Heavy Metal and Punk: Birth of MetalCore

Of recent note, with mainstream (or nearly mainstream) acceptance of bands like Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, and All That Remains, many people have heard metalcore before. Truthfully speaking, if you are reading this article right now, you are probably fairly familiar with the metal and hardcore punk scene.

Metalcore began as an amalgamation of heavy metal and hardcore punk in the mid-80s, and indeed, the word itself is a portmanteau of its parent genres. Often, these initial hardcore punk bands were heavily influenced by the more pronounced sound of heavy metal, and the emerging thrash metal movement. As a result, their music started to reflect this, and soon, could no longer be called punk in entirety.

Many of the earliest metalcore and thrashcore bands drew inspiration from bands like Earth Crisis and Biohazard. These bands in turn drew inspiration from bands like Anthrax, Slayer, Pantera, and other 'clearly' metal bands. This line of evolution and inspiration clearly defines metalcore as a part of the metal community.

The genre moved from straightedge punk bands, into the underground metal scene, as it built this scene, after the large group of the 80s. These bands dared not to identify themselves as punk, as it was becoming commercialized in the 90s, with the advent of bands like Green Day. This distancing between them and pop-punk bands would put metalcore as a subgenre of metal (and not punk).

In the new millennium, metal in general, and metalcore in particular, began to make a drastic resurgence. As bands came to the surface and gained popularity, by 2004, a new wave of bands had taken over the title of 'metalcore'. Of all the bands that this involved, probably none gained so much acclaim and generic appeal as Killswitch Engage.

Killswitch was formed in 1999, after the end of two other project bands which had preceded it. When Killswitch came into being, they brought a depth of spirituality to their music, and were one of the first pioneers of 'melodic' metalcore. With this advent of a juxtaposition between harsh, thrashing vocals and sweet serenades, KSE was able to score much critical acclaim, and a far wider fan-base. Their efforts made it possible for many new fans to become interested in the genre, particularly females.

However, while melodic metalcore has enjoyed some recent success (and still does to this day), there is starting to be a swing movement. Some bands, such as 'The Black Dahlia Murder' forgo most melodic vocals in favor of instrumentation and technicality. This same can be seen even among the thrashcore genre with bands like Trivium being capable of dominating their instruments, and blending their voices as apart of the song itself, not the driving force behind their music.