Album Recommendations 5 - Metalcore
- The American Guitar Academy
- Aug 8
- 5 min read
It has been a good long while since doing one of these, and after the last one I wrote based entirely on Ska music, I thought I would base this recommendations blog post on metalcore - something that enveloped my highschool years.
What is metalcore?
Like any genre, sub-genre and subsequent detailing of songs that people often label by themselves, metalcore does not really have any particularly defining elements. To me, the songs are in a drop tuning (drop C or B) - see my blog post on drop C tuning here.
I also think that metalcore combines a mixture of fast riffs, slow breakdowns, clean singing and screamed vocals and ambient sections. As I have already mentioned, there is no clear distinction, at least to me, but it was all perfectly encapsulated in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies
Killswitch Engage were my favorite band for many years, to the extent that I even had a pair of branded Vans shoes when I was around 13 years old. This band has two distinct eras: the Jesse Leach era and the Howard Jones era. Jesse Leach was the original singer until Howard Jones took his place. Curiously, the band has now reverted back to the former.
I was first introduced to this band during a lesson at school. It was Black History month, and we were asked to think about some of our favourite songs or bands that feature black artists when a friend suggested this band. Thus started a journey of discovery!
Killswitch Engage - The Arms of Sorrow
This song is in 4/4 time, but it has plenty of interesting syncopation throughout to make it feel a bit more unique and not entirely straightforward. There is also a healthy mix of distorted and clean vocals, some unexpected melodies played in a major key.
I recommend this tune, but there are also heavier ones on the same album if you are so inclined.
Trivium - Ascendancy
Trivium is an interesting band to get into. Many years ago they sounded like a more aggressive, modern version of Metallica (they even recorded their own version of ‘Master of Puppets’ that you can view here). Since then, their sound has changed significantly; there have been phases of only seven string guitar, lots of drop tuning and frequent harmony sections.
Their sophomore offering ‘Ascendancy’ is amongst my personal favourites; many of the songs released on their second album are still in constant rotation during my morning commute. The songs ‘Like Light to Flies’ and ‘Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr’ are metalcore classics, but I chose to highlight the song listed below purely because of how brutal the opening riff is.
Trivium - Rain
‘Rain’ has some more subtle, octave chord based harmony split between guitar Trivium’s guitar players Corey Bealieu and Matt Heafy as well as the brutal opening riff. I also find it interesting how Heafy, who is also the lead vocalist, has adjusted his parts to fully support the song, but still be manageable for him to play at the same time.
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A Day to Remember - Homesick
A Day to Remember, commonly referred to by the acronym of their name ADTR, were one of the most explosive metalcore bands in the early 2000s. They are renowned for incorporating a distinct pop-punk edge to their sound.
One of the band’s crowning achievements was when they achieved number one on Billboard’s ‘Top Independent Albums’ in 2009 - this is the album linked above.
A Day to Remember - Downfall of Us All
Everyone who has ever been to, or at least watched a video of, a live show where heavy music is being performed knows exactly what a mosh pit is. Some songs really get the crowd riled up, and this is one of them. You can see the circle in the crowd grow ever more menacing whenever they play it live - this is not a song you would want to perform at your grandma’s 80th birthday party!
Something that sets many professional bands apart from semi-pro or amateur bands, is choreography. I do not mean a fully fledged dance routine like that found in musical stage shows, or with bands like Babymetal, but some lightly planned stage moves to give the performance a polished, professional edge. This song has a classic metalcore aesthetic, long sweeping headbanging on the 1 and 3 - it could not be any more early 2000s than that!
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Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
Bullet For My Valentine are a Welsh band that went through some metamorphosis until they settled on the name in 2003. Despite a significant rhythm section change in the mid 2010s, and through several visual and aural changes along the way, the band have managed to keep their original feel constant. The album ‘Scream Aim Fire’ is another sophomore offering and showcases an aggressive, fast-paced edge that is sometimes missing from metalcore tunes.
Bullet For My Valentine - Waking the Demon
‘Waking the Demon’ is one of my favourite Bullet For My Valentine songs. The riff is aggressive and, to those studying metal guitar, the intro especially is a great lesson in how to write for two guitar players. There are some nice harmonies and a guitar solo that, whilst on the surface looks quite tricky, in reality has some very simple phrasing and isn’t too difficult.
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Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen
Avenged Sevenfold are fast approaching their 30 year anniversary having formed in 1999, and they have been through a few changes over the years. They started with a very typical metalcore sound, but then progressed to a more commercial, mainstream rock sound in the mid 2000s. This album was the last one before the metalcore sound was diluted to some degree.
Some would argue that it’s over done, but Avenged Sevenfold are known for their frequented and extended guitar harmonies. Lead guitarist Synysyter Gates, real name Brian Haner Jr., is the son of acclaimed session guitarist Brian Haner Sr. who is most notably credited for the famous song ‘Car Wash’ by Rose Royce.
Avenged Sevenfold - Unholy Confessions
Every genre has that one song, riff or sound that is the quintessentially of that particular genre. In thrash metal, it is probably the main riff from ‘Master of Puppets’, and for reggae I would argue that Bob Marley’s hit ‘Three Little Birds’ has all the ingredients a reggae song needs. ‘Unholy Confessions’ is the song I recommend from this album, and the main riff just screams ‘metalcore’.
If you learn any song in this genre, make it this one!
Final Thoughts
Taking a brief moment to talk about guitar tone, the explosion of bands in this genre in the late 1990s and early 2000s inevitably caused some issues. Lots of bands were incredibly similar in terms of their songs, aesthetic and also their guitar tone - it seems like they did not want to be too different. The formula is simple:
Guitar with EMG pickups > Boost (usually a Tubescreamer)
> Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier > Cabinet with Celestion V30 speakers
If you are looking to nail that metalcore sound, that is all you really need. It is not difficult to mix things up from there, so sounding different will not be too hard for you. It does not mean that every band used this set up, but it set the goalposts that everyone worked towards.
Metalcore holds quite a significant place in my heart as a musician, as it is pretty much all I listened to at highschool, something I mentioned earlier in this blog post. It was a phase I soon grew out of, but there is an element of nostalgia there that will always remain - I will admit that it is not for everyone. Some stalwart heavy metal gatekeepers will claim that it is not real metal, but I think that is for you to decide!
Check out the albums and songs, see what you think and maybe discover something new.
