Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
and
metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones,
palm muting
The palm mute is a playing technique for guitar and bass guitar, executed by placing the side of the picking hand below the little finger across the strings to be plucked, very close to the bridge, and then plucking the strings while the damp ...
, double bass drumming,
blast beat
A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, ''PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed rev ...
s, metalcore-stylized
breakdowns, aggressive
screaming
A scream is a loud speech production, vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalisation. This can be performed by any creature possessing lungs, including human ...
,
death growl
A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...
s, and clean singing. The genre has seen commercial success for employing a more accessible sound at times compared to other forms of extreme music.
Many notable melodic metalcore bands have been influenced by
At the Gates
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...
and
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal.
During t ...
.
History
Origins
![20161202 Oberhausen Ruhrpott Metall Meeting Unearth 0035 Unearth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/20161202_Oberhausen_Ruhrpott_Metall_Meeting_Unearth_0035_Unearth.jpg)
Melodic metalcore began to take form in the late 1990s and early 2000s, tracing its roots to Swedish
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
groups such as
At the Gates
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...
and
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal.
During t ...
.
The stylistic origins of melodic metalcore and traditional
metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
differ greatly. Traditional metalcore evolved out of the hardcore punk scene in the late 1980s, when hardcore bands began to experiment with metal elements such as thrash metal guitar riffs and vocals. In contrast, melodic metalcore most often stemmed from American-based metal bands who began incorporating metalcore elements, such as metallic breakdowns, into their music. Florida's
Poison the Well are considered the first melodic metalcore band, proving extremely influential to subsequent bands thanks to their first two albums ''
The Opposite of December... A Season of Separation'' and ''
Tear from the Red
''Tear from the Red'' is the sophomore full-length album by American metalcore band Poison the Well. It was released on February 19, 2002 via Trustkill Records. The album was the band's first release to appear on ''Billboards Independent Al ...
''.
Massachusetts'
Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...
are also considered to be a pioneering force in the genre, along with artists such as
7 Angels 7 Plagues
7 Angels 7 Plagues (abbreviated as 7A7P) was an American metalcore band from Racine, Wisconsin.
History
7 Angels 7 Plagues was formed in 1999 by Jared Logan from the scraps of two local Milwaukee bands, Castahead and Intercede. ,
Chimaira
Chimaira () is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in August 1998, the group was a member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene. The band's name is derived from the word Chimera, a monstrous creature in Greek my ...
,
Dead to Fall
Dead to Fall is an American metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and ...
,
Heaven Shall Burn
Heaven Shall Burn are a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently si ...
and
Unearth
Unearth is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released seven studio albums.
History Early career (1998–2002)
Unearth was formed by Trevor Phipps, Buz McGrath, Ken Susi, Mike Rudberg, an ...
.
Of these bands, frequently cited influences include In Flames,
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
, At the Gates and
Pantera
Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...
.
Belgian groups also played a large part in the development of the genre in its early years, as bands such as Arkangel began embracing the sounds of melodic death metal in their traditional metalcore sound, as early as 1998.
Commercial success
![Darkest Hour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Darkest_Hour.jpg)
Killswitch Engage released their sophomore album ''
Alive or Just Breathing
''Alive or Just Breathing'' is the second studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on May 21, 2002, through Roadrunner Records. ''Alive or Just Breathing'' was Killswitch Engage's first album on Roadrunner and ...
'' in 2002, which has been noted as a significant influence on many bands to follow, such as
Jinjer
Jinjer ( "ginger") is a Ukrainian metalcore band from Donetsk, formed in 2008. None of the founding members remain with the band. The current lineup considers 2009 as its official year of formation, with the arrival of singer Tatiana Shmailyuk ...
,
August Burns Red
August Burns Red is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of lead guitarist John Benjamin "JB" Brubaker, rhythm guitarist Brent Rambler, drummer Matt Greiner, lead vocalist Ja ...
and
Miss May I
Miss May I is an American metalcore band from Troy, Ohio. Formed in 2007, they signed to Rise Records in 2008 and released their debut album, ''Apologies Are for the Weak'' through the label while the members were still attending high school. ...
. By 2004 the genre saw increasing prominence, with
Shadows Fall
Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais (lead guitar, ...
's ''
The War Within'' debuting at number 20 on the ''Billboard'' album chart.
Trivium
The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...
released their sophomore album, ''
Ascendancy'', in 2005, which peaked at 75 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, made the band one of the more prominent bands in the scene at that point, despite changing their style away from melodic metalcore on many occasions.
Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...
's 2006 effort ''
As Daylight Dies
''As Daylight Dies'' is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on November 21, 2006 through Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel.
Background and release
The a ...
'' was described by Brandon Tadday of
Overdrive Magazine as "without a doubt one of the most impactful releases for melodic metalcore during the mid-2000s",
peaking at number 32 on the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...
and spending 22 weeks in the charts. In 2008 the
All That Remains' single "
Two Weeks" peaked at number 9 at the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the U.S., and on the Modern Rock Tracks chart at number 38. In 2007, the song "
Nothing Left" by
As I Lay Dying
''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...
was nominated for a Grammy award in the "Best Metal Performance" category. ''
An Ocean Between Us
''An Ocean Between Us'' is the fourth album by the American metalcore band As I Lay Dying (band), As I Lay Dying, released on August 21, 2007, by Metal Blade Records. It debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, with sales close to ...
'' (the album that included "Nothing Left") itself was a commercial success, debuting at number 8 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
Welsh melodic metalcore band
Bullet for My Valentine's third album ''
Fever
Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...
'' debuted at number 3 selling more than 71,000 copies in its first week in the U.S. and more than 21,000 copies in the UK during 2010 alone. Australian melodic metalcore band
Parkway Drive
Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. As of 2018, Parkway Drive have released six studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled ''Ten Years of Parkway Drive''. The ...
's third album ''
Deep Blue
Deep Blue may refer to:
Film
* ''Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads'', a 1992 documentary film about Mississippi Delta blues music
* Deep Blue (2001 film), ''Deep Blue'' (2001 film), a film by Dwight H. Little
* Deep Blue (2003 ...
'' reached number three on the Billboard Rock Charts in 2010, along with
Miss May I
Miss May I is an American metalcore band from Troy, Ohio. Formed in 2007, they signed to Rise Records in 2008 and released their debut album, ''Apologies Are for the Weak'' through the label while the members were still attending high school. ...
's album ''
Rise of the Lion'' having reached number 6 in 2014. Melodic metalcore band
Bury Tomorrow
Bury Tomorrow are a British metalcore band formed in 2006 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, Hampshire, England. The band is composed of six members; lead vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates, bassist Davyd Winter-Bates, drummer Adam Jackson, lead gu ...
's fifth studio album
Black Flame reached number eleven on the Billboard albums chart in less than a week.
Characteristics
Melodic metalcore bands often take influence from the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
s and writing styles of Swedish
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
bands, especially
At the Gates
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...
,
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal.
During t ...
,
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...
and
Soilwork.
Practitioners of the genre tend to make use of instrumental
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
, and many prominently feature
clean singing alongside typical death metal
growl
Growling is a low, guttural vocalization produced by predatory animals; producing ''growls''.
Growling or growl may also refer to:
Sounds
* Death growl, the dominant singing style in death metal music
* Stomach growl, or borborygmus, noise prod ...
s and
screams. Melodic metalcore often promotes "very positive lyrical content." The genre can also feature harmonic guitar riffs,
tremolo picking
Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs alternating downward and upward strokes in a continuous fashion. If the technique is performed at high speed on a single string or course voicing the same note, it may be referred to ...
,
double bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...
s and metalcore-stylized breakdowns.
Some bands include
guitar solo
A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...
s.
["Taste of Chaos", ''Revolver'', June 2008, p. 110. "This is the Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour, a night when heavier melodic-metalcore bands like Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold intend to position themselves as the next generation of bands to actually pack arenas (...)".] Bands such as
Trivium
The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...
,
As I Lay Dying
''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...
and
Bullet for My Valentine take a significant influence from
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
.
See also
*
List of melodic metalcore bands
The following is a list of bands described as playing melodic metalcore, a genre of music combining metalcore with melodic death metal.
List of bands
*36 Crazyfists
*7 Angels 7 Plagues
*A Day to Remember
*The Agonist
*All That Remains (band), All ...
*
List of metalcore bands
Metalcore is a broad fusion genre of extreme metal and hardcore punk. Its subgenres include mathcore and melodic metalcore. This incomplete list includes bands described as performing any of these styles, including those who also perform othe ...
*
Melodic hardcore
Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. It generally incorporates fast rhythms, melodic and often distorted guitar riffs, and vocal styles tending towards shouting and ...
*
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...
*
Swedish death metal
Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. U ...
References
{{Extreme metal
Metalcore genres
Fusion music genres
Heavy metal genres
Hardcore punk genres
British rock music genres