PHASE 1: THE
90’S
In the beginning, there was metal. Then hardcore kids listened to Sepultura, Slayer, Pantera, and Prong, and metalcore was born. I grew up on the West Coast, and back then all the leading metalcore bands like Undertow, Unbroken, and Struggle/Swing Kids/etc. were on Morrisey’s dick in a serious way. I’m not really sure where it came from, but they had greasy pompadours like him, screamed forlorn lyrics about how their pussies hurt because some girl dumped them, combined that with riffs they stole from late-period Carcass, and laid the foundation for the legions of ghey, self-indulgent metalcore bands to come. While they may have acted like rockstars, they still played VFW halls and basement shows to audiences that rarely numbered over 50.
While not as frequently discussed these days, the
so-called “noisecore” bands of the 90s were perhaps an even more direct
influence on today’s metalcore artists. Rorschach and their descendants Deadguy
were perhaps the first band to put a discordant take on the post-Slayer metalcore
formula, and once the mosher kids caught wind of it, scores of imitators
followed: Nineironspitfire, Botch, Coalesce, Converge, Acme, and so forth.
Noteworthy
developments
·
Sarcastic,
witty song titles (e.g., Coalesce ,”On Being A Bastard”)
·
Fancy hair
·
Singing
about girls
·
Discordant,
angular riffing paired with tortured screaming
·
Hardcore
kids stealing riffs from past-their-prime metal bands
·
Tooth &
Nail starts putting out Christian metalcore records
PHASE 2: THE
00’s
Much like scientists cannot pinpoint the exact moment at which the first lungfish walked on land, it is difficult to highlight any one artist, album, or tour that gave birth to metalcore/screamo as we know it, but it’s clear that things changed at some point. Screaming vocals were no longer the exclusive domain of basement shows and DIY labels, but were a part of the mainstream TRL roster just like Xtina and Ursher.
At this point, the “noisecore” subgenre had reached
the ears of alternative Christians in b-level suburbs, spawning bands like
Training For Utopia and Scarlet who essentially picked up where Deadguy left
off, perhaps polishing it just a bit [via their parents buying them nice
equipment]. They were actually pretty damn good, but didn’t really catch on
since they were before their time by a few years. One of these bands was Norma
Jean, who are still around. While they’ve never even sniffed the success or
financial windfall of their many imitators, they are frequently cited as a
seminal band by Christian metalcore/screamo bands today.
Like many other scholars, I believe the “missing link”
is the cohort of bands that includes Thursday, Hawthorne Heights, Taking Back
Sunday, The Used, and Saves The Day. Much like Nirvana and Pearl Jam before
them, the jerks in these bands knew a thing or two about legitimate
hardcore/metalcore, but created music that became popular with
mainstreamers/new jacks who were in turn inspired to create several generations
of soulless, derivative bullshit that resembled real hardcore enough to be
annoying, but not enough to actually be good. A second wave of even worse
screamo/metalcore bands followed them up, including notorious shit-merchants
like Chiodos, From First To Last, and Aiden. At least they weren’t Christian.
Noteworthy
developments
·
Bands with
screaming become popular with mainstreamers
·
Christians
discover metalcore
·
The
internet/MySpace
·
Tooth &
Nail gets even bigger; starts metalcore imprint called Solid State
PHASE 3: THE
2K10’s
Which brings us to today: you can’t go ten feet without seeing a kid with swoopy hair, skinny jeans, DC high tops and a Bring Me The Horizon shirt, metalcore shows are full of popular, blonde mainstreamer girls, and it’s completely OK for “hardcore” kids to be Christian. Underoath and TDWP sell literally millions of albums and probably even more merch, making screaming vocals and breakdowns the second most lucrative musical vocabulary after Southern rap (and inspiring bands like Attack Attack! to combine the two).
It is well-known that I hate many legendary bands like
Iron Maiden and Metallica, so I could give a fuck about “honoring your elders.”
I’m just saying it’s weird to step through time like this. For this old man,
who once combed the classified ads in Maximum Rock N Roll, studied every
word in Metal Maniacs/Pit/Terrorizer, and traveled
hundreds of miles on a Greyhound bus to see Darkest Hour play Gothenburg-style
metalcore to twenty-five people in a rented hall, it’s hard to imagine how we
got here from there. I didn’t go to shows until 1989, and I’m sure the old guys
who were there in the 70s said the same things about me and my generation, but
I can’t help but shake my head in amazement.
As Axl and Vince pointed out in a previous post, I’m
sure 99% of these bands have no idea that they’re stealing riffs from Unbroken,
Deadguy, At The Gates, and Carcass. They’re just copying Norma Jean, As I Lay
Dying and Chiodos, who were copying Thursday, The Used and Aiden. Which is all
fine, because all art references that which came before it– the part that I
miss is the DIY ethic that was such an integral part of the 90s
metalcore/screamo scene. Also, less phony Christians.
Notable
developments
·
Nearly all
screamo/metalcore bands are Christian
·
Rise Records
is the new Tooth & Nail
·
Oldest
member of The Devil Wears Prada was born in 1989, has never heard of DRI
·
Keith from
Deadguy fights the urge to throw himself on a sword when his kids listen to
Attack Attack
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/06/07/the-history-of-metalcorescreamo/
