A Beginner's Guide To Heavy Metal #12 - Deathcore

Metalcore proved that once again, punk and metal can co-exist. However, many felt that it was lacking all of the punch of other metal sub-genres. How do we solves this? Take the riffs and breakdowns of metalcore and throw in the groove and aggression of death metal. The result being the darkest and heaviest music to breach the mainstream since Pantera hit number 1. A new group of angry innovators espousing dark lyrics, growled and shrieked vocals, and some of the heaviest guitar riffs ever heard by human ears have come to spawn countless imitators pitifully trying to match the intensity of the originals. It has come under it's fair share of controversy and criticism, to which I say, it's metal. What did you expect?

Disclaimer: As stated in my previous article, as this genre is still very young and there are great number of copy cat bands that frankly are boring to listen to, this will be another top 5.

After providing one of the most essential death metal recordings of the 2000s with their debut EP Doom, Arizona's native band of blasphemers released the album that many consider to be the launch of deathcore with their first album. The death metal growls and screams we already knew them for, but with an added increase of melodic riffs, grooves and breakdowns to officially usher in the new sub-genre.

Winds of Plague have made a name for themselves not just in the deathcore circuit, but in the modern world of heavy metal in general by proving you don't need a heavily down tuned guitar sound to be insanely heavy, steadfastly sticking to a standard E tuning on their recordings. They are also one of the only deathcore bands to fully embrace keyboards as part of their sound, adding a symphonic element to their music that only further serves to highlight the melody that permeates the pummeling riffs delivered on every track.

Some of the most insane screams I have ever heard are on this album. Often straddling the line in many eyes between straight forward death metal (they are hailed of one the bands to keep championing death metal in more the early 2000s), the riffs and melodies put forth, especially on this recording, to me make them a much better example of the sub-genre that was going to secure death metal's influence in the world of metal, while bringing about a new kind of monster..

One of the most eyecatching covers to grace a metal album and one of the best selling albums of the genre, Suicide Silence is the name that comes to mind when many think of deathcore. Intense grooves, heavy breakdowns, and dark lyrics delivered in some of the lowest growls and most demented screams ever put on a recording courtesy of the sadly recently departed Mitch Lucker, this is one I imagine many young metal heads finding years from now.

Warning: If you have a history of neck problems, do not buy this album. It is so heavy I literally had trouble holding my head up the first time I listened to it. Three guitars, earning them the title of death metal's Lynard Skynard, all down tuned for an unbelievably heavy sound, other bands may have more melodies and better screams, but none better display just what a good heavy groove and dark atmosphere should sound like. If you like it loud and heavy, this is one you simply cannot be without.

As with metalcore, there are a lot of bans in this sub-genre that are very lackluster. But in time, as with all things, these are the ones that I believe will stand the test of time and seeing as deathcore is by most accounts not even a decade old, there will probably be many more in the future.