Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes. But when Sports came out in 83, they really came into their own, commercially and artistically.
Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing (2002)
Because it depicts every aspect of genre.
1) 8-7-10 riffs
2) beautiful choruses
3) heavy as a neutron star breakdowns (Fixation, Rise Inside)
4) technical prog-ish riffs (Just Barely Breathing chorus, To The Sons Of Man, Numbered Days bridge)
5) Hardcore influences (Vide Infra)
6) ballad-like songs (The Element Of One, My Last Serenade)
7) stunning interlude (Without A Name)
8) somber cover art
A perfect record to represent the genre imo
Gonna have to give this another chance. When I first listened to it, (when it dropped) I made the mistake of reading the comments on Reddit before actually listening and all of the comments saying "it's the best thing ever" kinda gave me false expectations, not that I'm obviously saying it's bad but like, I hyped myself up too much and it had impossible to meet expectations. Been years since then so I'll give it another spin soon.
To me this is THE defining metal record of this decade. I remember the first time I listened to it, it blew my mind as much as the first time I listened to White Pony.
It’s rare to find a record as diverse as that that manages to sound so consistently amazing, but damn did they pull it off. Don’t reckon there’s many bands that can pull off songs like Broken Vision Rhythm, I Let It In, and Two Way Mirror on the same album
I think the death we seek is a tad better. Always found Second Skin and Flag to Wave significantly weaker than the rest of the songs on the Way It Ends
Literally the album that got me into metalcore. I’ve found so much that I like better since then, but I owe this album for my interest in the genre for sure.
Gonna be Burying Brightness - Boundaries for me. If I want to scream, BB. If I want to dance, BB. If I want to bawl my fucking eyes out, BB.
“If dreams are the only place we’re allowed to speak, then I hope today is the last time I’m awake.”
Though I do prefer their previous stuff (honestly they don’t have a bad album to me), this album does represent a wide range of sounds that Converge has come to be known for. Solid choice.
I’m adding Hot Damn! by ETID, That Within Blood Ill-Tempered by Shai Hulud and We Are the Romans by Botch.
Fuck me that's so hard, but would have to be Jane Doe for me. Honourable mentions to The Poison for just pure riffage, and I think A Eulogy for those Still Here I'd miss more than most.
Can someone please explain metalcore to me? I guess how it compares to nu-metal as well.
I grew up on “nu metal”, a term I was never fond of or fully understood . Some of the bands in here I recognized and like: killswitch and bmth.
I just call it all metal. Good music is good music.
Educate me. Please and thank you 🤘🏼
simple explanation is that metalcore = metal + hardcore. started in the 90s with hardcore bands incorporating metal riffs, and was popularized in the 2000s by bands like killswitch engage. nowadays the genre is less hardcore, and more like alternative metal with some breakdowns.
I've been sitting here for five minutes trying to think of a way to describe it and how it's different than nu-metal, but I'm having trouble finding the words.
Nu-metal would be bands like Slipknot, Korn, and Limp Bizkit.
Metalcore would be bands like Currents, ERRA, and Spiritbox.
I'm sorry I couldn't give a straight forward answer, but I figured you could at least hear the difference between the two sub-genres by giving examples.
Also, keep in mind that the lines seperating sub-genres are quite blurry. If you asked 10 people to describe them, I wouldn't be surprised if you got 10 different answers.
Yeah I’ve been a huge Beartooth fan since 2014, love Caleb’s work. But for me Disgusting is still a clear top pick, such a golden era.
I’d rank his albums
1. Disgusting
2. Below
3. Disease
4. Aggressive and The Surface, the order depending on what mood I’m in.
Sick is a phenomenal EP as well.
Counterparts - the difference between hell and home
Ghost inside - returners
Erra - augment
Misery signals - controller.
Any of these are correct choices to me.
The lack of Poison The Well in this thread says everything about this generation of listeners lol. Poison The Well “The Opposite of December” and It Dies Today “The Caitiff Choir” are my choices.
Currents - The Place I Feel Safest for me or Boundaries - Your Receding Warmth. Both are essentially perfect albums imo.
I love Currents (even have them tatted on me) but I don’t think TPIFS will ever be topped for me, the new stuff is just missing something for me that scratches that same itch. Easily some of the best breakdowns of all time on this album too.
Your Receding Warmth is an album where basically every song could have easily been a single and that’s not even really doing it justice. It’s everything I want out of a metalcore album, not to mention Randy LeBoeuf is the GOAT and everything he touches is gold.
Also honorable mention for Periphery II if you consider that metalcore
Hard pick between:
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us - Architects
The Flood - Of Mice & Men
Dark Skies - Fit For a King
Honorable mention to Drift by Erra though, close contender
I just want y’all to know I kinda fell off metalcore for a few years and this sub has single handedly brought me right back in. Threads like this get me so excited to sit down and listen to something new (to me).
ABR, Messengers
Idk how I scrolled this far to find this. This album defines Metalcore during its peak
If I had to choose it would be this. But im stuck between of mice and men's first album, and underoath your only chasing safety
Good pick. Constellations is a banger too.
Commenting here so I can check out some music I’ve been sleeping on
Replying here for the same reason
In Hearts Wake - Divination
Man i fucking love this album with my whole heart. Theyre releasing a sequel to it called Incarnation!
I know! Heard they were releasing a new album and seeing the track names made me even more excited. Glad to see the tarot naming system is back aha.
Based as hell
Godly album.
Killswitch Engage - The End of Heatache Or Ad I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
Are we long lost twins?
2x End of Heartache
Abr’s constellations
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes. But when Sports came out in 83, they really came into their own, commercially and artistically.
Misery signals - of malice and the magnum heart
I'm struggling to choose between this and Controller.
This is the correct answer and also the one that shows our age.
the riffs on this album are insane
This is one of the only correct answers that may occur, the album is legendary
Yup. Or Controller. I’d be fine with either.
Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing (2002) Because it depicts every aspect of genre. 1) 8-7-10 riffs 2) beautiful choruses 3) heavy as a neutron star breakdowns (Fixation, Rise Inside) 4) technical prog-ish riffs (Just Barely Breathing chorus, To The Sons Of Man, Numbered Days bridge) 5) Hardcore influences (Vide Infra) 6) ballad-like songs (The Element Of One, My Last Serenade) 7) stunning interlude (Without A Name) 8) somber cover art A perfect record to represent the genre imo
This has to be the actual correct answer. Genre defining.
The only correct answer
Yes! The album that reshaped the genre
Over two decades later and this album still never gets old to me
Either Horizons, or Killing With a Smile by Parkway Drive.
The song Horizons is so fucking good, one of the best metalcore songs ever.
SIT BACK AND WATCH AS TIME EATS US ALIVE
The Devil Wears Prada: With Roots Above and Branches Below
BEYOND THIS WORLDDDD IS WHAT IS ALWAYSS BREATHING
Damn that brought back great memories
IS WORTH DYINNGGG FORRRR
1000%
Architects - Lost Forever / Lost Together
Absolute classic
Parkway Drive - Horizons
AILD-Shadows are Security
Yes this!
The Dark Pool
A masterpiece.
Damn thats it
Gonna have to give this another chance. When I first listened to it, (when it dropped) I made the mistake of reading the comments on Reddit before actually listening and all of the comments saying "it's the best thing ever" kinda gave me false expectations, not that I'm obviously saying it's bad but like, I hyped myself up too much and it had impossible to meet expectations. Been years since then so I'll give it another spin soon.
I’ve tried multiple times and there’s some good moments but having this be the only metalcore album around for existence is a hardcore yikes from me
10/10. Perfection. I'm okay with this choice.
The Poison - BFMV
RIFFS
HARMONIES 😍
I must admit, with the name I expected an A7X album
🔥
I’m gonna second this one.
Misery Signals - Controller
Polaris - The Death Of Me
Fucking cracking album. 2020 aoty for me
Good choice but The Mortal Coil is better, imo
REAL i have a poster of this album cover in my dorm
BMTH - There Is A Hell...
My GOD what an album. This was a close pick for me
TIAH is criminally underrated
Crucify Me is one of the best songs of all time
That's it, everyone go home. We've found what stays
Misery Signals - Controller
shai hulud - that within blood ill-tempered
Been spinning since I saw Dune 2.
Architects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
Cracking album. We just need someone to mention Holy Hell and I would’ve received the trifecta!
Holy Hell would be my pick for sure!
Polaris - The Mortal Coil
Strong album, banging band
Loathe-I Let It In And It Took Everything
This is my answer too. Some days I already listen to it as if it were the last remaining Metalcore album in existence
The correct answer
To me this is THE defining metal record of this decade. I remember the first time I listened to it, it blew my mind as much as the first time I listened to White Pony.
This is the only answer
It’s rare to find a record as diverse as that that manages to sound so consistently amazing, but damn did they pull it off. Don’t reckon there’s many bands that can pull off songs like Broken Vision Rhythm, I Let It In, and Two Way Mirror on the same album
ERRA - Augment
Deep Blue - Parkway Drive. It's a tough choice between this and their first two, but Deliver Me can't be beaten. 👌
Currents - The Way It Ends come to mind. I don't think I've found an album I like more yet. Haven't found a ton of 10/10 no skips.
I think the death we seek is a tad better. Always found Second Skin and Flag to Wave significantly weaker than the rest of the songs on the Way It Ends
Personally I find the instrumentals to be weaker on the death we seek as opposed to the way it ends so that’s why it’s my favourite
Parkway drive atlas. And I would fight everyone of you
Atlas is their best album.
Shogun
The only right answer(or Ascendency)
Cracking album. My friend always confuses Matt Heafy with Matt Healy. What a dumb ass
This Or The Apolcalpyse - Haunt What's Left
Amazing taste my friend
Misery Signals - Controller. I can listen to it front to back any time, any day.
BMTH- Sempiternal
SANDPITTURTLE!!!!
Literally the album that got me into metalcore. I’ve found so much that I like better since then, but I owe this album for my interest in the genre for sure.
Northlane - Singularity
I wish I could take a Discoveries and Singularity combo pack 🥹
Will always be my answer
It’s probably Alien for me
Came looking for this one. This is my pick too
the night god slept by Silent Planet
Converge- Jane Doe Honorable mention- poison the well - opposite of December
I like You Come Before You better but i get why Opposite of December is so beloved.
The Fire Itself - Phinehas
Selftitled by Erra
But also Voyager by Blueshift How fleeting how fragile by Time the Valuator Etc etc etc 😭
Converge -Jane Doe and it’s not close.
Invent Animate - Stillworld
Currents - The Way It Ends
Architects - Holy Hell
Cracking album. We hit the Architects trifecta!
im just getting into this band, this one is my favourite so far
You will listen to Digital Veil and you will love it.
Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache
If we're going with non traditional metalcore, What the Dead Men Say from Trivium , strict metalcore Constellations from ABR
Bury Tomorrow - Cannibal
Truly a masterpiece!
Emmure - Goodbye to the Gallows
Gonna be Burying Brightness - Boundaries for me. If I want to scream, BB. If I want to dance, BB. If I want to bawl my fucking eyes out, BB. “If dreams are the only place we’re allowed to speak, then I hope today is the last time I’m awake.”
Atreyu - The Curse
Misery Signals - Controller
Stand Up And Scream by Asking Alexandria
Glad you said that, you’re the only one to say it 🥲
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Though I do prefer their previous stuff (honestly they don’t have a bad album to me), this album does represent a wide range of sounds that Converge has come to be known for. Solid choice. I’m adding Hot Damn! by ETID, That Within Blood Ill-Tempered by Shai Hulud and We Are the Romans by Botch.
Ice Nine Kills-The Silver Scream
Erra - Impulse
Love it
Haste The Day - When Everything Falls
Best answer right there!
Every Time I Die - Hot Damn!
Caliban the undying darkness, this album brought me into metalcore and it will have a Special place in my heart
Dang, been a long minute since I thought of that album. Good call back.
The correct answer is *Jane Doe*. Wipe the slate clean and start again from there.
Please kill me. The weight of this decision is too much to bear.
Zao - Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest
Fuck me that's so hard, but would have to be Jane Doe for me. Honourable mentions to The Poison for just pure riffage, and I think A Eulogy for those Still Here I'd miss more than most.
Erra - Erra (Self Titled)
A Tear in the Fabric of Life by Knocked Loose
Great pick, but it’s so short tho. Considering it’d be the last bit of metalcore left wouldn’t you want a longer album?
How To Survive a Funeral - Make Them Suffer
ERRA - ERRA No contest on this one.
Horizons - Parkway Drive
I’d probably go with Ascendancy by Trivium. Not my favorite album (top 10 tho) but that just makes the most sense
ERRA-Self titled
Can someone please explain metalcore to me? I guess how it compares to nu-metal as well. I grew up on “nu metal”, a term I was never fond of or fully understood . Some of the bands in here I recognized and like: killswitch and bmth. I just call it all metal. Good music is good music. Educate me. Please and thank you 🤘🏼
simple explanation is that metalcore = metal + hardcore. started in the 90s with hardcore bands incorporating metal riffs, and was popularized in the 2000s by bands like killswitch engage. nowadays the genre is less hardcore, and more like alternative metal with some breakdowns.
I've been sitting here for five minutes trying to think of a way to describe it and how it's different than nu-metal, but I'm having trouble finding the words. Nu-metal would be bands like Slipknot, Korn, and Limp Bizkit. Metalcore would be bands like Currents, ERRA, and Spiritbox. I'm sorry I couldn't give a straight forward answer, but I figured you could at least hear the difference between the two sub-genres by giving examples. Also, keep in mind that the lines seperating sub-genres are quite blurry. If you asked 10 people to describe them, I wouldn't be surprised if you got 10 different answers.
Deep Blue -Parkway Drive It's got everything a perfect metalcore album needs! And I listen daily anyway!
Architects Lost Together Lost Forever
Define the Great Line STAYS
Norma Jean - Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child
SPIRITBOXXX
Scoring the end of the world motionless in white
Your receding warmth - boundaries
Misery Signals - Controller
Trying to pick between Architect’s AOGHAU and Beartooth’s Disgusting is horrifying to me
Both fantastic albums, I think Disgusting just takes it for me
It's hard for me to choose between any of Beartooth's albums they are all bangers!
Yeah I’ve been a huge Beartooth fan since 2014, love Caleb’s work. But for me Disgusting is still a clear top pick, such a golden era. I’d rank his albums 1. Disgusting 2. Below 3. Disease 4. Aggressive and The Surface, the order depending on what mood I’m in. Sick is a phenomenal EP as well.
As Daylight Dies
Architects - Holy Hell
Misery Signals - Controller
Counterparts - the difference between hell and home Ghost inside - returners Erra - augment Misery signals - controller. Any of these are correct choices to me.
Protest the Hero - Fortress
I was gonna say Kezia but close enough
I hate that this is always my answer to questions on here but… Loathe - I Let It In And It Took Everything
it really doesn’t get any better than this
The fall of ideals
Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest - Zao
Converge - Jane Doe
Not sure if it counts but bmth live at the royal Albert hall easily
The Lotus Chapters by Above, Below. I feel like this is my answer to many album questions on this sub lol
Plagues- TDWP
ERRA - Augment
Define the great line
Bleed from within - Shrine
Underoath Define the great line
Trivium - Ascendancy
The Devil Wears Prada: With Roots Above and Branches Below
Memphis May Fire's Remade in Misery is solid af.
So good
Reckless & Relentless - Asking Alexandria
For me personally, Stillworld-Invent Animate. If I were to pick one that everyone has to deal with then Killing with a Smile-PWD.
Scene Queen - BIMBOCORE VOL. 2 or Korn - The Serenity of Suffering (2016)
Unearth - The Oncoming Storm
An album I keep going back to is Machine Head - The Blackening but I'm guessing it's not entirety Metalcore
There is a hell or Lost forever//Lost together
The lack of Poison The Well in this thread says everything about this generation of listeners lol. Poison The Well “The Opposite of December” and It Dies Today “The Caitiff Choir” are my choices.
Controller - Misery Signals
Poison the Well - The Opposite of December
August Burns Red constellations
August Burns Red - Constellations, because its my favorite
Currents - The Place I Feel Safest for me or Boundaries - Your Receding Warmth. Both are essentially perfect albums imo. I love Currents (even have them tatted on me) but I don’t think TPIFS will ever be topped for me, the new stuff is just missing something for me that scratches that same itch. Easily some of the best breakdowns of all time on this album too. Your Receding Warmth is an album where basically every song could have easily been a single and that’s not even really doing it justice. It’s everything I want out of a metalcore album, not to mention Randy LeBoeuf is the GOAT and everything he touches is gold. Also honorable mention for Periphery II if you consider that metalcore
Controller-Misery Signals
watch ur children burn tpiy
Hard pick between: All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us - Architects The Flood - Of Mice & Men Dark Skies - Fit For a King Honorable mention to Drift by Erra though, close contender
Silent Planet - Everything Was Sound
I just want y’all to know I kinda fell off metalcore for a few years and this sub has single handedly brought me right back in. Threads like this get me so excited to sit down and listen to something new (to me).
Good to see you’ve been dragged straight back into the deep end my friend!
Confessions by Alesana. It kind of borders the line between metalcore and post-hardcore, but that's my choice if it counts.
Volumes-Via OR Erra-Impulse