Deathcore

Characteristics

A fusion genre, deathcore combines death metal characteristics such as blast beats, down-tuned guitars, tremolo picking, and growled vocals with metalcore characteristics such as breakdowns, melodic riffs and high-pitched screamed vocals. The genre is usually defined by breakdowns and death metal riffs or metalcore riffs played in the usual death metal tuning. Like in other extreme metal fusion genres, deathcore guitarists down-tune their guitars to give their music a heavier sound. Deathcore bands may also employ guitar solos as well.

Low growls and shrieked screams are common types of vocals in deathcore. Some other techniques that deathcore vocalists have used include what is known as pig squeals. Sung vocals in the genre are rare and most bands seldom if ever use them, but the idea has been experimented with by a few bands such as All Shall Perish (in the song "Awaken the Dreamers") and Oceano (in the song "Incisions").

Some lyrical themes common in deathcore songs include antireligion, psychological pain and body horror.

Deathcore has been criticized, especially by longtime fans of other heavy metal subgenres, often because of its fusion of death metal with metalcore and use of breakdowns. Music journalist T Coles observed, "Whilst kids were eating this up, the old guard saw it as a further death blow. The established traditions were being tinkered with, old rules were being broken, and, having already lost out to Slipknot, it was now seeing its ideas taken and warped by a younger generation that was reaping the financial benefits." They also state that an oversaturation of artists within the scene during the 2010s "[homogenized]" the genre.

Rejection of the term

Some deathcore musicians have rejected the label "deathcore". In an interview with vocalist Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain about the deathcore label, he said "Deathcore is the new nu-metal. [...] It sucks. And if anyone calls us 'deathcore' then I might do something very bad to them", but he would later express ambivalence towards the association, stating "sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't". Guitarist Justin Longshore from Through the Eyes of the Dead said, "You know, I really hate that term. I know we've been labeled as that but I think there's so much more to our music than just a mixture of death metal and hardcore even though we incorporate those elements in our music. To me it seems that is just the new and fresh thing that kids are following."

In November 2013, Terrorizer wrote, "The term 'deathcore' is usually seen as a dirty word in metal circles" while interviewing vocalist Bryce Lucien of the Texas-based metal band Seeker. Lucien then stated:

In contrast, some musicians are less negative towards being described as deathcore. Scott Lewis of the San Diego–based deathcore band Carnifex stated, "We're not one of those bands trying to escape the banner of deathcore. I know a lot of bands try and act like they have a big problem with that, but if you listen to their music, they are very 'deathcore.' I know that there is a lot of resentment towards deathcore and kind of younger bands." In a 2012 interview, former Chelsea Grin guitarist Jake Harmond said, "Everyone likes to flap their jaw and voice their own opinion how 'embarrassing' it is to be in a band that can be labeled 'deathcore,' but honestly we have never given a fuck".

Fusion with other genres

A variety of deathcore bands experimented with other genres into their music as influence and time progressed. Emmure has been credited to be heavily influenced by nu metal and was described as "the new Limp Bizkit". Suicide Silence's 2011 album The Black Crown is a deathcore album with some nu metal influences. Other examples of nu metal-inspired deathcore bands include Here Comes the Kraken's later material. The early 2010s saw bands fusing the genre with influences from djent and progressive metal, which began to achieve underground popularity. Examples of the aforementioned include Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, and After the Burial. Some bands, such as Make Them Suffer, Lorna Shore and Winds of Plague, mix deathcore with symphonic/classical elements. French band Betraying the Martyrs has been described as "[the] punishing brutality of deathcore with melodic flourishes pulled from symphonic and progressive metal, giving it a theatricality that feels distinctly European."

History

Predecessors (1990s)

The term "deathcore" has had a number of uses in various metal/hardcore scenes far before it was considered an established or recognized genre, with Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer writing: "blending death metal with hardcore was by no means a new thing when Despised Icon emerged." The earliest known use of "deathcore" as a word was by New York band N.Y.C. Mayhem as a self-description for their merger of hardcore punk and thrash metal. In 1996, Nick Terry of Terrorizer magazine publicized: "We're probably going to settle on the term deathcore to describe the likes of Earth Crisis (as well as the more NYHC-ish but still as deathly Merauder)." Embrace the Eternal (1998) by Embodyment, Yesterday Is Time Killed (1999) by Eighteen Visions, and Rain in Endless Fall (1999) by Prayer for Cleansing are early examples of albums that feature a metalcore sound combined with death metal influences. In 2019, music site The New Fury credited Embodyment as "[pioneers] of the deathcore genre" due to their performance on Embrace the Eternal.

Decibel magazine wrote that death metal band Suffocation were one of the main inspirations for the genre's emergence, stating "One of Suffocation's trademarks, breakdowns, has spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore." Suffocation bassist Derek Boyer says Suffocation "were influenced by many early metal and hardcore bands". Lawson cites death metal bands like Dying Fetus, Suffocation, and Internal Bleeding as being influential on deathcore due to their use of "crushing, mid-paced grooves and breakdowns".

Origins (early to mid-2000s)

Despite a few earlier metalcore/death metal hybridizations, Antagony and Despised Icon are considered to be the true pioneers of deathcore, though both bands have rejected the label. Antagony founder and frontman Nick Vasallo is credited as being the "father of deathcore" due to his work in the band. The Red Chord is referenced as an early influential source for the genre due to their hybridization of metalcore and death metal sounds, among other genres. New Hampshire band Deadwater Drowning and Californian group All Shall Perish are also seen as notable early entries of the genre. Deadwater Drowning's 2003 EP was remarked as "basically the blueprint for every current deathcore band out today," while All Shall Perish's debut album Hate, Malice, Revenge (2003) "never got tied down to [simply] death metal or metalcore." Music journalist T Coles said, "in a similar fashion to their grindcore ancestors, cultural barriers melted away as kids with earnest interests in various heavy sounds melded ideas together [...] they were earnestly trying to be as ruthlessly heavy as possible, taking elements from everything they liked and pushing them as hard as they could, just as bands [in the 1990s], and a decade before that, had done."

In the mid 2000s, deathcore spiked in popularity shortly after Job for a Cowboy released their EP Doom in 2005, which is heavily credited as one of deathcore's most significant and influential releases for the genre. The genre saw an increase in popularity even further when English band Bring Me the Horizon released their deathcore debut full-length Count Your Blessings in 2006. The band were presented the 2006 Kerrang! Award for "Best British Newcomer" shortly after the album's release, though the band abandoned the genre soon thereafter.

Expansion (late 2000s and 2010s)

San Diego natives Carnifex witnessed success with their first album Dead in My Arms (2007), selling 5,000 copies with little publicity. On top of their non-stop touring, the band's methodical songwriting resulted in Carnifex quickly getting signed to label Victory Records.

Suicide Silence's No Time to Bleed (2009) peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200, number 12 on the Rock Albums Chart and number 6 on the Hard Rock Albums Chart, while their album The Black Crown peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200, number 7 on the Rock Albums Chart and number 3 on the Hard Rock Albums Chart. Whitechapel album This Is Exile sold 5,900 in copies, which made it enter the Billboard 200 chart at position 118. Their third album A New Era of Corruption sold about 10,600 copies in the United States in its first week of being released and peaked at position number 43 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their self-titled album peaked at number 65 on the Canadian Albums Chart and also at number 47 on the Billboard 200.

In the late 2000s, deathcore groups began to embrace elements of nu metal, with Whitechapel and Suicide Silence making use of a "heavier and more groove-driven sound than their predecessors and increasingly bordered nu-metal", and Emmure, Winds of Plague and the Acacia Strain embracing its urban, black aesthetics. As early as 2011, publications including MetalSucks had begun to use the term "nu-deathcore" to refer to groups that hybridized the two such as Emmure, Suicide Silence, Here Comes the Kraken, Upon a Burning Body and Gorelord. This wave led Japanese band Dir En Grey to return to their nu metal influence sound while also embracing deathcore on songs such as "Different Sense".

Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder debuted at number 35 on the ARIA Charts with their album Hate (2012), making them the first extreme metal band to ever reach the Top 40 of this chart.

In the 2020s, deathcore experienced a resurgence in popularity—especially on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, with bands like Fit for an Autopsy, Ingested, Paleface Swiss and AngelMaker bringing somewhat of a revived recognition to the genre. Lorna Shore, in particular, went viral with their 2021 song "To the Hellfire". Recent bands introduced more symphonic and progressive elements to the genre while maintaining its traditional heaviness. Russian deathcore group Slaughter to Prevail reportedly reached over 3.5 million streams on music services for their song "Hell" (2015); the band also performed a line of sold-out shows in China, which made the group the only foreign metal band to perform a sold-out concert in the country in all of 2020.

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