Deathcore: Who belongs and who does not?
Since its birth in the 80’s, the Death Metal genre has taken all kinds of turns and has branched out in several directions. In 2008 there are many different subcategories of the Death Metal genre. From Melodic Death to Technical Death, this loud and ferocious style that came from grungey bar basements in England and garages in Florida has evolved tremendously and given so many listening options to its legions of fans. However, one of these newer iterations has got “old school death metal” fans’ blood boiling. That style is Deathcore. The bastard child of the late 90’s - early 00’s tough guy, breakdown-laden Hardcore and fairly generic Death Metal. As of right now in the world of metal, Deathcore is the new craze for young, casual fans. These bands have taken the throne from other “Fuck You Metal” bands like Slipknot and now control their legion of pissed off fans age 16-27 (roughly). And of course, there are huge arguments all over the net about which bands get classified as Deathcore. Lets try to get to the bottom of this, shall we?
As I mentioned above, breakdown based Hardcore was one of the genres that lead to the creation of Deathcore. In fact, those breakdown bands are FAR more influential to Deathcore than actual Death Metal has ever been. Bands like Bury Your Dead and Death Before Dishonor paved the way for the Deathcore movement to explode. So who were the emerging bands that started this genre? The Acacia Strain, The Red Chord and Through The Eyes Of The Dead were three big names. At the time, people were calling them Hardcore bands. They aren’t now, and never have been Hardcore bands. So the world of metal looked back at the creation of the Metalcore genre and basically said “Ok so this has death metal growls but contemporary ‘Hardcore’ elements, lets just slap the name Deathcore on them.” Frankly, I think the Deathcore name is a misnomer and full of bands that don’t belong there. Of the three bands that emerged as the creators of Deathcore, all but one still belong there: The Red Chord. While they still toe that line every so often, their latest release has shown FAR more experimentation and expertise than anything released by those other two bands (The Acacia Strain and Through The Eyes Of The Dead). Another issue is that many new Death Metal bands are getting thrown into the the Deathcore genre because they are young and play a newer style of death metal that isn’t familiar to the old school ear. Here are a few and of course, my two cents attached.
Job For A Cowboy - The fact that people consider Job For A Cowboy to be Deathcore is preposterous. While many old school Death Metal fans may not like them, Job For A Cowboy is straight up Death Metal. While it may sound a bit different than Suffocation or Dying Fetus, its still Death Metal. I would guess that MOST JFAC haters are saying this because they have been picked to be the next Slipknot. Their t-shirts are at Hot Topic and any metalfest is loaded with high school aged kids with JFAC shirts on. Metalheads hate kids at shows and will hate the bands they like, just to say they do. I used to be that way and dislike this band a lot. But I took a step back and didn’t pay attention to that BS and find that I actually really enjoyed them. When it comes down to it, they have all of the elements of Death Metal and negligible Hardcore elements. If you don’t like JFAC, fine. But don’t just throw them into the Deathcore genre because you’re lazy and want to group them in with other bands that you don’t like.
The Faceless - Simply put, The Faceless are one of the best bands around today, period. Akeldama was a tremendous rookie release and Planetary Duality is a fantastic follow-up. Their technical prowess is unmatched by a band of their age and their song writing is impeccable. Just because they all don’t have long hair is no reason to hate them. If you like Technical Death Metal in the vein of Necrophagist, Spawn Of Possession and Psycroptic, The Faceless will be your new favorite band.
All Shall Perish - Ok, now we have an aberration: A so-called Deathcore band that got it right and sounds cool. All Shall Perish has found their niche and do what they do very well. While I am not a fan of music that is reliant on breakdowns, All Shall Perish mixes in varied vocals, impeccable guitar work and pretty badass breakdowns. Are they a Deathcore band? Because of the breakdowns, yes. Are they better than most other real Deathcore bands? Absolutely.
Animosity - Yet another technically proficient band that doesn’t rely on breakdowns that ultimately gets balled up in the Deathcore genre. I’ve seen this band three times now and they just keep getting better. They aren’t really pure Death Metal but they are closer to that than Metalcore or Hardcore. Think of them like Converge and a Death Metal band mixed together. I don’t know what you’d call it, but not Deathcore.
So you’re probably asking yourself, what bands are Deathcore then? Very simple:
Emmure, Vanna, Ligeia, Born Of Osiris, Despised Icon, With Blood Comes Cleansing, Through The Eyes Of The Dead, The Acacia Strain, Trap Them, White Chapel and many, many more.
Beyond categorizing this young genre and trying to get things straight, my main point of this article is to like what you like and not to just toss around what you don’t. Doing something like that is just a sign of laziness and disrespect. In recent weeks here on AMR there has been a discussion about liking/disliking a band for its fashion or look. You shouldn’t dislike a band for its look. While I think the guy in Five Finger Death Punch who wears the Kung-Fu garb looks retarded, thats no reason not to like them. However, 5FDP sucks musically and that’s why I don’t like them (just to clarify). Just because the Death Metal bands of 2008 may not have long hair and be hulking beasts, doesn’t have anything to do with the music at all and should not reflect on why you like or dislike them. But for many people out there, it does. And while I hope my little article here will open somebody’s eyes, I don’t see the trend changing and that is unfortunate.
Written by COLE
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Comments
Comment from Rob
Time: December 1, 2008, 4:38 pm
JFAC’s demo release was deathcore, and that’s why they’ve been labeled as such. I happen to like them too.
I like the way this is written. Deathcore doesn’t suck in and of itself. I think the reason most old-school death metal fans (of which I am one) don’t like deathcore is because of the scene that it entails. A lot of these bands dress emo-ish, and death metal doesn’t want to be associated with that.
I like deathcore, though, because I don’t pay attention to that. I like my music heavy and deathcore (among many other genres) fulfills that requirement.
Comment from cody
Time: December 1, 2008, 7:39 pm
Great write up man, and your description of what classifies deathcore is spot on, however, I do think Through the Eyes of the Dead are straight up melodic death metal (especially on Bloodlust) with a bit of a groove base and some breakdowns that just about all modern American death metal bands possess these days (including non-core bands). And unfortunately, after Hate.Malice.Revenge which is one of the best American death metal releases of the last 5 years, All Shall Perish has indeed perished into that which is considered deathcore. It’s amazing how creative a band can be from one era to another. I also couldn’t agree with you more in regards to The Faceless, truly a remarkable band.
Comment from coled24
Time: December 1, 2008, 11:53 pm
Yes, All Shall Perish has taken a bit of a step down but I still think it’s still fairly good. Their style is different and definitely deathcore, it still works well. It’s not the first thing I am reaching for but I still enjoy it.
Comment from coled24
Time: December 2, 2008, 1:41 am
Nate, I find it interesting that you prefer Genesis over Doom. While I do like both albums, Doom has Entombment Of A Machine (what I consider their best song) and Knee Deep (another one of their best songs). If anything Genesis draws out their sound a bit too much. And to clarify, I hope I haven’t come off as their number one fan. I do really enjoy JFAC but they aren’t blowing me away with their product. Its just solid and occasionally very catchy Death Metal. I think that Animosity is a FAR better band than JFAC purely because their writing is more varied and off the wall at times. At first Animosity seems fairly straight forward but on a second or third listen a subtle complexity comes through and really takes them to the next level .
Comment from Nate
Time: December 2, 2008, 12:48 pm
I wouldn’t say I prefer it…I just didn’t like the first album when I listened to it.
Comment from $teve {TXBC}
Time: January 25, 2009, 1:38 am
just to clairy things The Acacia Strain IS NOT DEATHCORE!
…as stated by Vince (the vocalist)
Comment from cody
Time: January 25, 2009, 2:57 am
So because Vince says they aren’t, that means its true? The Acacia Strain are clearly deathcore.
Comment from $teve {TXBC}
Time: January 25, 2009, 3:04 am
uh yeah it does.
and people who put a label on music are morons anyways.
if you like the music listen to it, if you do not then don’t.
do not criticize someone because they like the way a certain band sounds
the way i look at it EVERYBAND has their own “genre”
Comment from cody
Time: January 25, 2009, 5:41 pm
Steve - If Vince said his music was jazz, would you agree? Just because he is a member of the band doesn’t mean his opinion overrules everyone else’s. If anything, it makes his opinion less valid than those of outside observers because he has interests invested in the band. Of course he doesn’t want his band labeled as deathcore, because for many folks, deathcore has turned into a negative label.
As far as genre classifications are concerned, you need to have a way to articulate what you are listening to when speaking with other people. You can call it what you want, but if you come up to me and call Black Sabbath folk music, I’d probably laugh at you. No one here is criticizing anyone for listening to the music they like, you can listen to Whitechapel for as long and loud as you want, but they are still deathcore, and so are The Acacia Strain.
Comment from coled24
Time: January 25, 2009, 8:40 pm
Look. Everything starts somewhere and The Acacia Strain was the start of deathcore. While they may not sound like a lot of the various White Chapel or Born Of Osiris, they play a heavier, breakdown based metalcore and have death growls as the vocals. And furthermore, if they aren’t a deathcore band then what are they? If you say hardcore then you are an idiot. I listened to REAL hardcore for a while and someone recommended them to me as I was a fan of hardcore. They are NOT hardcore. The Gorilla Biscuits is a hardcore band. Outbreak is a hardcore band. The Acacia Strain is NOT. Listen to Angry Mob Justice. Nothing hardcore about it. That song is the epitome of the birth of Deathcore. It exposed fringe hardcore kids who were fans of metalcore bands like Death Before Dishonor and Bury Your Dead to death growls and a heavier style. While it may not have been deathcore at the time, thats what it started and thats what it is.
And another thing, I hate most deathcore. I’ve seen a lot of deathcore bands live and heard more on myspace. I give them a fair chance. I do like a few deathcore bands. I like All Shall Perish and despite the fact that I don’t see them as deathcore but they get balled into it, I love Animosity. I don’t dislike bands BECAUSE they’re deathcore. I dislike bands because I DISLIKE THEM.
This idea of every band having a their own genre is complete and utter bullshit. The Sword and Meshuggah are both metal bands but they don’t sound anything alike so the question of “what makes them different?” AUTOMATICALLY creates separation and genres. So don’t give me that wannabe open-minded, elitist horseshit.
Lastly, what the hell is “do not criticize someone because they like the way a certain band sounds” in reference to? I don’t like deathcore and I’m not a fan of their pit-scraping, kung-fu kick moshing fans but I’m not criticizing anyone. Listen to what you want to listen to.
Comment from Adonis
Time: March 17, 2009, 2:58 am
Metal has taken a major downturn as of late. Since the emergence of Metalcore there has been a template laid out for new bands. Instead of paving their own way and making it in the metal scene due to musical prowess, and hard work they just follow the template and take in fans of the genre. There is so little musical diversification between most Deathcore bands that the genre has become a joke - same songs different band name.
I am 20, and I grew up w/ The Jester Race and Slaughter of the Soul - and the last 5 years its been people my age making a mockery of the whole genre. Haha, but then again - that shit was probably the Metalcore of its day.
The reason everyone hates Deathcore isn’t just the scene. Trust me, if you are metal in high school - it isn’t about the long hair anymore. Its that these bands are now a dime a dozen and carbon copies of shoddy musicianship is getting way to many bands a free pass.
Comment from coled24
Time: March 19, 2009, 11:28 am
I agree, Adonis. The cookie cutter mold for success has found its way into metal once again (mid-late nineties nu metal being the first time) and countless batches of bands with unreadable logos and boring breakdowns and bland riffs are being made at a blistering rate. It just means that someone has to emerge and show everyone that deathcore is just shit (for the most part).
Comment from Travis
Time: March 24, 2009, 11:02 pm
I have a problem with Deathcore as a whole. I believe it to be a useless, invented genre. It ’s basically generic death metal with a different label so they can market it, they can’t do that with “death metal” because it still has too many roots in the underground. All Deathcore is doing is capitalizing on the hard work of the 20 years death metal struggled to be recognized as a serious genre. All they did was dress it up in short hair and water it down technically. Since the emergence of deathcore I have altogether stopped listening to death metal, all except the elite groups like Nile, Deeds of Flesh, and Decrepit Birth etc. Because of its success where death metal failed, I have been forced to become a purist/elitist and shun 99% of new bands who have emerged as this Deathcore shit.
Comment from coled24
Time: March 25, 2009, 10:50 am
Well Travis, I do understand your issues with deathcore but stopping listening to death metal except for “elite groups” is just plain stupid. There are a lot of great new Death Metal bands out there that aren’t deathcore by any stretch. Furthermore, while yes deathcore is incredibly popular, its not exactly hard to avoid. Just don’t listen to it. Its not like its hidden amongst the crowd of other metal bands and could pounce on you and force you to listen to its shitty breakdowns til you’re blue in the face. I wouldn’t give up on Death Metal if I were you.
Comment from matt
Time: March 25, 2009, 5:24 pm
I’ve been listening to any and all metal for about 12 years now, and I’ve found deathcore to be the easiest to listen to over an extended period of time. So many other subgenres of metal, especially death metal, have multitudes of bands(and why should it not? Its amazing) but so often its the same sounds with a few unique pieces to each band. But the diversity I’ve found in the younger kids, still developing in their voice, musical skill, personality, all of it, results in a very wide variety of sounds and ideas expressed through deathcore. Anyone who has the audacity and ego to think they can decide whether or not a band is worthy obviously has no understanding of art or music.
In the end, it only matters to the people making the music.
Comment from cody
Time: March 25, 2009, 6:09 pm
Matt - Everyone decides whether or not art is worthy, its called “taste.” Deathcore in itself is not bad, there are several bands of the genre that are good, and we have spoken about these acts on this site, feel free to look through the archives and read up. The problem is the genre has become inundated with bass heavy breakdown based death metal. It gets old, and we have no qualms about voicing are discontent with this music.
Comment from matt
Time: March 25, 2009, 6:33 pm
i’m not saying that people don’t have personal judgements. Everyone is completely entitled to their own opinion, and thats the point i was trying to make.
Those “kids” as they’re referred, capitalizing on corporate metal and all that other bs that people say, they are just making music and money at the same time. When you look at it, is it really that hard to accept? I would love to have some fuckwad record tycoon sign me up for a million dollars to play metal. Its always been my dream to get rich doing what I love, and metal is what I love. However, when the sound of the music is influenced by money, its not acceptable. A bunch of testosterone driven highschool kids making a following out of what can definitely be considered “heavy” music just makes sense. Its not a phenomenon by any means.
And for the ‘generic’ sound, yes deathcore is generic. But what makes generic bad? I mean, at one point, even the music that pioneers its own genre eventually becomes generic after many bands borrow and experiment and evolve that sound. So to cut off deathcore in such a way as exiling it from other followings of death would be robbing metal fans, now and future, of what might become of deathcore. And you can already see the evolution. Take, for example, The Acacia Strain’s 3750 album, and then Despised Icon’s Healing Process, and finally Bring Me The Horizon’s Count Your Blessing. All three albums are irrefutably deathcore, but just based off the the three or four years between the albums, you can hear an amazing amount of change in the style.
By all means, everyone should have an educated opinion of the music they come in contact with, but to deprave an entire genre based off of a general disdain of simple melodies, a cult following of kids, and the prosperity of a band…its just wrong. What if someone did that to Bach?
Comment from matt
Time: March 25, 2009, 6:46 pm
By the way, I feel its necessary to clarify that I do not think deathcore will be as influential to music as Bach was, nor did Bach have a cult following of kids or simple melodies. He was just a point of reference.
Comment from cody
Time: March 25, 2009, 8:34 pm
Matt - Its not about money or popularity, I could care less how popular these bands are. What bugs me is that people are jumping on the bandwagon without truly exploring the breadth of musical diversity that metal has to offer. Deathcore is almost already played out, and its only been around for maybe 3 years max. This stuff is merely an extension of the metalcore scene, I know this because I was in the thick of it living here in New England. Now instead of exploring other music, the bands AND their fans are simply hardcore and nu metal expatriots who have a taste for the heavier side of things, but without absorbing the history of traditional metal. Ask your average deathcore fan, or even a deathcore bandmember from the newer breed who Kalmah is, or any number of power metal bands.
There are deathcore bands that are good, you referenced Bring Me the Horizon who I quite enjoy, but my dissent comes from the fact that metal’s long boisterous history is being largely ignored because of the popularity of this bloated new trend. If its not melodic death metal, grindcore, hardcore or modern death metal, it probably isn’t an influence. There are exceptions to every rule which is why we don’t damn the entire genre, but deathcore is more of a hindrance than a welcomed addition to the metal family.
Comment from matt
Time: March 26, 2009, 4:02 am
I guess all I’m trying to say is not all of the fans are pieces of shit. I completely agree with what you’re saying, I just don’t like the stereotype. Deathcore is merely another stem of metal I enjoy. I fit your stereotype age, and moshing and all that, but I partake fully in practically every piece of metal I can touch. I’m not a fan of all of it, Cock and Ball Torture, for example, but I’ve listened to their albums front to back, and made my decision. I do that with deathcore, as well. And just as with any other style or subgenre of metal, there is some I don’t like. Just because I am in my twenties and a fan of deathcore and mosh a little different, I’m a bandwagon metal fan? I think I’ve put enough time scouring dingy record shops looking for anything I could get my hands on to have some respect. Not to mention long ass drives for bands you’d never heard of, or would hear from again. And I’d like to think I’m not the only deathcore fan out there that is the same.
That would suck if I was.
Comment from matt
Time: March 28, 2009, 4:19 am
I know no one is still listening to this, but a good analogy came to mind today when thinking of the perpetual struggle between metal ‘traditionalists’ (i know thats probably the wrong term to use, but go with it) and the new deathcore scene.
I thought of ancient civilizations, and how they threw their deformed children off cliffs in an attempt to purify, or moreso thoroughbreed a culture. Even babies with cleft lip were cast aside, and you have to wonder, how many Alexander the Greats, or Hammurabis were thrown off those cliffs before their full potential was developed? And that being the cost of a small cosmetic problem? Seems somewhat…counterproductive.
Now applying that to our problem at hand, the metal community being this ancient culture, casting aside its deformed and retarded, we’re not giving the children-newer styles of metal-the chance to prove themselves. While we’ve cast out the obvious ones, missing arms and what not, we’re still getting cleft lips popping up. But now as a more advanced culture, we realize that a little surgery can make a bad lip normal. So instead of our current community killing this ugly child that is deathcore, I think a more modern approach of cosmetic surgery might be a better theory.
Something I’ve noticed is that a big problem with deathcore is its following. Kids. More specifically, ‘rebellious’ kids that are just trying to find a reason to do so, and willing to follow just about anything mommy and daddy don’t like. Mix this with traditional metalheads chastising them for their preference, and we’ve given them an entirely new reason to love the music. Because its not what all the ‘regular old metal listeners’ are doing. This, in my mind, is either going to result in deathcore branching off and remaining what it is today, or we can take advantage of just how impressionable these kids are, and mold them into something that isn’t so…hated.
I’d like to think that most of the bands and fans that were in it for the money have been scared away, take for example JFAC’s Genesis in comparison to Doom, and Bring Me The Horizon’s Count your Blessings to their new album. As soon as things got heated, both bands dropped deathcore like a bad habit. BMTH moreso, but I think the point remains. Then you look at bands that continue to rough through the hate, and evolve, the new album from Brain Drill, for example. Its still got a lot of flaws, including repetitive riffing, dry lyrics, and a sound that continues throughout the whole album without much variety, but at the same time its changing. Its a step forward, and I think that with a little push (or snip, to fit the analogy) deathcore could be put in a direction that’s positive for metal, rather than starting a civil war.
Comment from cody
Time: March 28, 2009, 11:39 am
Matt - I Whole heartedly agree. I think Deathcore will be largely burnt out by the end of 2009, which I predicted in my 2009 review of the new Napalm Death album. Instead we will receive a new age of progressive death metal in the vain of Necrophagist or more grind-based death metal in the vain of Brain Drill. As a result, deathcore fans will either absorb into metal, which, let’s face it, will never really change in philosophy which is what I love so much about it, or they will go back to hardcore, emo or whatever.
Comment from mr right
Time: April 29, 2009, 1:35 pm
all of you are wrong. i am right.
deathcore pwns deathmetal.
vice versa.
suicide silence omgf
Comment from Tim
Time: April 29, 2009, 6:45 pm
You’re an idiot.
Comment from Nate
Time: December 1, 2008, 1:43 pm
Job for a Cowboy is definitely a band I wouldn’t listen to regularly, but hearing their first album before their newest put a sour taste in my mouth. Namely, it was just bland. Reading this though forced me to check out their myspace and I liked a couple of the new ones. While it isn’t the most awe-inspiring album, of the 2-3 songs from Genesis that I’ve heard it’s definitely a promising progression. Bottom line: I’m waiting until the third album to ultimately prove the band’s worth.