How to Get into Metal: Part 2 - History of Metal (Part 5)

Metal saw a bunch of new acts during the late 90's as well as bands with rising popularity. Groove/Industrial band FEAR FACTORY, and Groove/Thrash act MACHINE HEAD, enjoyed popularity during this time. However, during the turn of the century, metal genres took the back seat to NU METAL which saw incredible popularity during this time, but the reign was short lived.

HARDCORE TO THE RESCUE...

During the 90's, Hardcore punk did not see much action. Acts like AGNOSTIC FRONT, SICK OF IT ALL and 25 TA LIFE, helped keep the genre alive. When 2000 hit, it was time for metal and hardcore to combine again, but this time for a much heavier experience. EARTH CRISIS was not the first band to incorporate metal and hardcore together, but they did help to create a signature sound that helped create a east coast revolution. In the early 2000's, bands started to pop up with the signature metal/hardcore sound. Bands from the east coast such as KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, ALL THAT REMAINS, UNDEROATH & UNEARTH helped to form what is now known as METALCORE. The metalcore genre was like a locomotive, it started off slow to start but once it got going, bands popped up left and right with the new sound. AUGUST BURNS RED, BLEEDING THROUGH, AS I LAY DYING, TRIVIUM, ATREYU & THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA helped bring metalcore to great popularity. in the mid 2000's LAMB OF GOD, became a Grammy award winning metalcore/Groove metal band and became one of the most popular metal bands since Slayer.


All That Remains (C. 2004)

Some say hardcore died in the 80's but it was long from dead, hardcore came back in full force during the 2000's with acts such as TERROR, HAVE HEART, BURY YOUR DEAD, & The more thrash oriented SWORN ENEMY. In the mid 2000's southern California became a scene from hardcore punk  and the metalcore genre. The California Christian record label FACEDOWN RECORDS signed bands from all over the united states, bands such as COMEBACK KID, xDEATHSTARx and many others.



Sworn Enemy

 Today, metalcore still enjoys high popularity with good bands coming and going. The mid 2000's also enjoyed a new scene of people associated with hardcore punk, these people became known as EMO's. The scene quickly died out but left a imprint on hardcore punk. The new version of hardcore punk which Incorporated most of what the EMO's stood for, became known as POST-HARDCORE. The new hardcore genre kept some of its fathers traits but added more melodic sounds as well as a more "whining" vocal range. Soon, post-hardcore and metalcore collided, this resulted in bands such as BLESSTHEFALL, and OF MICE & MEN. During this time, a band incorporated both metalcore and post-hardcore as well as pop punk to create their own unique sound, A DAY TO REMEMBER has been enjoying high popularity since they came out way back in 2007.


A DAY TO REMEMBER

TIL DEATH DO US PART....

A Genre which saw not much tweaking was death metal. I mean there was the fusion with hardcore (Grindcore) and the fusion of melodic elements (Melodic Death Metal) but not much was changed. It was time Metalcore became fused with death metal. The first band to do this was DESPISED ICON. The genre did NOT take off quickly and some thought it was a useless genre. The new sound became known as deathcore and many metal heads were appalled by the new genre. The word deathcore became the most hated word among the metal scene. Even bands being labeled as deathcore, became mad at the name. It wasn't until SUICIDE SILENCE brought the genre to the masses and soon deathcore became a new favorite of metal heads (There were still some that hated the genre though).
Bands again, started to pop up all around the US, Bands like WHITECHAPEL, THE ACACIA STRAIN, THE RED CHORD & ALL SHALL PERISH had many LOYAL Fans



THE END...

As you can see, the metal genre has evolved into something more than just growling vocals that "you cant understand" but more about the art. ALL music is art (except "what does the fox say", and "Gangnam style", How is that art?). Metal music is here to stay and its fans are more loyal than a German Shepard dog. I will get into on the next blog, how to enjoy all these genres EASILY even if you find this music annoying of loud.

Disclaimer: In case you are wondering why I threw in the history of hardcore punk in with the history of metal, is because hardcore has had a massive impact on metal, as you can see.

Another disclaimer: All photos were taken from Google, I do not own any rights to them and they are strictly for educational purposes.