My Problem With Metalcore

[Alex]

Over the past ten years (give or take) Metalcore has become a big genre in rock music. It's influence's derive from thrash and groove metal as well as hardcore punk. These are genres that I enjoy listening to, however the fusion that metalcore has tried to do I don't quite go for and here's why.

1. The Vocals

This is my main gripe and for lack of a better term they're shit. The majority of the vocals are screamo, now that's not neccesarilly a bad thing bands such as Pantera, Refused, Black Flag and others had done it before. But what I find metalcore vocalists seem to forget is that these bands the vocalist could actually sing (Phil Anselmo-Pantera) or at least keep a rhythm going with their voice (Henry Rollins, etc) I don't hear that with metalcore vocalists. Yeah some bands have clean vocalists as well, but their parts are to small and far between for me to actually get into them.

2. They seem to be trying to hard

Now I'm not saying that metalcore bands don't have genuine emotons toward certain things, but I feel they try to hard to convey it. This ties back into the vocals a bit the screamo stuff conveys anger and similar emotions I get that, but they seem to do it when there's no need, less is more and most of these bands don't get that.


Thats not to say I don't like any metalcore bands I like a few (very few) but the vast majority I can't get behind.

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These bands have vocalists that can actually carry a tune and the screamo stuff is done in small doses which I like.

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

I am not a huge fan of Metal-core but I guess I can get into some bands. I like new Bury Your Dead, Hatebreed, KSE, Heaven Shall Burn, Bleeding Through, and some As I Lay Dying. I know, you're probably saying Hatebreed and Bury Your Dead are more Hardcore than metal-core. Yes, both bands early work to me is more hardcore then nowadays. Now, both bands seemed to travel down the metal side of the music play whilst keeping their hardcore vocals sound. Bleeding Through is possibly my favorite metal-core band out there today. I know they aren't true metal-core, but that is why I enjoy them. I really don't have too many issues with metal-core since I don't know too many bands from the genre itself.

To me, the most metal-core I can say I listen to is All That Remains (older stuff), KSE, BYD, Hatebreed and Bleeding Through. As for the rest, I will agree that the vocals kill the music.

I also don't know how you labeled Pantera to be metalcore that made me scratch my head. To me, they are just the 'Kings of Heavy Fucking Metal'.

The genre I have the biggest issue with is Grind-core and Hardcore death. I don't understand grind-core at all. It is nothing but break-down after break-down. Why, what the hell is the point of it?

 

[DethMetal]

I shall use this opportunity to express my disdain for metalcore.

There are so many things that I would rather listen to than Metalcore. With me being a metal fan, I simply cannot settle for bands such as "As I Lay Dying" or "Suicide Silence". It's like Metal-Lite or I Can't Believe it's Not Metal. The vocals are one of the bigger problems for me. Most heavy metal singers can carry a tune and have a pitch, while most metalcore singers cannot and do not. Most vocalists do nothing but scream, and when they do clean vocals, it sounds whiney and nasally. Another problem I have with the fabric of metalcore is the breakdowns. It's nothing but palm-muted, repetitive, boring picking of two open strings. A sweet solo could perhaps go where a breakdown is, but it never does. In short, I say that metalcore is bland and forgettable music. It kind of sucks that bands like "Bring Me the Horizon" seem to be so loud in the genre and bands likes "Kng of Asgard" or "Barren Earth" aren't.

And Pantera is way better than any metalcore band.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

I thought Phil Anselmo's Superjoint Ritual was on the right track to fusing Hardcore & Metal.

Last I seen them was in San Antonio in 2004. Phil said they were working on an album that would fuse the two genres like never before.

A couple of months later Dime was killed, and we never heard from Superjoint again for some reason.

 

[Alex]

Just to clarify the reason I mentioned Pantera is because Phil Anselmo would shout most of the vocals on the later albums (Far Beyond Driven etc) but what metalcore bands who cite Pantera as an influence forget is that Anselmo could carry a tune as well as actually sing (see Cemetery Gates)

I really feel that if the vocalists actually at least learned to keep a tune I wouldn't hate it as much. Heck my friend and I were thinking of forming a band, he wanted to do a metalcore band, me not so much. I tried going for some middle ground, showing him some Pantera and Alice In Chains vocals. His response was he couldn't do that because he couldn't sing. This pretty much sums up how bad metalcore vocalists are, they're guys who just get a mic and scream down it with no sense of rhythm or tune.

 

[Eyrothath]

I don't understand, I listen to metal and all those bands seemed like something generic.. I agree with you though, it's just I do not know how to tell if something is metalcore or not..

Is any this metalcore?

Ensiferum - Eternal Wait
Svartby - Sleepy Devils
Eluveitie - Gray Sublime Archon
Týr - Fields Of The Fallen
Falconer - Clarion Call
Amorphis - You I Need
Skiltron - Bagpipes of War
Drakum - Around the Oak
Spellblast - Ragnarok
Mind Key - The Seventh Seal
Orden Ogan - We Are Pirates
Ceremonial Perfection - Tomorrow Of Today
Damnation Angels - Pride

 

[Sinister Shadows]

I thought Phil Anselmo's Superjoint Ritual was on the right track to fusing Hardcore & Metal.

Last I seen them was in San Antonio in 2004. Phil said they were working on an album that would fuse the two genres like never before.

A couple of months later Dime was killed, and we never heard from Superjoint again for some reason.

Superjoint Ritual broke up because Phil Anselmo had problems with some of the other people involved with the band (From an interview with Hank Williams 3, their drummer) Hank 3 and Phil Anselmo are now in a band together called Arson Anthem, though Anselmo doesn't do the vocals for the band. I think the exact quote from Hank 3 about the break up of Superjoint was "Someone tried to boss the boss and it caused things to implode"

 

[DethMetal]

I don't understand, I listen to metal and all those bands seemed like something generic.. I agree with you though, it's just I do not know how to tell if something is metalcore or not..

Is any this metalcore?

Ensiferum - Eternal Wait
Svartby - Sleepy Devils
Eluveitie - Gray Sublime Archon
Týr - Fields Of The Fallen
Falconer - Clarion Call
Amorphis - You I Need
Skiltron - Bagpipes of War
Drakum - Around the Oak
Spellblast - Ragnarok
Mind Key - The Seventh Seal
Orden Ogan - We Are Pirates
Ceremonial Perfection - Tomorrow Of Today
Damnation Angels - Pride

Nope, far from it my friend. The bands you just listed are all folk or power metal (except for Amorphis). That=good.

This kind of crap is metalcore:

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[Eyrothath]

Well I didn't like that as I Lay Dying song so I must be listening to the right music then!

On a second note; Blessed By A Broken Heart kind of sounds like a mix of metalcore with 80's influence..

I kinda get the idea of metalcore now, it's like crossover thrash and youth crew type stuff (hardcore punk, straight edge) and melodic hardcore, with some very weak death metal vocals put in here and there..

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This is probably the better stuff, but still, I have a name for it.. Generic metal..

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

Well I didn't like that as I Lay Dying song so I must be listening to the right music then!

On a second note; Blessed By A Broken Heart kind of sounds like a mix of metalcore with 80's influence..

I kinda get the idea of metalcore now, it's like crossover thrash and youth crew type stuff (hardcore punk, straight edge) and melodic hardcore, with some very weak death metal vocals put in here and there..

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This is probably the better stuff, but still, I have a name for it.. Generic metal..

Trivium isn't metalcore even though they do get labeled as metalcore. To me Trivium is Thrash/Metal/Death. They have a very different type of sound which makes them one of my favorite bands to date.

AILD, is metalcore and yeah, they aren't anything good. I wished that the bassist would sing more as it would make them a little bit more tolerant to me.

Metalcore is a genere that is a work in progress. Me personally, I listen to anything that sounds good to my ears, whether people like it or not means nothing to me. Enjoy what you enjoy ya know.

 

[Eyrothath]

To me it just sounds very similar to the Melodic Death Metal scene in Sweden only Americanized, it's got more of a hardcore punk influence..

If you haven't any any melo-death metal from Sweden, there is a lot of similarities and groups from Sweden who tour here will often tour with Metalcore bands..

In Flames - Colony

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Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama

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Dark Tranquility - Monochromatic Stains

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Arch Enemy - Revolution Begins

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As you can hear, lots of similarities but I think the Swedish Death Metal is more influenced by Alternative music rather than thrash, it has especially evolved over the years (In Flames doesn't sound the same at all), instrumentally very melodic, I think the idea was Iron Maiden with death metal vocals, I could be wrong though..

Nu-Metal bands also have the alternative sound now (Slipknot, Disturbed, etc..) Have changed their sound dramatically.. And Five Finger Death Punch sort of just started out with that sound in mind...

Meanwhile, Raintime and Amaranthe both have progressive/power metal influences, with Death Metal vocals thrown in, they are even more melodic..

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Yeah, Amaranthe has a lot of pop influence, they use three singers, death growls and clean vocals (female singer who is hot as hell). They are ALSO from Sweden..

As far as the earliest Swedish stuff.. Yeah, it sounds miles apart.. In Flames earliest records (****acle, The Jester Race) was really something else, it was a grand experiment that succeeded, but it evolved, just like Nu-Metal in the United States did and now they are all playing a similar sound that is influenced by alternative rock, Slipknot has no signs of Death Metal while In Flames still does, however, both bands have an alternative metal feel.. I suspect we will see the same happen with Metalcore..

Finnish Melodic Death Metal is a different story altogether.. I bet any metalcore band could tell you though that In Flames would be one of their inspirations..