Worst Genre: Metalcore,Deathcore or Nu-Metal?

nu-metal is gonna walk with this

Metalcore has been the most ubiquitous sub-genre of metal this decade commercially. It's awful and amongst metal fans I'd expect it to win BUT there's a newer form out called Deathcore which is a mix of metalcore and melodic(some say soft) death metal and is now the up and coming (shitty) genre, Terrorizer has been getting lots of flak for covering these bands but they say they have to so the magazine will be kept going, it's not their fault that tossers buy that shit.
Nu-Metal on the other hand despite being pretty much dead commercially for years, is still remembered by those who dont care about metal, so that might win if those who like polls but arent into metal just click to vote out of habit, OR is it really still worse than the other 2 since Limp Bizkit and Linkin park probably still garner airplay?
You decide!

nu-metal is gonna walk with this

― strongohulkingtonsghost,

Jess you've been away a couple of years, Miccio converted ILM to Nu-Metal as it was pop-metal so pop always wins out on ILM and Linkin Park are as canonised as My Bloody Valentine and Steely Dan now.

Do System Of a Down count as Nu-Metal? Cos I like them.

SOAD and Deftones fans tell you "theyre not nu-metal"

i dunno man. that first deftones album sure did reek of the eye-brow pierced, dreadlocked angst-call that characterised korn and whoever else. not saying that's necessarily too bad a thing.

nevertheless, nu-metal has got to be the worst genre on display here. i mean, converge or botch might qualify as metalcore in many people's eyes. and those bands are great. not so happy about this 'deathcore' phenomenon, but am aware that it's rooted in gothenburg melodic death metal which was my gateway into extreme metal in the mid to late 90s. so it's redeemed on that level at least.

nu metal is like goth in that if a band is any good, their supporters will say "they don't really fit into the genre" i.e. "they're not lame and everybody else in the genre is lame to the point where lameness is kind of a genre requirement"

All three genres certainly have some horrifyingly awful bands, but I certainly don't think any of the three can be completely written off. But I'd have to say when nu-metal is bad, its really fucking bad and thus gets my vote.

Is metalcore distinct from "crossover"? If it isn't, then I like a shitload of it.

SOAD are definitely nu-metal to me, but then I don't like them. Somehow I've avoided ever knowingly listening to the Deftones.

Also, when it comes to more recent metal bands, I tend to ignore the labels and genre tags throw on different sites. I mean, yeah, "metalcore sucks" but I've also seen Between the Buried and Me referred to as "metalcore" and they certainly don't suck. Plus I don't think that tag really fits them anyway.

as far as the whole disowning of genre thing goes that john d mentioned, i think it's due in large part to the fact that there's a massive consciousness to do with image amongst fans of music that explicitly falls into a particular genre. nu-metal is an easy target because of how ridiculous the imagery is. it's much easier to take on board a deftones recommendation from a dude who is a bit more ambiguous image-wise and whose favourite bands are stereolab and guided by voices.

Is metalcore distinct from "crossover"?

Yes. Very much so.

The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands like Earth Crisis, Merauder, Deadguy and Integrity. The earliest of these groups, Integrity, began performing in 1989.Metalcore is distinguished from other punk metal fusions by its emphasis on breakdowns: slower, intense passages conducive to moshing.

metalcore (1997–present)

In the late 1990s, a third wave of metalcore groups appeared, who placed significantly greater emphasis on melody. Such bands as Unearth, Bullet for My Valentine, As I Lay Dying, Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, All That Remains, Shadows Fall, Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada (band), Sonic Syndicate and Atreyu are the most commercially successful practitioners of metalcore. Other notable metalcore bands include The Autumn Offering, The Sorrow, Haste the Day, Darkest Hour, Caliban, Parkway Drive, In This Moment. These groups took major influence, cues, and writing styles from melodic death metal bands, particularly In Flames and At the Gates. Melodic metalcore frequently makes use of clean vocals, and is significantly less dissonant than other metalcore. Some of these groups, such as Shadows Fall, have voiced an affection for '80s glam metal. Melodic metalcore groups have been described as "embracing" '80s metal clichés", such as "inordinate amounts of smoke machines, rippin' solos, and three bass drums".

In the mid-2000s, metalcore emerged as a commercial force, with several independent metal labels, including Century Media and Metal Blade, signing metalcore bands. By 2004, melodic metalcore had become popular enough that Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache, and Shadows Fall's The War Within debuted at numbers 21 and 20, respectively, on the Billboard album chart. Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine's second album, Scream Aim Fire, went straight to #4 on the Billboard 200. Underoath's album Define the Great Line, released in 2006, peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 charts. Hatebreed, God Forbid, and As I Lay Dying have also charted. Underoath's most recent album Lost in the Sound of Separation has reached #8 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 56,000 copies in its first week of sales in the U.S. alone. Also, Killswitch Engage's newest album "Killswitch Engage" has reached #7 on the Billboard 200.

This is one of those "noisecore" things isn't it, where I use the word like it was first used, and now it means something different </old man>

Deathcore is an amalgamation of two musical styles: metalcore and death metal.
Deathcore is heavily influenced by modern death metal in its speed, heaviness, and approach to chromatic, heavily palm muted riffing and dissonance. Traditional growls, and screaming are prevalent, often combined with metalcore (clean) vocals. Much of deathcore features breakdowns and melodic riffs common in metalcore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deathcore_bands

Job For A Cowboy are deathcore, I'm sure everyones heard them by now.

nu-metal is the least irritating by far, because who really takes it seriously. think i'm voting deathcore because... well, i have ears.

See I think Job For a Cowboy's new album is actually decent, even after hating the last one.

nu-metal is the least irritating by far, because who really takes it seriously.

yeah, anyone into metal dismissed it mostly. Those who took it seriously were mostly only into nu-metal and dismissed "old/trad metal" ,which is why Nu was affixed to it so that kids would get into it that wouldnt go near metal (it was the mid 90s when metal was really really uncool remember).
Nu metal also crossed over to mainstream kids. Most actual metalheads despised it.

Deathcore and Metalcore havent had the same crossover success which is probably why nu-metal will walk this poll. but really the 3 genres are equally as bad as each other. But most of ILM will have been able to avoid metalcore and deathcore.

This is one of those "noisecore" things isn't it, where I use the word like it was first used, and now it means something different </old man>

― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 13:49 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Ehh, sort of but noisecore is more like two diff't sets of people having an idea for a name independently of each other... there are plenty of links in the chain WRT what metalcore turned into, mainly Victory Records. (Also while we're nitpicking, Century Media signed metalcore bands in like the mid 90s)

what does noisecore mean now?

it doesn't mean A.C., 7 minutes of nausea, that kind of thing?

lol that was my point, that is what it means now, apparently.

It used to mean stuff like Confuse and Disorder.

But yeah I get what DJ Mencap's saying - I think since I mostly encounter the term around vaguely "punk" people, they use it to mean that stuff, whereas I guess more "metal" people use it to mean AC? I dunno, I'm probably talking out of my arse at this point.

I thought you were talking about it being used to describe very technical bands like DEP or Botch, which I would say was the most prevalent overall

Weird. Usually that kind of technical complexity is the opposite of "noise"!

cryptopsy is listed as deathcore on the wiki link, that is some bullshit

other bands I like on this list: god forbid (who I think are excellent), the red chord, shoot black dahlia murder isn't bad either

Yeah I remember liking some Red Chord stuff... assuming Cryptopsy are on there on the basis of their last album (which I never actually heard)?

Yeah I avoided that one cos everyone said it was shit!

im pretty sure its because of their last album that fans said was a sell out.

and I think the rolling metal thread folks hated it too

No Crabcore, no credibility.

hahaha

There are some good, formulaic deathcore and metalcore bands that I enjoy. Can't say the same for mu-metal.

I wouldn't say nu-metal is dead commercially, Disturbed and Godsmack still sell very well, and a ridiculous number of people bought the new Otep album a couple weeks ago.

And you can't call SOAD and Deftones nu-metal, they transcended that tag ages ago.

Weird how God Forbid would be called deathcore...their new album leans towards traditional metal more than anything.

mu-metal.

Whoops.

Moo-Metal

luckily i've been spared most of this nonsense but going on the few bands i've unfortunately heard, it's metalcore

youre too young to remember nu-metal then i assume?

wish i was

dude idk - what's nu-metal, limp biskit and the like? that's not as bad as underoath or the devil wears prada

Um... hmm.

Come to think of it I'd much rather listen to Godsmack than the Devil Wears Prada.

tough call.

I'd count botch/converge as metalcore and those bands rule.

on the nu-metal tip, I like linkin park "faint" and deftones. "let the bodies hit the flo" is pretty lolsy, too.

deathcore has no reason to exist, as far as I can tell. gonna go with that.

Botch maybe but not Converge, but yes, both rule, and even if they were metalcore, they still couldnt save it as a genre.

I like tons of others 90s metalcore bands too (rorschach, coalesce, early cave in, etc.) but different strokes for different folks.

yeah, metalcore now doesn't mean what it used to mean. now people just use it to describe all the horrible melo-death-influenced crud.

nu-metal is definitely the worst though. i can't think of a single nu-metal band i would want to listen to. the only times i could stomach some nu-metal bands is when they let their new wave flags fly. some of them were just frustrated goth bands in metal drag. and the ministry + nine inch nails elements were easier to take than the rap + pantera elements.

When they were hardcore they had no metal and when they were metal they had no hardcore

(that's why not, multiple xps)

that too

xxxpost - Word As Law and Souls at Zero are definitely the tipping points between their hardcore and metal eras. As someone who saw those early tours, I certainly remember a lot of punks crying foul that Word As Law sounded like Metallica and that Souls At Zero sounded like a movie soundtrack.

They really had me from Pain of Mind thru Enemy of the Sun. With Through Silver in Blood came Ozzfests and Pantera tours and I lost interest until Times of Grace.

No matter what they do, I like the band and respect them. But when I reach for an album to spin, it's always one of the first 4.

Just because they went on ozzfest after TSIB ,you shouldnt hate it! It rules!

Nu-metal doesn't bother me now, hated it at the time, but I am v unlikely to actually hear it.

Metalcore and Deathcore I'm not sure about yet - can somebody clarify by saying if they are True Metal or False Metal?

xpost-I don't hate it. I just didn't give it a chance. Yet.

Do it!

you wont be disappointed.

you will regret not hearing it sooner

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

does even chuck hate nu metal?

all the death metal djs at my radio station hate "core," and complain about it all the time, which is weird cause i can't even tell one from the other and i listen to deathmetal. i guess it's like how the line between emo and pop punk is really thin and ambiguous, but certain pop punk kids still the shit out of hate emo.

Horrorcore

*still hate the shit out of emo.

also by "core" i mean deathcore.

if those voting for nu-metal had heard loads of metalcore and deathcore bands im not sure they would vote nu-metal tbh. but i dont blame them for not wanting to check it out.

The thing with deathcore, while I don't think much of it as a style, is that someone who didn't fuck with DM in the first place probably wouldn't find it appreciably less likeable than grown-up DM

(the same might go for metalcore depending on what kind of thing we were talking about)

i wonder which core will finish 2nd to nu metal. Im gonna guess metalcore as deathcore is still kinda new and not as well known yet.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ok that was unexpected. In a years time deathcore will walk a re-run btw

suck crabclaw you metalcore dinosaurs!

that can be round 2

no postcore?

maybe Jockcore

I have nothing against testosterone or any other hormone. Also, I refute the liberal lie that masculinity = evil and femininity = good.
On the other hand, I do loathe the kind of bands you're describing and wish I could slap their witless heads with a large stick.

where my steroids then?

I'm finding metalcore a bit more loathsome than nu-metal these days because nu-metal seemed to flame out quicker, and also put out more material that I liked even though I overwhelming hated it?

I mean I hate to be 'that scenester guy', the one I made fun of in my early 20s, but my problem with the hardcore metalcore scenesters (they exist) is their indignance at being called 'metalcore', they want to be considered metal and moreso want this subgenre branded as the epitome of metal.

I mean I know, I know, far be it for me to cast stones at metalcore-heads when there are knuckle-dragging metalheads who basically consider any kind of musical progression a travesty and express the same narrow tastes (I tend to avoid these people as well), but this past week an acquaintance posted to FB asking specifically for metal recommendations and it was somewhat aggravating to me that out of all 10-11 respondents, about 7 of them pretty much listed all metalcore bands and no music pre-2005.

Metalcore as a subgenre had a lot of potential, I was really into Killswitch Engage's "Alive or Just Barely Breathing" and Shadows Fall's "Of One Blood" because there were genuine instrumental hooks on them and there was a lot of effort placed into the compositions, but instead of using the template as a launching pad, it kind of just became a LiteBrite pattern...even KE having diminishing returns over time in aping themselves.

Nu-metal was aggravating because of its machismo and how dumbed down it was but a lot of their fans at least recognized it *wasn't* metal and was its own thing. And while I realize metalcore isn't any legitimate 'threat' to metal as a genre like a bunch of laughable scenesters accused nu-metal of in the early 00s, it does grate on me the revisionism that many of these hardcore metalcore fans want to apply to metal. LIke they want to have a place at the table without earning it.

It's why I often dread going to Rockstar Mayhem Fest even when there are great lineups. When I saw Motorhead the pussies behind me were heckling them while roaring until they were hoarse for the uber-generic and dull All That Remains. Nu-metal was a gateway for many people to get into metal (Slipknot especially cos of their dabbling in elements of grind) whereas metalcore isn't serving as much as a gateway cos these kids don't want to leave their comfort zone and just want this limp-dicked brand of warmed-over sub-Sentenced-Amok era riffs with emo choruses until their hearts explode.

at the end of the day they're harmless and not a real threat to metal (unlike nu-metal, I see few long-standing metal bands co-opting any of this shit other than maybe Machine Head, and even then only trace elements) so this is really more "old guy on lawn" ranting but I really am tired of starting convos with people about music and having them say they like metal and getting excited only to hear them say "YEAH man Five Finger Death Punch and Halestorm are the best, man" and realizing that I'd better change subjects quick lest I experience Teufel's Tomb levels of scenester rage.

also Tear Out the Heart are like the worst thing I've ever heard, I buried their album under a pile of books at the local indie shop where Avenged Sevenfold fans will never find it

I really am tired of starting convos with people about music and having them say they like metal and getting excited only to hear them say "YEAH man Five Finger Death Punch and Halestorm are the best, man"

this scenario is so alien to me wrt the way I converse with people

idk if it's luck or apathy on my part but I never really feel like I'm hugely invested in someone else liking the same things as me

I don't really care about it either given the genre I've chosen. Perhaps two of my friends are into it tops.

But it's disappointing when I meet someone IRL who is into the stuff only to find out its just 'that' subgenre' they like which makes the convo less interesting.

tho that's often one reason I chat up strangers at shows anyway.

I see few long-standing metal bands co-opting any of this shit other than maybe Machine Head
Who were part of that earlier breed of knuckle-dragging Pantera clones to begin with. It's always been like this, you know...I really am tired of starting convos with people about music and having them say they like metal and getting excited only to hear them say "YEAH man Five Finger Death Punch and Halestorm are the best, man" same thing happened twenty five years ago when people would wheel out Mötley Crüe and insist that "their first album was really badass" and shit. Or in the 90s when half the world walked around with Cowboys From Hell and Tool longsleeves.

Today, I can live with the hordes of metalcore fans, they don't really harm anyone and same goes for the gauged eared beardo slackers in Opeth and Mastodon shirts. It's not as if a Bölzer, Asphyx or Mgła cannot find a decent audience or have trouble recording music, metal's a big tent.

And I don't think metalcore "revisionism" is a big threat anyway, is there anyone who would really put a Job For A Cowboy record in any all-time Metal canon? If RYM is any indication, appreciation for metalcore pretty much starts and stops with Converge, who admittedly are terrible but there's exactly one metalcore record in the Metal Top 100 of the 2010's, and two (also fuckin' Converge) for the 2000s. Come to think of it, I'm actually more appalled by the love for Deathspell Omega and Blindead.

is there anyone who would really put a Job For A Cowboy record in any all-time Metal canon?

Depends how long the list is, but yes. Have you heard their latest album? They've abandoned the deathcore sound and gone full-on prog-death; they sound like Atheist now.

Well if it takes a metalcore band to abandon metalcore altogether in order to finally make a respectable/critically acclaimed record, that kind of proves my point really re: metalcore's place in the metal canon :)

I like all their albums, though...

Honestly, I find the vituperation directed at metalcore kind of baffling. Is it boring and samey at times? Sure, but so is sewer-dwelling DM like, well, Asphyx or Bölzer (I couldn't tell two songs by either band apart with a gun to my head). But what do I know? As you say, metal's a big tent; I listen to Mötley Crüe and Pantera for pleasure all the time, and most "trve" metal released in the last decade fills me with a mixture of boredom and rage. Frankly, I think black metal is the worst thing to ever happen to metal.

I was in agreement with your sewer dwelling DM comment until you shat on Asphyx, who I don't really think fit that description at all (maybe Pathology or something like that)?

I mean I said a lot of the same things as you all upthread - metalcore isn't a *threat* to metal in any sense. I didn't think nu-metal was either (unlike the DALnet nerds who used to say "metal and nu-metal can't co-exist" - wtf), though it obviously had an effect on some older bands that had never previously espoused these sounds that added them to their oeuvre later (ie Slayer), which I don't really see happening with metalcore at all. I think the expanded options that bands have for recording and distributing music in this day and age have kind of staved that off a bit.

As I said upthread, it's more an 'old guy on the lawn' rant. I have no interest in scene 'purity' or being tr00 either, I usually roll my eyes at those folks (how many metalheads does it take to change a lightbulb? 10, one to change the bulb and 9 to whine about how much better the old bulb was). (Also I like Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil" album!!!). and I do like Job for a Cowboy's last album (it's seriously awesome).

Perhaps I should have said 'melodic metalcore', because the metallic hardcore stuff like Botch, Integrity, Converge, Cave In, Coalesce etc is seriously awesome. for purposes of this thread was just kind of explaining why I currently hate melodic metalcore more than the rest. Deathcore seems far less prevalent to aggravate me and nu-metal would probably be annoying if it actually had any kind of presence in 2015.

Come to think of it, I'm actually more appalled by the love for Deathspell Omega

o_O!

I've been listening a lot to the Sirius Liquid Metal station, and it's kind of like listening to a talk show in Esperanto: totally recognizable but sort of hard to understand. Whole variety of hyper-hyphentated "core" going on there. Every few weeks something I'll come across a rare classic Metallica or Maiden track and I'm like the old guy going "I know that!" And then it's back to this insanely technical growly stuff.

august burns red are a great fucking metal band and are totally metalcore, idk

of course ymmv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3y8KkfNqYo

feel like i mention the same 1-2 bands every time i'm like "oh yeah metalcore can be totally great beyond converge" but it is a very narrow range of bands afaict

also misery signals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqMfm0bOFLk

The only deathcore I'll acknowledge:

http://i59.tinypic.com/255i2qh.jpg

Metalcore and deathcore don't have to suck, right? I mean the crossover era produced some good albums, why is this shit so meathead and dumb?

i don't think i actually know how to recognize deathcore, it's such a minor permutation of metalcore

The vocalists have halitosis

Iirc Corpsegrinder's breath smells like chrysanthemums

I'd imagine it smells like whatever his neck is full of

Ferrets

cool that as i lay dying let their lead singer – you know, the guy who put a hit out on his wife – back into the fold and nme called it 'controversial.' uhhh

funny zing I heard at a Ringworm show from members of the band to their fans - "those parts between the breakdowns are known as 'riffs', folks"