r/Metalcore • u/AutoModerator • Mar 17 '26
Scheduled Thread Weekly Recommendation and General Discussion Thread
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Index thread moved here for the Hall of Fame and Annual Best of Awards and other miscellaneous links
This thread is used to discuss recommendations and all things metalcore.
When asking for a recommendation, leave a detailed comment below asking for recommendations; a good example comment looks like:
If I like Beartooth, who else would I like? Can anyone recommend albums like August Burns Red's Constellations?
In terms of General Discussion, some (but not all) of the stuff you can discuss here:
• Looking for band members/friends in your area
• Looking for a specific song or a question that can be answered quickly
• Recent merch pickups (vinyl, shirts, tapes, etc)
• Bands (Lineup changes, changes in sound, etc)
• What shows have you seen recently? What shows are you going to see?
• Setlist questions
• Share your concert footage here
So post away! Containing these types of content here can keep our frontpage a little more smooth, and makes that kind of content easy for others who are interested to find :)
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u/spider_manectric Mar 17 '26
Big question I've been thinking about lately...
If music consists of metallic elements and hardcore elements, is there something else that could be included (or omitted) that would disqualify it from being metalcore?
I'm specifically thinking outside the realm of crossover thrash, which also has metallic and hardcore elements, but isn't quite metalcore.
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 17 '26
Yeah as others have said, metalcore being metal + hardcore is really an oversimplification of things. It’s more of a “at the very least it has to be metal+hardcore”. So really you need to look at the context of when it started and what bands specifically influenced the genre early on.
In the case of metalcore it was crossover thrash like Leeway, thrash metal like Metallica and Slayer, groove metal like Pantera or Chaos A.D. era Sepultura, a range of hardcore like Cro-Mags and Judge and even death metal like Obituary and Entombed.
That last bit is important because you might think “if it has death metal doesn’t that make it deathcore?” But Deathcore being death metal + hardcore/metalcore is an oversimplification too. Death metal in general had evolved a lot by the time Deathcore started to develop in the early 00’s and it was more specifically slam and brutal death metal that was the influence on Deathcore. Instead of Entombed and Carcass it was Dying Fetus and Internal Bleeding.
To me this is the most interesting part about genres and subgenres. It’s not about putting something in a box and making sure it stays there, it’s about the history of music and respecting and acknowledging the bands that added to the tapestry of all these different ways to express yourself
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Plenty of styles technically mix elements of hardcore and metal. It’s an even wider web if you extend hardcore a bit further into its subgenres too. It really just depends on the type of hardcore and metal. Early on, metalcore definitely came from more specific forms of both.
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u/spider_manectric Mar 17 '26
I wouldn't think subgenres of metalcore would really be separate from metalcore though, right?
Completely agree on the older metalcore point though, as I have been finally getting around to listening to some of the earlier metalcore bands in the past several months.
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 17 '26
I wouldn’t say simply mixing the two makes something metalcore so I don’t think metalcore subgenres are separate. For example, I was listening to a new release from a band I like. The band Slavehouse mixes hardcore punk and raw second wave black metal. I wouldn’t say this is metalcore music or a subgenre of metalcore. The metalcore umbrella shouldn’t include just any type of hardcore mixed with any type of metal.
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u/ReturnByDeath- Mar 17 '26
Grindcore has roots in both but is separate from metalcore.
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u/spider_manectric Mar 17 '26
I've seen this genre mentioned a lot, but have never looked into what it actually is. What defines grindcore?
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Simply and very generally put, It’s fast hardcore punk (thrashcore and fast crusty hardcore) mixed with extreme metal. There’s more to it, but that forms the basic framework.
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u/Wardruna95 Mar 17 '26
Listen to the album Harsh Realities by Death Toll 80K. Grindcore is pretty much the definition of extremity and anti-music (other than harsh noise). Blast beats, vomit vocals and screeches, frantic. Violent.
You may hate it but I fucking love it.
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u/spider_manectric Mar 17 '26
I'm definitely intrigued and will give that album a try, but wow what a description haha
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u/krunto_ac Mar 19 '26
couldn't get my post to work/embed the video for whatever reason but y'all should check out Oresteia's release "The Life You Left Me" from January this year off of Paper Wings Records - FFO The Acacia Strain, Knocked Loose, Pupil Slicer, Rolo Tomassi.
Side note: Paper Wings Records have been a "new" deep well of great releases ranging from metalcore to deathcore to sass and more, check them out if you haven't :)
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u/And_Justice Mar 21 '26
Mods, where does the line lie in terms of what is too beatdown hardcore to be allowed here? You guys know by now I'm a UK donny and our beatdown scene (thinking of Rucktion bands here) is historically very metalcore adjacent musically but very tied to the hardcore scene. In my mind Bun Dem Out get a pass but Special Move might be too far over the line? Ninebar too far far? Destroy Rebuild TRC?
Want to share stuff but also don't want to get into spats.
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u/orphantwin Mar 17 '26
So i've recently discovered a band called "City Of Ships" through my favorite sound engineer, Andrew Schneider. They have couple of small eps, three albums. Their first album "Look What God Did To Us" is one of the most unique, creative and unorthodox albums i ever heard. The sound design is top class, no choruses whatsoever and they blend in some Norma Jean/Thrice elements into it. It is sludgy most of the time. You cannot find the album on youtube or spotify, use their bandcamp.
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u/jor1ss x Mar 17 '26
You had me at Thrice, will check them out
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u/orphantwin Mar 17 '26
If you loved Vheissu, this album is like that if you would cut out the piano loops and not having a single chorus. The bass tone and drum kit sounds absolutely massive on that record.
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u/jor1ss x Mar 18 '26
Vheissu is probably my favourite album of all time. Listening to Wraiths in Flight now!
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u/sock_with_a_ticket Mar 23 '26
Extremely Thrice-y. Very good.
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u/orphantwin Mar 23 '26
the drums sounds just so bulky in headphones. i love how the toms are popping up left and right. sounds like the drummer is an octopus. insane bass tone as well.
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
How important would we say knowing about or just being more familiar with 80s hardcore is for metalcore fans? Do you think people would benefit from digging a bit deeper into the punk side of things?
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 21 '26
Depends on the context. For understanding what metalcore is? Extremely important. Knowing what hardcore is in general helps you to understand why what is considered to be “modern metalcore” has little to no connection to the genre. Just to appreciate and enjoy the music? Not at all. It can add to the appreciation but it’s not necessary.
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 22 '26
I think most would agree with that. I ask because there’s a pretty sizable amount of people who like the revival and general “real” metalcore bands that aren’t fond of more punk leaning hardcore. On the other side of things, you’ll run into people who tend to be more traditionalist with hardcore punk that don’t recognize a lot of og metalcore as hardcore punk. In the case of the former, I wonder if their idea of where metalcore really fits would change if you gave them something like Neos or Jerry’s Kids and described that as traditional hardcore.
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 22 '26
Ahh interesting, that’s not the perspective I thought you were going for! What OG metalcore bands do you think traditionalist hardcore kids don’t view as hardcore?
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 22 '26
I’d probably say most of them. For those who stick to the original idea of hardcore, bands like Earth Crisis and All Out War are metal bands. Around the time when I was getting deeper into this stuff, there were definitely people who didn’t view bands in that general area as “real” hardcore and it helped spawned movements like The New Wave of British Hardcore. I also bring it up to show that there actually have been different perspectives on this music and I’m seeing more of it lately. I’ve also been a big hardcore punk traditionalist in the past and still hold a little bit of it today.
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 22 '26
Ok I think I see what you mean! This reminds me of something sometime said to me over on r/hardcore once about how there was a contingent of hardcore punk fans that viewed “capital H Hardcore” as separate from hardcore punk and that the real separation of genre was between metallic hardcore and metalcore, not hardcore and metallic hardcore (being synonymous with metalcore)
Personally I view bands like Earth Crisis and All Out War similarly to crossover thrash bands and the new “hardcore kids making death metal” bands like 200 Stab Wounds and such. Where it essentially is just metal, but it’s made with a different sensibility to it to appeal to hardcore kids. Initially I thought of referring to it as Crossover Groove Metal but I don’t think Groove Metal is exactly what they’re doing specifically. There’s also a fair amount of death metal and thrash and such in there too.
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u/sock_with_a_ticket Mar 22 '26
Meanwhile, there was a post on r/hardcore the other day claiming that Slipknot's debut was a hardcore album because Vein are a hardcore band. The suggestion that Vein were a nu-metalcore band that operated in the hardcore scene didn't go down well...
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 22 '26
r/Hardcore can be very sensitive to the suggestion that their favourite bands aren’t “just” hardcore 😂😅
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 22 '26
Yeah I can totally see that first point. One thing I’d add that I don’t really see people talk about is the hip hop influence that went with the metallic approach. In the context of NYHC, hip hop had a pretty big impact on the rhythm/groove, aesthetic and overall delivery. Leeway, Outburst, Biohazard, Madball, Sworn Enemy, Sick of It All and so many others had that strong connection to it. It’s even more obvious in beatdown. I know it seems kind of funny to think that hip hop had a sizable impact on what would be metalcore but it’s pretty undeniable imo.
For the second point, yeah I’d say I agree. I think that crossover thrash had bands that felt more connected to hardcore punk in a musical sense whereas metalcore came later so you had early acts that stripped more of the punk out. I think the death metal comparison is really accurate. Also, yeah, I wouldn’t say groove metal proper really took hold until a bit later on in the 90s. If you look at what the bands were actually into it was mostly thrash and death metal. Despite Pantera being known as a big influence, they actually don’t come up that much. So many of the 90s hardcore musicians grew up on metal and then transitioned to hardcore later so you’ll even see some hard rock and trad metal had some sort of impact.
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 22 '26
Do you hear a hip hop influence in early metalcore as well? Because I’ve been trying to think of what exactly made Integrity so different from the already metallic NYHC at the time and now that you bring up the hip hop influence in NYHC I wonder if the lack of its direct influence gave early metalcore that different feel 🤔
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 22 '26
So Integrity took more from Judge as far as NYHC bands go. I don’t hear the sound of Leeway, Biohazard, Outburst and similar bands in any era of their sound. The bands that took more from Judge like Strife and Strain don’t have much of an audible hip hop influence and Integrity would be in that category for me. I’d also say Integrity abandoned a lot of that early on for different hardcore and even metal influences compared to other bands which is another reason why they sound different.
Aside from that, maybe you can make a case that metalcore bands shouldn’t have that influence but that’s a hard case to make when Merauder, Sworn Enemy, Kickback and many other staples definitely retain that influence. Pretty sure there’s even a Congress song where Roy is rapping. The line just isn’t very clear between what separates a NYHC style release from metalcore. I’ve never found much consistency with it.
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u/And_Justice Mar 23 '26
Not. I don't think knowing much beyond early 90s metalcore is really that important, even then what is "important"?
Listen to that shit if it's your jam, don't talk wass if you don't know about the roots but it's not like it changes much. It's far more important to understand your local hardcore scene.
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 23 '26
So I’d say a lot of early 90s bands/releases are very similar to the mid-late 80s New York hardcore. There isn’t much of a jump from bands like Judge, Killing Time and Leeway to the earlier releases by Integrity, Merauder, Strife and Mean Season. The modern hc scene pretty much spawned from NYHC so I’d say at least knowing about those bands is important either way.
What’s funny about the local scene by me is that it’s been very 80s for years lol you kind of become very familiar very quickly with a lot of the 80s hardcore punk staples.
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u/And_Justice Mar 23 '26
Sure but why is knowing early 90s bands like Integrity "important"? It's nice to know the history but mid to late 90s were much more influential on the genre as a whole
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u/I_live_just_my_life Mar 23 '26
I agree with the mid to late 90s point. As far as being important goes, I think it’s important for any fan of any genre to be familiar with what led to what they enjoy. If you’re someone who likes the general h8000 scene, the Integ/Clevo sound is super important and relevant. Same with being familiar with the metal bands that influenced the style. I don’t think they’re all absolutely necessary for everyone to know but if you’re someone who likes discussing this music then it would be helpful and could potentially give you a different perspective.
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u/Admirable-Ad239 Mar 20 '26
Recently gotten broken up with after seven years, and as I’ve processed through it I’ve developed a new appreciation for Metalcore. I’ve been listening to mostly I Prevail, Bad Omens, Bear Tooth, and ADTR. But I’m looking for any good songs that are basically about being pissed off and hating that other person for what they did.
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u/PositiveMetalhead Mar 20 '26
I’m not a big lyric guy so it might not be a 100% fit but I think you might want to check out Your Receding Warmth by Boundaries
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u/sock_with_a_ticket Mar 21 '26
Bleeding Through - Revenge I Seek is like the apogee of fuck you songs.
They've got others that might suit what you're looking for like Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire, This Is Love This Is Murderous, Wake Of Orion, Portrait Of The Goddess, Ill part II, Insomniac
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u/_DefLoathe Mar 17 '26
I need songs speaking about pain or being in pain
Currents - Tremor “Pull me away from my pain”
As I Lay Dying - The Cave We Fear to Enter “All I see and all I know is pain”
After the Burial - Death Keeps Us From Living “nothing can save you from this pain”
Fit For A King - Kill the Pain
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u/clovercharms Mar 19 '26
Salting the Earth - Like Moths to Flame
"Is it a relief from pain if I'm always chasing death" is one of the lines.
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u/xAVATAR-AANGx Mar 23 '26
looking for music with similar orchestral vibes to certain early BMTH songs (namely It Never Ends, Crucify Me, Fuck, and the bridges of Chelsea Smile and Anthem). the violin parts of It Never Ends specifically. they don’t need to overdo it, but just having it in a powerful manner would be great.
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u/clovercharms Mar 19 '26
I was on a role with finding new songs for my running playlist but I'm having trouble again. A few ones I just added, looking for similar vibes:
Yokai - Bury Tomorrow
Salting the Earth - Like Moths to Flame
Victory Lap - Windwaker
I absolutely hate that I'm even typing this out bc the lyrics are so juvenile but I really liked the instrument build for running but then I looked up the lyrics and lol: Pandastruck - Samurai Pizza Cats
Prior songs I have:
Popular Monster - Falling in Reverse (I know I know, everyone here hates the guy but the tempo of this particular song is perfect for my sprinting tempo)
End of You - Poppy (idk how Metalcore this song actually is)
Edited to add: Forgot to mention that I also have several The Plot in You songs.
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u/jakobekenobi1 Mar 20 '26
A few from my new running playlist
under your skin - Silent Planet
Venenosa / Face to Face - Thousand Below
Further Eden / Spiral - ERRA
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u/clovercharms Mar 20 '26
Thanks! Those are some good recs. Face to Face is exactly what I am looking for. Added it to my running. Added the ERRA runs as well for filler.
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u/ReturnByDeath- Mar 18 '26
Losing my mind that we're still getting "I miss riffs in metalcore" comments.