If you know me, you know that I love my rock music. Over the last couple of years I have discovered one genre in particular that speaks to me like none other, and that would be metalcore. Now before you leave the article and pass this off as nonsense, we all have different tastes in music. We all have bands that we like that some might not like. That’s the beauty of music, being that there is so much content out there, that not one person really has the same exact taste. But metalcore is pretty underrated.
Metalcore combines elements of metal and hardcore punk, and is noted for its use of breakdowns, slow, intense passages conducive to moshing. Most of these bands tend to derive off of some sort of trauma. Most members of every metalcore band, that I follow, seems to have had some sort of moment in their life that’s defined them over all else. And I can hear it in their music, particularly in the lyrics. Bands like: I Prevail, Breaking Benjamin, Slaves, Thousand Below, Villain of the Story, Dance Gavin Dance, Bring Me the Horizon, Asking Alexandria, Architects, Of Mice & Men, The Word Alive, Motionless In White, Siamese, From Ashes to New, Sleeping With Sirens, GHOSTKID, Crown The Empire, Atreyu, Memphis May Fire, Blessthefall, The Amity Affliction, We Came As Romans, Annisokay and Bad Omens were all founded on some sort of “tragedy.”
The genre as a whole gets the usual slander that its either too heavy, too depressing, or emo. But that’s not the case at all. When someone hears the word “metalcore” they see metal, and instantly write off the song or the genre because of one of those stereotypes. There is a difference between heavy metal and metalcore. I’d argue that metalcore is right in between heavy metal, if not lighter than that. These songs blend punk rock and metal into a beautiful combination of greatness
For so long this genre didn’t really consist of many women, particularly as frontline singers for the bands. But slowly but surely women have begun to make waves in the industry and more women have been wanting to get in on the action. It’s difficult for a female to hit certain vocals that metalcore usually consists of every now and then within some of these songs. But Siiickbrain’s opening vocals on her collaboration with Maggie Lindemann on their song GASLIGHT!, is a perfect example of what can be done.
Lindemann is a newcomer to the metalcore group whose a solo artist and she used to be strictly a pop singer. She recently dropped an EP titled Paranoia, and its eight songs are all quite special. Shontay Snow of the band Saviour is another perfect example of a rising woman in this industry. The band’s latest song, Worlds Collide, is indeed pretty heavy throughout the entirety of the song. But Snow’s vocals provide a really good lighter tone to it, that gives the song a lighter feel at the end of day. Diamante will soon be releasing her next album, and has said in the past that this next album will consist of heavier songs. Her latest songs, Obvious and Ghost Myself, are a good framework for what’s to come.
Metalcore provides me, as someone whose struggled with mental illness for a while, some kind of help and in some instances, guidance. These bands and these band members speak to me, and since some of them have dealt with what I have, its reassuring to see them succeed at what they love to do. It’s motivated me throughout the pandemic to not give up hope, and to look at the future as motivation to be the best me that I can be. For example, I see myself in I Prevail’s lead singer Brian Burkheiser. He struggles from stage freight and has gotten really nervous in the past ahead of shows. Hearing stories about how he’s had to deal with that in the past, is crazy because he’s a lead singer! But he’s handled it perfectly as I Prevail has gone on to become on of the most popular metalcore bands today.
So the next time you come across a song by any of the bands I mentioned, or in the metalcore genre in general, listen to it. Instead of skipping it, listen to the song and hear the lyrics. I guarantee you that you’ll find something there that you love.