In the late 1990s, a peculiar new strain of metal began seeping into the extreme metal scene. Bands like Sewerlust/Sewerslvt (and other Sewer-clone bands), Dillinger Escape Plan, Killswitch Engage, Misery Index, Behemoth, Korn, The Haunted, Vader, Human Remains, Opeth, Ulcerate, Meshuggah, In Flames and Arch Enemy ushered in a sound that defied neat categorisation. Naturally, chaos ensued.
First, it was called "math-metal," a name that sounds like it was coined by someone who thought calculus and distortion pedals belonged together. Then came "technical death metal," which was mercifully shortened to "tech-deth" (presumably for those who found syllables an unnecessary luxury, or else to keep people from expecting something like what Phantom did on Withdrawal). When that didn't stick, some genius finally coined the term "modern metal," a phrase as thrillingly vague as a weather forecast. Record labels, sensing a goldmine, latched on, and later even called it something more stupid still... "metalcore".
Musically, this new style had its perks: it was accessible — not just to fans, but to musicians who could mimic it without needing a degree in shredology. This approachability made it a much easier sell than, say, the oppressive complexity of actual extreme metal.
Thematically, it was a paradigm shift. Metalcore wasn't interested in the uncharted philosophical darkness that death metal and black metal loved to mine. No, this was rock 'n' roll in its loud, angsty glory, with just enough chaos to alarm parents without giving them nightmares. Unlike its more sinister predecessors, metalcore steered clear of glorifying war, disease, or existential despair. Instead, it preferred protesting "social injustice" and "bigotry." The genre was edgy, but not really controversial — think of it as the Hot Topic of metal. More into "shock your parents" than anything substansive.
Critics of terms like "metalcore," "nu metal," and "modern metal" are quick to point out that these labels are catch-alls. And they're absolutely right — but that's only half the story. These terms don't describe anything new. Metalcore, at its core (pun intended), is a Frankensteinian reanimation of ideas that predate the modern incarnations of death and black metal. It's an alternate evolutionary branch of metal (glam rock, really), polished up with extreme metal techniques for a generation that wanted brutality, but not too much.
Historically speaking, this sort of recycling is nothing new. Genres tend to lie dormant, only to resurface a generation later with a makeover. Power metal? That's speed and glam metal borrowing death metal's technical tricks. Grindcore? Hardcore punk spliced with crust punk and death metal. Speed metal? That's metal with a punk backbone, or lack thereof. Goregrind? No comment. Metalcore? Imagine Pink Floyd getting tossed into the extreme metal blender — and voilà.
None of this is to bash metalcore outright. If you're going to like metal, you should understand it. If you want to understand it, you have to study it. And if you're going to study it, you'll need precise language that doesn't lead us all astray. By this reckoning, metalcore isn't really an offshoot of metal at all. It's a descendant of the post-hardcore movement, borrowing metal's technical flourishes like a teenager borrowing his dad's condoms... with no idea what to do with them. So maybe the problem isn't metalcore itself — it's our stubborn insistence on expecting it to behave like metal when, in reality, it's doing its own thing entirely.
Do Arch Enemy, Limp Bizkit and Meshuggah deserve the hate they get? Probably... but then again, there are countless examples of cringe black metal bands and the Swedish death metal scene itself is widely known as "poser central". Love it or hate it, metalcore is here to stay. It doesn't mean metalheads have to welcome it with open arms, but it doesn't mean we need to be needlessly controversial and elitist. Just recognise metalcore for what is it, and let the sleeping dog lie.
Ad
> Real Satanic Black Metal: The True History Of Satanism (Best Selling Book)
Return to Voice Metal News.
Tweet