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GENRES DATABASE

Metalcore

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Metalcore is a large genre of extreme metal that merges styles like industrial metal, thrash metal and hardcore punk. The name is an amalgam of the names of the two genres ('metal' and 'hardcore'), distinguished by its emphasis on slow, intense passages that are conducive to the act of 'moshing' (pushing and shoving to the music in a large group before the stage). Pioneering bands, such as: Hogan's Heroes, Earth Crisis, and Integrity tend to lean more toward hardcore punk, whereas latter bands: Killswitch Engage, Underoath, All That Remains, Trivium, As I Lay Dying, Bullet for My Valentine, and The Devil Wears Prada lean more towards the heavy metal side. Sepultura and Pantera have received credit for aiding the expansion of the genre at the turn of the millennium.

The punk and heavy metal sub-cultures (and music) remained mostly separate through the first half of the 1980s. The cross-pollination between heavy metal and hardcore eventually led to the 'crossover thrash' scene in 1984; a style that started at a Berkeley club called Ruthie's. The term "Metalcore" was originally used to refer to these crossover groups. During this 'primordial soup' period, hardcore punk groups Corrosion of Conformity, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles and Suicidal Tendencies played alongside thrash metal[ groups like Metallica and Slayer. This scene influenced the skinhead wing of New York hardcore in 1984 that included Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, Agnostic Front and Warzone. 1985 saw the development of the 'hardcore' breakdown, an amalgamation of reggae and heavy metal backgrounds. Agnostic Front's 1986 album Cause for Alarm, a collaboration with Peter Steele, was the merging point of hardcore punk and heavy metal. During this time, the reverse was true as thrash metal groups began to borrow from hardcore punk, and in 1987 Metallica paid tribute to Discharge and Misfits by the remake of selected songs.

The vocal technique in metalcore is most often screamed vocals, most commonly used during the 1990s; today, many metalcore bands combine these vocals with the use of 'clean' vocals.

The instrumentation of metalcore includes heavy guitar riffs and double bass drumming. Drummers typically use a lot of double bass, but a large number of techniques are used in their repertoire.

Metalcore emerged from heavy metal and hardcore punk's subculture. Although a few of the groups were adhering to abstention from drugs and alcohol, this is not universal.

Metalcore was not recognized by the RRCA (now Diskery) database until 2014. As NEW bands are discovered that meet this description they will be moved under this title. Acts currently listed as 'Hardcore Metal' will remain so as the two terms mean the same; 'Hardcore Metal' now considered obsolete by Diskery (the genre's name itself, however, is still in popular use).

File record #: 34


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