I have this love/hate relationship with the deathcore genre. On one hand I really like some of the bands in the mix and on the other I really hate the genre all together.

The problem is that there are so many deathcore bands out there and it’s become so trendy and I feel that a lot of the bands out there doing it are doing it for the sheer popularity of it. That and perhaps it’s easy. Some are so simplified that they are more hardcore in the metal sense that their music isn’t really all that technical and the only thing that holds it in the “death” genre of it all is the lyrics and vocals.

I think a lot of bands are mistakenly thrown in to the genre and there are others that are extremely technical that deserve more credit that they get because they are thrown in to the deathcore cesspool.

There are the bands that over-do the breakdowns and other bands that their songs sound like one big run on sentence. There are the ones that try to be too technical with their lead rhythms and it takes away from the rhythm and makes the music stale. It’s nice when I find a deathcore band that has found the comfortable medium of these two problems and can make it all flow.

See, Deathcore is like the new Nu-Metal. It’s hated by many and loved by many more. Some people want to listen but are ashamed or afraid that their metal reputation will be tainted if they admit to liking a deathcore band. Like most bastard genres, it started out small and then multiplied like rabbits when it started to become popular.

So as I said. It’s really a love hate thing going on here, just like nu-metal was. There were some really cool bands that you liked but you didn’t like the genre as a whole because it was being ruined by so many wanna-be’s. I think over time it will phase itself down to the bands that really matter and the rest will just be myspace bands again, wondering what the hell happened as they return to their day jobs. If they have fun doing it and put their heart in to it while it lasts, then good for them. If they’re just out there because they think it’s the cool thing to do then they deserve to be forgotten.

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Post from: Metal Martyr

That’s kind of a stupid question and I think we all know the answer, right? I mean there have been posers since the beginning and there are always people that want to be a part of what is deemed “cool” at the moment, but it seems things have changed since I was younger. It wasn’t “cool” to like heavy metal when I was in high school. It wasn’t cool to wear a metal T-shirts with profanity or gore on it and it wasn’t cool to like much of anything but top 40 crap. If you liked metal music or wore anything that even remotely looked “metal”, then you were a social minority.

Granted some people in the scene are still classified as outcasts, but there are a millions kids out there today that are jumping on the bandwagon because it’s what is cool at the time. You think these same kids are going to be liking metal in 5 to 10 years? Probably not because I can guarantee that most of the bands they like will not be around after that. After that there will be a bunch of sleeved kids with gaping holes in their faces and tattoos running up their necks, wondering why they can’t find a job. People will often use the excuse that they “Outgrew” that kind of stuff, but metal isn’t something you outgrow. You outgrow clothes, you outgrow toys and you outgrow certain T.V. shows…but you don’t outgrow metal.

Here is an example of how stupid this trend has grown. Wikihow has an article on How To Start A Deathcore Band. I seriously hope this is a joke and I’m 99% sure it is. If you look closely towards the bottom after the “Tips”, in the “Warning” section it again says; “Don’t Be A Poser Fool“. If you’re looking online to find out how to start any band of any genre…then you’re a posing trend whore. I’m not hating on all the ‘core bands…just the ones that are started because it’s a trendy thing to do and they have no history or knowledge of bands in either of the combined genres they are emulating.

I’m just waiting on the day when there is a new genre called “Black-Deathcore”, when we start seeing bands on stage with baggy shorts down past their knees and half hanging off of their asses, with a flat brimmed hat, plugged ears, gauntlet arm bands and corpse paint. That’s going to be a sad day in metal.

Image ©Metal Martyr 2009

Post from: Metal Martyr

A friend (Martin) and I went to a local show last night here in North Carolina to check out the band Seneca that recently got signed to Lifeforce Records. It was at a very small venue but due to it being a Sunday and Thanksgiving weekend it was very dead. Maybe 30 people in the place and that included members of the 5 bands that were playing. Oh yeah, There was three karate moshers. Well two karate moshers and one dude that had three moves, one of which I swear looked like a silly, non-perfected ballet move. And what the hell is up with people wearing hoods inside? Anyway the bands were good (talent wise) but very little set them all apart from each other.

The first band up was The Lineage who were ok, but nothing I’ve never heard before. The heavy, crunchy deathcore. The same goes for the next band, Joe Grizzley. The singer of Joe Grizzley sang a little less of the deathcore/death metal style and opted for a more hardcore sound at times. The bass player’s voice actually sounded better to me. The third band up was a younger bunch called The Harbingers Way. Now these guys sounded slightly different in that they had a little bit more of a melody to them. Seneca was hard and heavy and Wretched had some really good guitar playing, but none of these bands really set themselves apart from each other.

The plague I’m talking about is nothing new and hasn’t already been talked about a million times over. I’m just starting to see the trend more and more. This deathcore/metalcore trend is so redundant in that a new band pops up with every other breath you take. It’s like kids cruising on myspace and hearing a band and saying “We can do that”.

The first problem with this trend is that it’s getting old to me really fast. The next problem and not so much for me but for the bands that play this same type of music is that they think they are great and expect to get signed sometime soon. Newsflash!!! YOU SOUND LIKE EVERY OTHER BAND OUT THERE! You might get lucky (or unlucky) and get signed to some basement, indy label, but if you don’t set yourself apart everyone else you’re just going to get lost in the mix of all the others out there. If you’re just out there doing what you love to do and like touring for pennies, then yippee for you but sooner or later you’re going to need a good job. Tickets were $8 last night to see 5 bands and this place was dead. The bands didn’t make much, if any money last night.

Another thing that kills me is the lack of good song structure these days. The songs are short and aren’t good for much more than standing in one spot and banging your head, just to stop for some strange out of place breakdown somewhere in the mix. Breakdowns and bridges are great in the right places. You know what else is good? A good rhythm hook and a fist pumping, sing along chorus. A chorus and rhythm that get’s people pumped. A lot of people don’t like hardcore and bands like Hatebreed but the reason that people do like them is because of the Choruses. “Destroy Everything!”. I mean how silly and cliche does that sound? Very, but people love it and it gets a crowd moving…and sells records.

All the big bands are big because they know how to write a good song with structure and feeling instead of a flat, lead filled, “This song just started but now it’s over.” tune. Sure some say that they write the songs for themselves and that’s all fine and dandy…but if you want to be remembered next month or even next week you have to write a song that people remember. You have to write songs that don’t sound like the last song you played. You have to write songs that make people want to visit your merch table for a cd or a tee shirt. If you don’t set yourself apart then who are you besides just another trendy band with maybe a cool name. That’s the last thing fans really want.

So how do we as fans and/or musicians of metal vaccinate this plague, this virus within our genre? Absolutely nothing. It’s one of those that you have to let run it’s course and hope it dies off on it’s own sooner or later…and it will. Either that or it will “genretically” mutate and start another trend.

Post from: Metal Martyr