the band have already done a song like this before, with “Dead in My Eyes” and “Life Fades to a Funeral” immediately coming to mind. However, “January Nights” is like the culmination of their efforts with those tracks; this is the first time they’ve attempted a full-length non-interlude piece in this style, and it’s a fantastic way to break up the aggression the rest of the album exhibits.
Still, not all is perfect. I’m a bit baffled as to why the re-recorded songs weren’t just released as bonus tracks. Sure, it’s cool to hear these old Carnifex songs in a new light - and with better production, of course - just to see how far they’ve come. However, if you’re trying to listen to Graveside Confessions from front to back, just be aware that this one’s much more of a time sink than the band’s previous records because of these re-recorded cuts. Also, as is the case with just about every Carnifex album, the lyrics are still pretty damn shaky. Random f-bombs are still scattered about to remove the listener from a given song’s atmosphere, and stuff like “One of these souls has a shelf life/that fucker wanted me dead by 25/and every day since I’ve been restless/I know it’s just a matter of time” (from “Seven Souls”) is just as cringy as it’s ever been. Unfortunately, given the lack of progression found in the quality of Carnifex’s lyrics, I somehow doubt they’ll get much better in the future.
Regardless, Graveside Confessions stands as one of the band’s best works to date alongside Slow Death and Until I Feel Nothing. I feel as though they’ve finally settled into a pattern now, in the sense that you usually know what you’re going to get with a Carnifex record but it’s guaranteed to be a cut above your average deathcore act. They know what they’re about, and they’ll continue to strive for the best version of themselves with each passing release. Much like Cannibal Corpse before them, there’s a consistency in Carnifex’s output that’s admirable whether you enjoy their work or not; their brand is a reliable seal of quality, and Graveside Confessions is yet another feather in their cap.
EP · 2021 ·
Deathcore
Vim Fuego
The whole idea of “Beyond Deviation 400” is a mad arsed thing at first sight. It’s a 37 minute deathcore track created by Canadian band Beyond Deviation. In making this epic track, the band pulled in favours from a few friends. Actually, make that a LOT of friends. About 400 friends. See, the 400 in “Beyond Deviation 400” indicates the number of vocalists on this song, which set a new world record for the most solo vocalists on a single track.
Now, deathcore isn’t to everyone’s tastes. A lot of death metal fans treat it like that annoying cousin who wants to borrow your Dying Fetus vinyls, and then scratches them. Yes, well intentioned, but an embarrassment to have around. A lot of gatekeepers and elitists go even further in their disdain for the genre, declaring it “not metal!” Why? Er… hardcore-style breakdowns? Nu-metal style downtuning? Daring to not be straightjacketed by what has come before? Who the fuck can tell. This matters not to the legions of deathcore fans the world over, who just get on with it and create their own glorious noise. And apparently Beyond Deviation play a variety of deathcore called downtempo.
So... 400 vocalists and 37 minutes of downtempo deathcore. What sort of sound do you get? It’s pretty obvious it’s not gonna be bright and breezy uplifting pop music. Nope, you get guttural, bowel-churning doom/death/sludge that’s mostly played on the big fat low strings rather than the twiddly, squeaky high ones. It’s mostly what would be considered breakdowns, except breakdowns are usually brief interludes in a song where the band kicks things into low gear, rather than being the majority of the song like they are here. One of the great benefits of playing so slowly is that it makes the overall sound absolutely fucking massive.
And if there's 400 vocalists, there must be lyrics, right? Yes, there are, and rather a lot of them. They cover weighty philosophical topics like life and existence, reality versus insanity, strength versus weakness, etcetera, etcetera, but are any of them understandable without a lyric sheet? No, not really. And it doesn’t matter. That’s not the point. The voice is an instrument here, a bestial, violent, aggressive roar of an instrument. And despite what you might think, there’s still range for variety in the vocals. It’s hard to tell where one person ends and the next starts, but the grunt/growl/screech flows surprisingly well through this lumbering hulk of a song.
Some metal purists will fucking hate this, but it’s not made for them. This is made for the fans, and by the fans. It also might appeal to the more open-minded and adventurous listeners of funeral doom, doom/death, atmospheric sludge, depressive black metal, or even just the plain curious. This ambitious and slightly crazed project united musicians the world over at a time when it would be easy to feel isolated and alone, and created quite the buzz in a number of extreme music scenes.
Congratulations on the world record Beyond Deviation, and more power to you for conceiving, composing, and executing such a monumental work of dark and deeply satisfying art.
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.