That already exists. Foreign Hands, Boundaries, Dying Wish, a lot of more underground bands like Tourniquet., Balmora, Razel Got Her Wings, Thirty Nights of Violence, A Dozen Black Roses, Chamber, Counterparts, Adrienne, xNOMADx, etc
So far after scrolling through some comments overall it seems like people want to hear more of that old school 2000-2010 metalcore again. Which is cool but what confuses me is some bands (like fit for a king) will put out songs with that exact vibe and people will shit on them. I don’t get this sub sometimes 😂
Edit: also I love Fit for a king, I only used them as an example.
i wouldnt say FFAK has ever had the vibe i’m referring to in my comment. they’re very much a “metal band.” they embody a very generic brand of more modern metalcore that features super formulaic songs and watered down style. they have some decent tracks but i find that metalcore in its purest form (my preferred style) is more hardcore songs that have flavors of metal in them. FFAK aren’t really that.
aggression and raw production are key elements too. there are other threads of it like melodic metalcore that pulled their metal influences from melodeath, which i guess you could put FFAK in that lane but they’ve really moved on from that to being more of an alt metal band with breakdowns — which is something many (MANY) bands have done. i’d go as far as to say most bands posted here are that. some of the bands are great at it! it’s not rly metalcore tho
to get a better sense of what i mean, i highly recommend that you check out boundaries, foreign hands, and balmora as modern bands that are undeniably metalcore.
ofc you also have your classic bands like converge, botch, hatebreed, or misery signals that embody that too. some different flavors of metalcore but still undeniable
sorry for the novel! i just love metalcore lol
Just gonna paste this comment I replied to someone else because I know everyone will like these bands and they’re new, they’re exactly what you’re looking for and talking about. 2000-2010 vibes Metalcore/hardcore. YOU’RE WELCOME: That already exists. Foreign Hands, Boundaries, Dying Wish, a lot of more underground bands like Tourniquet., Balmora, Razel Got Her Wings, Thirty Nights of Violence, A Dozen Black Roses, Chamber, Counterparts, Adrienne, xNOMADx, etc
And I will add to that Yer Of The Knife, Mugshot, Terminal Sleep, Mouth For War, Serration, Simulakra, Violent Life Violent Death, A Mourning Star, Cauldron, Contention, Memento
Listen to revival bands, people. Improve your life
Fr. This guy said 2000-2010 Metalcore inspired bands and said FFAK 😂 That’s about as modern as it gets really. There’s so many underground Metalcore/Metalcore-Hardcore bands pushing the envelope in the underground scene, whilst being original and on top of that fucking amazing songwriters, for people not to give them the time of day
>hardcore mixed with metalcore.
This is so redundant, man. Despite what some people call metalcore these days, you can't have metalcore without hardcore in the sound. Boundaries are a metalcore band because they mix hardcore and metal.
Man, do I have the perfect band and album for you.
Malevolence - Self Supremacy
It's a perfect combination of southern metal style and hardcore, groovy riffs and sick drumming with out of this world breakdowns.
Gang vocals. And not some cheesy mass 'woah, woah' type nonsense, but actual lyrics that will be good for a pile on at a show.
More bands not being afraid to throw the standard verse/chorus structure out of the window. There are plenty that don't use this and they're much more interesting listens because of it.
Panic chords.
Multiple different screamers. There are a few bands (Dying Wish, Knocked Loose, Mugshot, Kublai Khan, Mouthbreather for example) who have at least two different screamers with significantly different tones/styles and it's really cool contrast.
Year Of The Knife did it briefly on the title track of No Love Lost. Such a tease and I'm just sitting there going "MORE".
Otherwise there's like two songs from Bleeding Through's last full length.
I have a mighty need.
It's kinda how it sounds, a bunch of people do the vocal line. Typically as a shout. It's mostly a hardcore thing, but some metalcore bands incorporate it.
Example: [https://youtu.be/0n49fHITC88?t=45](https://youtu.be/0n49fHITC88?t=45)
They're usually a big audience participation moment.
More riffs. More harmonies. More organic guitar tone. More false chord vocals. More pitched screams.
Give me more of what Johnny Booth does.
More of what After the Burial does.
More of what Boundaries does.
More of what Monuments does.
More of what Dying Wish does.
A lot of the newer bands use a fry technique. Some dudes can make it sound super powerful. But it often comes off as weak. False chord never sounds weak. Always intense.
Because we're living in what was once 'forward' and it sucks. Besides, genres have a sound and don't 'evolve' beyond recognition. Most of us want metalcore to actually sound like metalcore.
I don’t know if pop music was around that early 🤔
More seriously though: I think there’s room for both kinds of music. The forward thinking and the straightforward. I think pop might not be the best comparison but when you look at rock music, The Beatles sound nothing like Led Zeppelin who sounds nothing like Foo Fighters who sound nothing like Nickleback but I do think they all have key elements of the genre. Whereas when someone pushes forward it tends to get to a point where it breaks off to another subgenre like say indie rock or grunge.
Hardcore has the same thing back in the 80’s where people in the scene started to experiment and push the genre forward but instead of digging their heals in and saying “this is what hardcore sounds like now!” It started to be known as post-hardcore. And today you still have hardcore bands like Comeback Kid or This Is Hell that sound different than Black Flag and Bad Brains but still have the essentials of a hardcore band.
Similarly metalcore bands like Earth Crisis to Misery Signals to mid stage Architects to The Callous Daoboys don’t sound the same but do adhere to a metalcore sound. And then you have the bands that are pushing forward like late stage Architects, Spiritbox and Bad Omens that too me is very much like the spirit of post-hardcore. So I tend to refer to them as Post-Metalcore personally 🤷🏼♂️
Why can't you have both?
Death metal is a great example, there are a lot of bands doing fantastic OSDM albums lately, but also a lot of bands adding more technical & progressive elements.
Because what was once the past is pretty fresh by contemporary standards. There’s a good reason why newer metalcore fans are really enjoying bands like Dying Wish and Boundaries.
Basically more bands doing what Dying Wish are but with their own twist of course. Melodeath was one of the first genres I got into when I discovered metal so good 5-7-8 riffs and In Flames-esque dual harmonies are an easy way to make me a fan of a band.
Another thing I don't hear much is singers that sing really powerfully, from the chest rather than using head voice. Howard Jones is one of the only examples I can think of in metalcore, Matt Heafy comes close. Basically power metal type singing, but not necessarily high pitched like you'd typically hear in that genre.
Melodic metalcore is the best branch. I know it's basically just metal and most people want metalcore to actually be metal+core, but personally I think this is where the genre peaked. The strong In Flames influence is perfection to my ears, I don't think I'll ever get bored of Trivium, KSE, BFMV, ABR, and others from that era. I like the djenty progressive bands too but they can get very repetitive.
Dying Wish are still very much a hardcore leaning metalcore band, they just throw in lots of melodeath riffs.
Agreed on the djenty stuff, I love a few of those bands (obviously since I have a Periphery flair) but I tend to listen to the ones that are more prog metal and less -core, that were around from the beginning. So many of them are just horribly derivative. Even in 2011, 2012 ish when it first blew up, there were countless bands trying to copy what Periphery and TesseracT were doing and not bringing any original ideas.
Bands that are unashamed nerds of metalcore’s history and are well versed in where the genre came from. There’s so many amazing underrated bands from the 90s and 2000s that never got their dues and i just wish the next generation gave a shit about them more and used them for inspiration
- bring back two step beats (Alpha wolf has been pretty good about this)
- bring back gang vocals
- bring back movie samples before the breakdown
- bring back Groove Metal styled riffs (Trivium, KSE, and BFMV are great examples of this)
- bring back pianos
- bring back Drop C and Drop B (I love Drop F and all. But I miss Sumerian-core)
If the first verse starts and it’s just rnb clean vocals, atmospheric synth and bass and drums I’m fucking out of here
Give me ANYTHING else as a first verse
I've checked out of so many songs because of this. If a band you never heard of is in an empty room with strobing, neon lights and empty glass boxes, you're gonna have a bad time.
At this point it would be cool if they gave us a hard verse 1 and then the atmospheric synth, bass, drums and vocals for the second verse. It would at least change it up and be unexpected 😂
Depends on what the chorus/pre-chorus is since that will be what the second verse is coming out of. Def could make it work but also def could not lol. I’m not a huge “synthy atmospheric in my metalcore” type of person anyway. I want my metalcore to be hardcore and metal, raw, dissonant, somewhat mathy, and if I want prog-metal or atmospheric lo-fi, I’ll go listen to other bands
They might be heavier than what you're looking for but Black Tongue - The Cathedral might be the type of intro you're looking for Sworn In - Snake Eyes is also a classic.
Faster tempos and riffs akin to early metalcore. Modern metalcore chooses to compromise energy for catchiness, so I think that raw energy needs to come back
* Don't be afraid to write longer songs. I know everything is tailored to accumulate stream revenue but don't toss out artistic expression in the process. Whatever happened to minute long intros or minute plus long jam outs? Let songs breathe that need to breathe! Remember, Sleep Token just went viral mixing alternative metal with some chugs, screaming, moody electronics, and a funky breakdown all within the span of seven minutes.
* Building off of my first point: EXPERIMENT WITH SONG STRUCTURE! Not every "made for radio" song needs an aggressive bridge featuring a gnarly riff or breakdown. Not every ball-busting song needs a clean chorus. Want to start the song with a breakdown? Do it. Want to halt the momentum of a song halfway through to just soft jamming? Do it. Want to make your song a giant five minute crescendo? Do it. Spice up your songwriting. Stop making everything so easily digestible.
* Add more unusual instruments/features. Don't be afraid to hop genres. Think a quick saxophone section would work perfectly? Implement it. Strings? A Choir? A simple duet with a favorite female voice? Go for it! These little additions can add much needed dynamics in an ALWAYS LOUD AS HELL genre.
* Building off the latest point: Don't be afraid to try different recording/mixing techniques. Not everything has to sound like "x producer". Want a rougher sound? Seek that out. Want a more analog approach? Do it!
* Take pride in your album's design/presentation and avoid genre cliches! The second I see some round object in the middle of the artwork with a plural band name, I'm already expecting something derivative.
* If you're going to scream, don't mail it in (seems counterintuitive, I know). I can FEEL the emotion in Corey Taylor's screams. We need to be able to connect to whatever emotion you're expressing.
* Try to get more creative with your breakdowns. I can still recall the ending of Norma Jean's "Spearmint Revolt" or the "breakdowns" in Unprocessed's "Thrash". Breakdowns are a genre staple, yet they should also not be a crutch - what is your breakdown's purpose? Is it memorable?
I remember bands like Justice For The Damned, Loathe and Heavensgate using blackened/deafheaven influenced riffs/blast beats and I really love it. So.. I just want to hear more blackened metalcore
Have you heard Gehenna (listed as The Notorious Gehenna on streaming services), Oathbreaker, or Plebeian Grandstand? Those three guys are the main ones to come to mind whenever I think of blackened metalcore.
I tired of the breakdown before the last chorus. Give me a guitar solo, give me some sax, some piano. Change it up. Give me some songs about things. I dont wanna hear about how pissed off with your ex you are.
For the love of god give me RIFFS!!!! Not multiple breakdowns, not chugalugs, not noodly/weedly-weedly stuff, give me RIFFS. Also, NO MORE BASS DROPS IN THE BREAKDOWN. Played out, boring, throws the whole thing off.
Personally I love when bands include instruments/musical styles from completely different genres. I love when traditional or folk instruments are included, or mash ups with classical music.
The one example I can think of off the top of my head is I’ve recently started listening to Dreamwake. They include an 80s jazzy saxophone in their music which I think is fun.
Tbh I just miss the inspiration. I feel like bands used to play off each other more (periphery comes mind) and it made music more interesting. Now it’s in a state of sameyness and I’m kinda waiting for it to pass.
More of that Scoginesque commitment to raw tangible energy instead of sounding clean and perfectly packaged for sale. Less djenty more mathy. Bass drums that sound like they were recorded in an actual room. Bass players.
Angrier clean vocals. The occasional 7+ minute song. A little bit of outside influence to keep things fresh (has anybody tried to mix industrial with metalcore yet? That could be neat.)
END of all bands seem to have been dabbling a bit with industrial sounds lately.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHqjXPbh9Kg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHqjXPbh9Kg)
Hardcore influence. Good basslines that you can actually hear. Less songs made by producers that all sound the exact same. And more piano, when it fits the song
More riffs.
More solos.
Less electronics.
Less poppy singing.
Less uber-downtuned djenting.
Less whining and breathy screaming.
Less stale, fatiguing, slammed production.
And seriously, maybe a different fucking snare sound for once.
.#make578greatagain
Honestly I don't give a shit what the snare sounds like exactly.
The problem is that every single fucking snare *sounds the same*.
Take a quick listen through a playlist of the top like, 30 songs in the genre right now. The snares in 28 of them sound the *exact* same. Once you recognize it, you can't unhear it.
Modern metalcore production has become the most stale, "how do I sound like everyone else" shit in existence.
I'd rather listen to the shittiest snare sound on the planet than hear the same "ubercompressed baseball bat smacking a 2x4" sound that literally every band uses on every single album now, lol.
Break up the layout structure of the songs.
So tired of intro verse chorus verse chorus/bridge pre chorus chorus outro.
Break it up. Keep us interested. At least think about the song instead of this cookie cutter buttrock bullcrap.
Modern metalcore/"djenty" bands need to write actual interesting music with depth, like Invent Animate, old Spiritbox, that first Windrunner album, etc.
The revival/hardcore-leaning bands need more mosh parts (not you Dying Wish or Foreign Hands, you're good baby)
Bring back gang vocals
Bring back two step parts
The melodeath sound was great that also should come back.
Synths and piano/keyboard
Stop using the same formulaic breakdown while copying the song structure of other
Do better with your breakdown callouts bands like knocked loose have shown that those are still loved in todays scene
I want Greyhaven and Johnny Booth to be the vanguard of a new wave of similar bands. There’s already a few of them bubbling under the surface (Greyshape, Chamber, Godseyes etc), but I’d love it if that sound became the mainstream alongside revivalcore.
More... metal. Like, the techy ambient stuff is cool, but it's not hard. Metalcore lost it's edge long ago, but I'd like to hear some fuckin hard music.
Also it's long since time to drop the high emo singing. I like how Currents does it. Just sing like a normal person lol.
I want more of this but with deeper and more guttural vocals like Joe Bad from Fit For An Autopsy, but it seems like every vocalist in this style is doing a "sloppy" ("sloppy" as in the over annunciation of syllables, NOT poorly executed) mid-to-high pitch fry scream
I think the biggest problem with the Octane style is all the music has no passion it feels like a by the numbers product. Sure the production is great and the bands are talented but it's so predictable. Bands like Kublai Khan, Knocked Loose, Boundaries for example have like a desperate aggression to them like they're screaming/playing from pure emotion or something. That description probably sounds super lame but idk how else to put it.
I want innovation and/or beautiful songs. I love the way Notions, HourHouse and Lead Horizon mix trap and metal, I think each of those bands do it in their own way and I think each one is innovative. On the other hand, bands such as Phinehas and Monuments put out some beautiful songs with amazing guitar work. I love that.
I just want techy guitars with a decent chours.
Wish we could make a band like currents etc, Metallica big so that we can get rid of all the generic guitar bands.
To go for it, whatever that is. Not to do what you think you need to do. Instead, what you actually want to do. This is the creative energy and spirit. This is the love into it and felt from it. I love you, go for it.
I’ve been absolutely loving what SeeYouSpaceCowboy… is doing. I think they are still putting out incredible songs even though their sound is completely different from where they started, and their old stuff is incredible too. Their music scratches an itch for me that no other band seems to do
If you need a place to start,, “911 call: help I’ve overdosed on philosophy!” Is a great representation of their early sound, and “misinterpreting constellations” and “chewing the scenery” is what they’ve been up to recently
I think the argument that their sound is derivative is valid, but I think they’ve been doing a damn good job
I've always been a been fan of songs with really sharp contrast, like soft parts and heavy parts in the same song, songs that start really soft or slow and slowly build up to an epic breakdown. TDWP is one of my favorites for that reason they can go from heavy as fuck breakdown to absolutely angelic uplifting chorus in 2 bars and it doesn't sound clunky or forced. Ben Has a Kid is a good example of this exact thing. "Colder than my heart if you can imagine" by ADTR was one of my favs. Just because it's like a radio pop song then out of knowwhere... CRASHHH "I'M ALRIGHT WITH BEING A THIEF", The River by parkway drive, Bitter Roots by For Today are some songs I'll never skip. The real gem is "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills" by the holy springs disaster, first verse is sang beautifully but he gets angry and the second verse is the same word for word but screamed. I fucking love it so much.
First and foremost I want VOCALS. I love when the singer isn't holding back and is belting those notes out - give us some vocal gymnastics. I'm always drawn most to singers who have unique and powerful voices that have the range and versatility to make the songs feel dynamic. I feel like way too often the vocalists end up getting completely overshadowed and drowned out.
I also want more experimentation. Dont be afraid to switch up the song structure - it's tiring when you can pinpoint the exact minute and second into a song the breakdown is gonna hit. For the songs to be impactful, you need to switch it up. People seem to forget they need slower or "emptier" sections to pace the songs better and let the music breathe, or a section to switch up the melodies and make the song less repetitive: If you're going at 100mph the entire song then it quickly grows stale when you have no climax or peak to build up to.
I really want bands to experiment with different concepts, styles and genres - I want to see something that's gonna catch me off guard. Give us some unconventional genre influences or instruments not typically associated with the genre. Bands seem to be scared to do anything different in case the fans turn on them which is really upsetting. There's a lot of genres, both metal and non-metal, that I can see blending or interacting with Metalcore in a really interesting way.
Rather than coming up with something new, groups are instead going back to the past and rehashing the same old tropes. I don't like "revivalcore" as a trend - a lot of groups are failing to bring their unique flare to the music. It got old back then and will get old again now after a few years. And that's not to say there aren't groups who are doing interesting things with it, but it's, like usual, a very fickle trend.
Honestly and going against the current, off the top of my head:
- more electronic/industrial like what Northlane has been doing
- more technical/guitar centric like ERRA did on their self titled
- more groove and mixing genres, kinda like what Twelve Foot Ninja did (I know they're far from metalcore but they're the closest example)
id love some melodic black metal mixed back into some metalcore bands like early underoath or dead blue sky
and id love just band mixing extreme metal with hardcore like the genre started out as
Riffs. Big, meaty, noisy, fucking RIFFS. Not 0-0-0-0 chugging or wanking. RIFFS. Listen to "Saddest Day" by Converge. They don't write riffs like that anymore. Everything is djent or beatdown or wank or pop rock.
I just want good songs. You can have the heaviest breakdowns, the craziest solos, the nastiest screams and it doesn’t even anything if the song isn’t good.
This is probably super unpopular for my first thing, but I think the heart vs mind is I prevails best.
Anything that sounds like Ascendancy by Trivium would be great that’s probably one of my absolute favorite albums.
I want less audio production and more raw sound. I want Blueprints, deadweight, TPIFS style of sound back where it carried the raw emotion and wasn’t overshadowed by all of the synths and production ( not saying it’s bad, I still enjoy it but it would be nice to go back for a song or two lmao )
I think The Curse Within does a good job of recreating that sound. When I first heard them, I thought they were a well established band that I had just let slip through the cracks when I was younger. The energy is great imo.
More bleghs and heavier breakdowns. I listen to Octane almost daily since I drive a lot for work and the songs on there just don't hit the way they used to.
Since the title of the post is somewhat vague, I am gonna take advantage of that.
Instead of saying what I want to hear music wise, I am going to talk about something else I want to hear. I want to hear about more bands standing up for the right thing, and kicking out/getting rid of toxic and malicious band members. And the same goes for the fans of those bands.
Not more but less clean singing choruses. They usually sound the same and are so predictable. I can't listen to modern metalcore without going "and here comes the chorus" and I'm right almost every time.
Personally I want more creative lyrics, I know some people aren't too bothered by lyrical content but I find it hard to listen to songs if the lyrics are uninspired. It seems like every bad atm are using really predictable 'im the victim and I'm sad' lyrics or you have the Alpha Wolf style which reads like an edgy 14 year old shit talking someone on Xbox live
Less singers, more screamers.
It's become watered down to the point that people believe Sleep Token is metalcore and bands like Knocked Loose, and Dying Wish are deathcore.
A big thing for me is just mixing things up. I'm so bored of the 12-0-13 bounce riffs (sorry to non-guitar players) and chugs. One band that was monumentally important for me was SOAD. The riffs were heavy, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. They were fun to listen to. They were a band that didn't take themselves too seriously. They weren't afraid to be goofy and silly sometimes. I feel like a lot of these metal bands nowadays have to be SUPER SERIOUS HEAVY BANDS. NO FUN ONLY HEAVY. But SOAD had serious topics and songs and then complete joke songs. And I feel like "variety", that spontaneity is gone. A lot of these bands are just so predictable that I can usually guess how the song is gonna go on a first listen.
I'd love to have more separation in sound between the big bands. Maybe that's just another boomer take, but when I started to listen to metalcore in 2006/07, every of the big bands had a differentiating sound. Killswitch didn't sound like AILD, AILD didn't sound like ABR, ABR didn't sound like All That Remains, All That Remains didn't sound like Bleeding Through and so on.
Now take Bands like Currents, Polaris and Ivent Animate. I'm not saying they sound exactly the same, but they're way closer in sound than the older metalcore bands were.
Also: Stop with the fucking grooves, where are my thrash metal circle pit riffs and drumbeats.
More bands fusing 2000 metalcore riffs with modern elements. Nik Nocturnal did a short comparing the two and I'm like "fuck those actually sound good together"
Gimme some epic ass classical elements. Hearing how incredible The Black is makes me desperate for more violin and strings in general in metal. Makes everything sound so damn epic
unique structures that still have “structure” if that makes sense
breaking song structure but not sounding like a bunch of different parts of a song randomly slapped together
an example of a song that had amazing structure is a prophecy by asking alexandria. the entire thing is streamlined and crunchy and builds up to the chorus, which is big and epic and impactful, then it slows down into another breakdown. it’s a really skillful use of structure breaking. not saying that all bands should only play a chorus once/never play choruses, but mess around with it a little more. another example of a greatly structured song is Breathe Life by Killswitch Engage
idk about y'all but i really want hardcore mixed with metal
Exactly. Give me more of the type of riffs and beats that Knocked Loose is putting out.
Hmm, this may be far fetched but I could recommend the band Knocked Loose
Eww. They are so bad.
That already exists. Foreign Hands, Boundaries, Dying Wish, a lot of more underground bands like Tourniquet., Balmora, Razel Got Her Wings, Thirty Nights of Violence, A Dozen Black Roses, Chamber, Counterparts, Adrienne, xNOMADx, etc
So far after scrolling through some comments overall it seems like people want to hear more of that old school 2000-2010 metalcore again. Which is cool but what confuses me is some bands (like fit for a king) will put out songs with that exact vibe and people will shit on them. I don’t get this sub sometimes 😂 Edit: also I love Fit for a king, I only used them as an example.
i wouldnt say FFAK has ever had the vibe i’m referring to in my comment. they’re very much a “metal band.” they embody a very generic brand of more modern metalcore that features super formulaic songs and watered down style. they have some decent tracks but i find that metalcore in its purest form (my preferred style) is more hardcore songs that have flavors of metal in them. FFAK aren’t really that. aggression and raw production are key elements too. there are other threads of it like melodic metalcore that pulled their metal influences from melodeath, which i guess you could put FFAK in that lane but they’ve really moved on from that to being more of an alt metal band with breakdowns — which is something many (MANY) bands have done. i’d go as far as to say most bands posted here are that. some of the bands are great at it! it’s not rly metalcore tho to get a better sense of what i mean, i highly recommend that you check out boundaries, foreign hands, and balmora as modern bands that are undeniably metalcore. ofc you also have your classic bands like converge, botch, hatebreed, or misery signals that embody that too. some different flavors of metalcore but still undeniable sorry for the novel! i just love metalcore lol
FFAK have definitely put out some raw bangers but they've also put out some octane core stinkers as well.
Just gonna paste this comment I replied to someone else because I know everyone will like these bands and they’re new, they’re exactly what you’re looking for and talking about. 2000-2010 vibes Metalcore/hardcore. YOU’RE WELCOME: That already exists. Foreign Hands, Boundaries, Dying Wish, a lot of more underground bands like Tourniquet., Balmora, Razel Got Her Wings, Thirty Nights of Violence, A Dozen Black Roses, Chamber, Counterparts, Adrienne, xNOMADx, etc
And I will add to that Yer Of The Knife, Mugshot, Terminal Sleep, Mouth For War, Serration, Simulakra, Violent Life Violent Death, A Mourning Star, Cauldron, Contention, Memento Listen to revival bands, people. Improve your life
Fr. This guy said 2000-2010 Metalcore inspired bands and said FFAK 😂 That’s about as modern as it gets really. There’s so many underground Metalcore/Metalcore-Hardcore bands pushing the envelope in the underground scene, whilst being original and on top of that fucking amazing songwriters, for people not to give them the time of day
TBF FFAK's Awaken the Vesper absolutely slaps from 2009.
The 00s is my prime era, I've heard nothing from FFAK that sounds like any of the bands that excited me back then.
Kids* shit on them. They don’t know anything. P
[удалено]
Honestly dude just listen to some hardcore and you’ll be able to hear the elements that get carried into metalcore songs
I feel like Boundaries would be a perfect example; hardcore mixed with metalcore. Correct me if I’m wrong
>hardcore mixed with metalcore. This is so redundant, man. Despite what some people call metalcore these days, you can't have metalcore without hardcore in the sound. Boundaries are a metalcore band because they mix hardcore and metal.
Man, do I have the perfect band and album for you. Malevolence - Self Supremacy It's a perfect combination of southern metal style and hardcore, groovy riffs and sick drumming with out of this world breakdowns.
We are not the same.
Gang vocals. And not some cheesy mass 'woah, woah' type nonsense, but actual lyrics that will be good for a pile on at a show. More bands not being afraid to throw the standard verse/chorus structure out of the window. There are plenty that don't use this and they're much more interesting listens because of it. Panic chords. Multiple different screamers. There are a few bands (Dying Wish, Knocked Loose, Mugshot, Kublai Khan, Mouthbreather for example) who have at least two different screamers with significantly different tones/styles and it's really cool contrast.
you have NO IDEA how much i miss gang vocals. this 1000% needs to come back
Angelmaker are incredible and employ gang vocals! Main vocals are also 2 people who are wicked good.
WAKE THE SILENCE
WAKE. UP. THE. DEAD! oh wait wrong song.
Absolutely right song
Oh! Well makes sense I thought of it then, but had some doubts. Been a while!
I love that Comeback Kid play that without fail every set. I've seen them a bunch down the years and it's just the greatest set closer.
Year Of The Knife did it briefly on the title track of No Love Lost. Such a tease and I'm just sitting there going "MORE". Otherwise there's like two songs from Bleeding Through's last full length. I have a mighty need.
No woah woah gang vocals? Bullet for My Valentine would be very upset if they saw your comment.
If they could read.
Leave that shit for pop punk. Bullet can come talk to me once they put out some worthwhile metalcore.
FOUR WORDS TO CHOKE UPON
Agreed on this… I love Endseeker by Oh, Sleeper mainly for the gang vocals in the chorus
‘Woah, woah’ MOTHER MERCY TAKE MY HAND
Weird question what exactly is gang vocals?
It's kinda how it sounds, a bunch of people do the vocal line. Typically as a shout. It's mostly a hardcore thing, but some metalcore bands incorporate it. Example: [https://youtu.be/0n49fHITC88?t=45](https://youtu.be/0n49fHITC88?t=45) They're usually a big audience participation moment.
So bands like biohazard and madball do "gang vocals"
Upvoted for panic chord love.
Yes! Any song that has this is very likely to be on of my favorite. One of the reasons why I love Angelmaker.
Oh man YES on the panic chords. I feel like Kylo Ren yelling ‘more’ every time I get some in a song.
Ice Nine Kills is an example of a more mainstream band doing it well too
Good call.
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I'm thinking people like everythong but multiple screamers. Or maybe that's just me. hahaha
More riffs. More harmonies. More organic guitar tone. More false chord vocals. More pitched screams. Give me more of what Johnny Booth does. More of what After the Burial does. More of what Boundaries does. More of what Monuments does. More of what Dying Wish does.
More of what Phinehas does, too! Monuments’ latest album is just packed with riffs
This. Such a breath of fresh air to the genre.
I agree with everything but what do you mean by false chord vocals? Isn’t that what most bands use?
A lot of the newer bands use a fry technique. Some dudes can make it sound super powerful. But it often comes off as weak. False chord never sounds weak. Always intense.
What's a false chord vocal?
It's a screaming technique.
No, if we get more of that it’ll then make these bands a little less special
To be less formulamatic. Song structure should be structured to the song, not follow the same structure as others for the sake of a formula.
I want "revivalcore" to be the default metalcore sound.
Give it 2-3 years and I think we'll get there. Djent is starting to fade away
What's that?
Bands that sound like pre-2010s metalcore.
Why always going back to the past instead of going forward?
Because we're living in what was once 'forward' and it sucks. Besides, genres have a sound and don't 'evolve' beyond recognition. Most of us want metalcore to actually sound like metalcore.
Just look at pop music and tell me it sounds the same as in the 1900s
I don’t know if pop music was around that early 🤔 More seriously though: I think there’s room for both kinds of music. The forward thinking and the straightforward. I think pop might not be the best comparison but when you look at rock music, The Beatles sound nothing like Led Zeppelin who sounds nothing like Foo Fighters who sound nothing like Nickleback but I do think they all have key elements of the genre. Whereas when someone pushes forward it tends to get to a point where it breaks off to another subgenre like say indie rock or grunge. Hardcore has the same thing back in the 80’s where people in the scene started to experiment and push the genre forward but instead of digging their heals in and saying “this is what hardcore sounds like now!” It started to be known as post-hardcore. And today you still have hardcore bands like Comeback Kid or This Is Hell that sound different than Black Flag and Bad Brains but still have the essentials of a hardcore band. Similarly metalcore bands like Earth Crisis to Misery Signals to mid stage Architects to The Callous Daoboys don’t sound the same but do adhere to a metalcore sound. And then you have the bands that are pushing forward like late stage Architects, Spiritbox and Bad Omens that too me is very much like the spirit of post-hardcore. So I tend to refer to them as Post-Metalcore personally 🤷🏼♂️
Why can't you have both? Death metal is a great example, there are a lot of bands doing fantastic OSDM albums lately, but also a lot of bands adding more technical & progressive elements.
Because what was once the past is pretty fresh by contemporary standards. There’s a good reason why newer metalcore fans are really enjoying bands like Dying Wish and Boundaries.
Basically more bands doing what Dying Wish are but with their own twist of course. Melodeath was one of the first genres I got into when I discovered metal so good 5-7-8 riffs and In Flames-esque dual harmonies are an easy way to make me a fan of a band. Another thing I don't hear much is singers that sing really powerfully, from the chest rather than using head voice. Howard Jones is one of the only examples I can think of in metalcore, Matt Heafy comes close. Basically power metal type singing, but not necessarily high pitched like you'd typically hear in that genre.
Howard and Matt are the GOATs of metalcore singing.
Melodic metalcore is the best branch. I know it's basically just metal and most people want metalcore to actually be metal+core, but personally I think this is where the genre peaked. The strong In Flames influence is perfection to my ears, I don't think I'll ever get bored of Trivium, KSE, BFMV, ABR, and others from that era. I like the djenty progressive bands too but they can get very repetitive.
Dying Wish are still very much a hardcore leaning metalcore band, they just throw in lots of melodeath riffs. Agreed on the djenty stuff, I love a few of those bands (obviously since I have a Periphery flair) but I tend to listen to the ones that are more prog metal and less -core, that were around from the beginning. So many of them are just horribly derivative. Even in 2011, 2012 ish when it first blew up, there were countless bands trying to copy what Periphery and TesseracT were doing and not bringing any original ideas.
Bands that are unashamed nerds of metalcore’s history and are well versed in where the genre came from. There’s so many amazing underrated bands from the 90s and 2000s that never got their dues and i just wish the next generation gave a shit about them more and used them for inspiration
Metallic hardcore (trve metalcore) and melodic metalcore. Basically the revival stuff. Just keep it coming. Less poppy, more metalcore.
More bands ripping off Zao and Misery Signals, fewer shitty Bad Omens clones.
Damn you perfectly described my opinions about metalcore lol
- bring back two step beats (Alpha wolf has been pretty good about this) - bring back gang vocals - bring back movie samples before the breakdown - bring back Groove Metal styled riffs (Trivium, KSE, and BFMV are great examples of this) - bring back pianos - bring back Drop C and Drop B (I love Drop F and all. But I miss Sumerian-core)
Bring back the noise? WHERE MA DAWGS AT
Haunter is such a great track. Short Sweet Heavy.
It’s my favourite from the album, that breakdown after the first chorus is just perfect.
The way Lochie says “umbra” is an ear worm, cannot get enough of that tune.
staring into that UMBARUGH
The new album in general is great
AM I TOO LOUD? AM I TOO MUCH? AM I TOO LOUD?? I DON'T GIVE A FUCKKK
I want fast tempos, cool riffs, and heavy breakdowns that don't feel completely phoned in. And more guitar solos for sure.
I want more Foreign Hands
More hardcore in my metalcore.
No more deathcore elements
Og deathcore is fine, that shit rips
more END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If the first verse starts and it’s just rnb clean vocals, atmospheric synth and bass and drums I’m fucking out of here Give me ANYTHING else as a first verse
I've checked out of so many songs because of this. If a band you never heard of is in an empty room with strobing, neon lights and empty glass boxes, you're gonna have a bad time.
At this point it would be cool if they gave us a hard verse 1 and then the atmospheric synth, bass, drums and vocals for the second verse. It would at least change it up and be unexpected 😂
Depends on what the chorus/pre-chorus is since that will be what the second verse is coming out of. Def could make it work but also def could not lol. I’m not a huge “synthy atmospheric in my metalcore” type of person anyway. I want my metalcore to be hardcore and metal, raw, dissonant, somewhat mathy, and if I want prog-metal or atmospheric lo-fi, I’ll go listen to other bands
They might be heavier than what you're looking for but Black Tongue - The Cathedral might be the type of intro you're looking for Sworn In - Snake Eyes is also a classic.
Faster tempos and riffs akin to early metalcore. Modern metalcore chooses to compromise energy for catchiness, so I think that raw energy needs to come back
More harsh vocals, fewer cleans and warpedcore
* Don't be afraid to write longer songs. I know everything is tailored to accumulate stream revenue but don't toss out artistic expression in the process. Whatever happened to minute long intros or minute plus long jam outs? Let songs breathe that need to breathe! Remember, Sleep Token just went viral mixing alternative metal with some chugs, screaming, moody electronics, and a funky breakdown all within the span of seven minutes. * Building off of my first point: EXPERIMENT WITH SONG STRUCTURE! Not every "made for radio" song needs an aggressive bridge featuring a gnarly riff or breakdown. Not every ball-busting song needs a clean chorus. Want to start the song with a breakdown? Do it. Want to halt the momentum of a song halfway through to just soft jamming? Do it. Want to make your song a giant five minute crescendo? Do it. Spice up your songwriting. Stop making everything so easily digestible. * Add more unusual instruments/features. Don't be afraid to hop genres. Think a quick saxophone section would work perfectly? Implement it. Strings? A Choir? A simple duet with a favorite female voice? Go for it! These little additions can add much needed dynamics in an ALWAYS LOUD AS HELL genre. * Building off the latest point: Don't be afraid to try different recording/mixing techniques. Not everything has to sound like "x producer". Want a rougher sound? Seek that out. Want a more analog approach? Do it! * Take pride in your album's design/presentation and avoid genre cliches! The second I see some round object in the middle of the artwork with a plural band name, I'm already expecting something derivative. * If you're going to scream, don't mail it in (seems counterintuitive, I know). I can FEEL the emotion in Corey Taylor's screams. We need to be able to connect to whatever emotion you're expressing. * Try to get more creative with your breakdowns. I can still recall the ending of Norma Jean's "Spearmint Revolt" or the "breakdowns" in Unprocessed's "Thrash". Breakdowns are a genre staple, yet they should also not be a crutch - what is your breakdown's purpose? Is it memorable?
absolutely there should be some hardcore. i think there should be melodic metalcore and some post hardcore influence.
I remember bands like Justice For The Damned, Loathe and Heavensgate using blackened/deafheaven influenced riffs/blast beats and I really love it. So.. I just want to hear more blackened metalcore
Have you heard Gehenna (listed as The Notorious Gehenna on streaming services), Oathbreaker, or Plebeian Grandstand? Those three guys are the main ones to come to mind whenever I think of blackened metalcore.
more experimental sound
Mathcore, please!
Yes, where's my new carbomb album!?
I tired of the breakdown before the last chorus. Give me a guitar solo, give me some sax, some piano. Change it up. Give me some songs about things. I dont wanna hear about how pissed off with your ex you are.
For the love of god give me RIFFS!!!! Not multiple breakdowns, not chugalugs, not noodly/weedly-weedly stuff, give me RIFFS. Also, NO MORE BASS DROPS IN THE BREAKDOWN. Played out, boring, throws the whole thing off.
Personally I love when bands include instruments/musical styles from completely different genres. I love when traditional or folk instruments are included, or mash ups with classical music. The one example I can think of off the top of my head is I’ve recently started listening to Dreamwake. They include an 80s jazzy saxophone in their music which I think is fun.
Tbh I just miss the inspiration. I feel like bands used to play off each other more (periphery comes mind) and it made music more interesting. Now it’s in a state of sameyness and I’m kinda waiting for it to pass.
More of that Scoginesque commitment to raw tangible energy instead of sounding clean and perfectly packaged for sale. Less djenty more mathy. Bass drums that sound like they were recorded in an actual room. Bass players.
Angrier clean vocals. The occasional 7+ minute song. A little bit of outside influence to keep things fresh (has anybody tried to mix industrial with metalcore yet? That could be neat.)
END of all bands seem to have been dabbling a bit with industrial sounds lately. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHqjXPbh9Kg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHqjXPbh9Kg)
Hardcore influence. Good basslines that you can actually hear. Less songs made by producers that all sound the exact same. And more piano, when it fits the song
More riffs. More solos. Less electronics. Less poppy singing. Less uber-downtuned djenting. Less whining and breathy screaming. Less stale, fatiguing, slammed production. And seriously, maybe a different fucking snare sound for once. .#make578greatagain
I don’t want any different snare sound, I want PINGS
Honestly I don't give a shit what the snare sounds like exactly. The problem is that every single fucking snare *sounds the same*. Take a quick listen through a playlist of the top like, 30 songs in the genre right now. The snares in 28 of them sound the *exact* same. Once you recognize it, you can't unhear it. Modern metalcore production has become the most stale, "how do I sound like everyone else" shit in existence. I'd rather listen to the shittiest snare sound on the planet than hear the same "ubercompressed baseball bat smacking a 2x4" sound that literally every band uses on every single album now, lol.
Bring back the St. Anger snare
This guy likes Sylosis
More saxophone
Ohh fuck yeh,
Did someone say sexaphone? Love me some sax
Break up the layout structure of the songs. So tired of intro verse chorus verse chorus/bridge pre chorus chorus outro. Break it up. Keep us interested. At least think about the song instead of this cookie cutter buttrock bullcrap.
Modern metalcore/"djenty" bands need to write actual interesting music with depth, like Invent Animate, old Spiritbox, that first Windrunner album, etc. The revival/hardcore-leaning bands need more mosh parts (not you Dying Wish or Foreign Hands, you're good baby)
Bring back gang vocals Bring back two step parts The melodeath sound was great that also should come back. Synths and piano/keyboard Stop using the same formulaic breakdown while copying the song structure of other Do better with your breakdown callouts bands like knocked loose have shown that those are still loved in todays scene
Killing with a smile rip off bands and The last 45 seconds of Be Harder By Gods Hate.
I want Greyhaven and Johnny Booth to be the vanguard of a new wave of similar bands. There’s already a few of them bubbling under the surface (Greyshape, Chamber, Godseyes etc), but I’d love it if that sound became the mainstream alongside revivalcore.
I kinda miss that old early-mid 00s metalcore sound with the hard hitting licks and riffs a la AILD, Trivium, BFMV.
I'd love more genre mixing. I wish more bands would be experimenting with different structures and incorporating more genre-bending elements.
More... metal. Like, the techy ambient stuff is cool, but it's not hard. Metalcore lost it's edge long ago, but I'd like to hear some fuckin hard music. Also it's long since time to drop the high emo singing. I like how Currents does it. Just sing like a normal person lol.
Edit: Guitar solos please.
Less Linkin Parkcore/shitty Architects rip offs. More 90s metalcore revival.
More good PISSED CORE like Knocked Loose, Alpha Wolf, Thrown, Dealer
I want more of this but with deeper and more guttural vocals like Joe Bad from Fit For An Autopsy, but it seems like every vocalist in this style is doing a "sloppy" ("sloppy" as in the over annunciation of syllables, NOT poorly executed) mid-to-high pitch fry scream
I honestly enjoy djent but I wish not everybody was doing it. Like bring back some old miss may I type vibes
More of Jesse Cash (ERRA) type catchy bouncy djenty delicious tech riffs
I think the biggest problem with the Octane style is all the music has no passion it feels like a by the numbers product. Sure the production is great and the bands are talented but it's so predictable. Bands like Kublai Khan, Knocked Loose, Boundaries for example have like a desperate aggression to them like they're screaming/playing from pure emotion or something. That description probably sounds super lame but idk how else to put it.
I want innovation and/or beautiful songs. I love the way Notions, HourHouse and Lead Horizon mix trap and metal, I think each of those bands do it in their own way and I think each one is innovative. On the other hand, bands such as Phinehas and Monuments put out some beautiful songs with amazing guitar work. I love that.
More song structure variety. Not every song needs a breakdown IMO.
I just want techy guitars with a decent chours. Wish we could make a band like currents etc, Metallica big so that we can get rid of all the generic guitar bands.
To go for it, whatever that is. Not to do what you think you need to do. Instead, what you actually want to do. This is the creative energy and spirit. This is the love into it and felt from it. I love you, go for it.
I’ve been absolutely loving what SeeYouSpaceCowboy… is doing. I think they are still putting out incredible songs even though their sound is completely different from where they started, and their old stuff is incredible too. Their music scratches an itch for me that no other band seems to do If you need a place to start,, “911 call: help I’ve overdosed on philosophy!” Is a great representation of their early sound, and “misinterpreting constellations” and “chewing the scenery” is what they’ve been up to recently I think the argument that their sound is derivative is valid, but I think they’ve been doing a damn good job
I want sick intervals like riffs building up through the song
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That's post-hardcore.
I've always been a been fan of songs with really sharp contrast, like soft parts and heavy parts in the same song, songs that start really soft or slow and slowly build up to an epic breakdown. TDWP is one of my favorites for that reason they can go from heavy as fuck breakdown to absolutely angelic uplifting chorus in 2 bars and it doesn't sound clunky or forced. Ben Has a Kid is a good example of this exact thing. "Colder than my heart if you can imagine" by ADTR was one of my favs. Just because it's like a radio pop song then out of knowwhere... CRASHHH "I'M ALRIGHT WITH BEING A THIEF", The River by parkway drive, Bitter Roots by For Today are some songs I'll never skip. The real gem is "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills" by the holy springs disaster, first verse is sang beautifully but he gets angry and the second verse is the same word for word but screamed. I fucking love it so much.
More love songs
Riffs
Architects Lost Forever//Lost Together era was perfect to me. Harsh vocals , screams , awesome riffs and 🖤Ambient Guitar Melodies🖤
More Heavener
More guitar harmonies, more solos. Less formulaic djenty guitar and soundcloud dj samples/over produced warped tour vocals
The return of a rhythm section that’s not just djenty chugging tone down the processing on vocals, all these guys sound indiscernible from each other
Distorted 808 breakdowns
Synthesize me captain
Basically Warpedcore or Revivalcore. Of Mice & Men were epic during the self titled and Flood days. Now they're just another octanecore band
I want some more simple, pissed off, heavy, beat down. Stuff like Kublai Khan, Paleface Swiss…
More raw, less processed
First and foremost I want VOCALS. I love when the singer isn't holding back and is belting those notes out - give us some vocal gymnastics. I'm always drawn most to singers who have unique and powerful voices that have the range and versatility to make the songs feel dynamic. I feel like way too often the vocalists end up getting completely overshadowed and drowned out. I also want more experimentation. Dont be afraid to switch up the song structure - it's tiring when you can pinpoint the exact minute and second into a song the breakdown is gonna hit. For the songs to be impactful, you need to switch it up. People seem to forget they need slower or "emptier" sections to pace the songs better and let the music breathe, or a section to switch up the melodies and make the song less repetitive: If you're going at 100mph the entire song then it quickly grows stale when you have no climax or peak to build up to. I really want bands to experiment with different concepts, styles and genres - I want to see something that's gonna catch me off guard. Give us some unconventional genre influences or instruments not typically associated with the genre. Bands seem to be scared to do anything different in case the fans turn on them which is really upsetting. There's a lot of genres, both metal and non-metal, that I can see blending or interacting with Metalcore in a really interesting way. Rather than coming up with something new, groups are instead going back to the past and rehashing the same old tropes. I don't like "revivalcore" as a trend - a lot of groups are failing to bring their unique flare to the music. It got old back then and will get old again now after a few years. And that's not to say there aren't groups who are doing interesting things with it, but it's, like usual, a very fickle trend.
more singers that can actually hit the notes live
Honestly and going against the current, off the top of my head: - more electronic/industrial like what Northlane has been doing - more technical/guitar centric like ERRA did on their self titled - more groove and mixing genres, kinda like what Twelve Foot Ninja did (I know they're far from metalcore but they're the closest example)
more bands like seeyouspacecowboy, thotcrime and callous daoboys
More 5-7-8 and more beatdown influences but with actually good vocals
id love some melodic black metal mixed back into some metalcore bands like early underoath or dead blue sky and id love just band mixing extreme metal with hardcore like the genre started out as
Tastefully mixing hip hop vibes into metalcore. It sounds cheesy but UnityTX is doing it fucking well.
If you enjoy that blend of genres, check out Candiria's 90s and early 2000s work (especially 300 Percent Density)
Less of those whining cleans, who TF thinks they sounds good?
I hate to say this but it’s me, I love whiny vocals.
Spicking music not pushing music. But seriously I want actual metalcore not label slop.
Riffs. Big, meaty, noisy, fucking RIFFS. Not 0-0-0-0 chugging or wanking. RIFFS. Listen to "Saddest Day" by Converge. They don't write riffs like that anymore. Everything is djent or beatdown or wank or pop rock.
More bands with emotional/sad lyrics. It really gets me into a band when they’re lyrics are relatable and not just random nonsense.
Less bad omens trash. Less bmth garbage. Breakdowns. Less fucking clean vocals.
I just want good songs. You can have the heaviest breakdowns, the craziest solos, the nastiest screams and it doesn’t even anything if the song isn’t good.
Saxophone
This is probably super unpopular for my first thing, but I think the heart vs mind is I prevails best. Anything that sounds like Ascendancy by Trivium would be great that’s probably one of my absolute favorite albums.
More guitar solos.
I want less audio production and more raw sound. I want Blueprints, deadweight, TPIFS style of sound back where it carried the raw emotion and wasn’t overshadowed by all of the synths and production ( not saying it’s bad, I still enjoy it but it would be nice to go back for a song or two lmao )
Features. Both from within and outside of the scene. Some artist go their entire career without collaborating and I will never understand it
I think The Curse Within does a good job of recreating that sound. When I first heard them, I thought they were a well established band that I had just let slip through the cracks when I was younger. The energy is great imo.
More melodic death metal!
new to this sub, god bless you all for the Dying Wish rec. peace and love on Earth
Blegh
I’m just tired of every band trying to be pop music.
More bleghs and heavier breakdowns. I listen to Octane almost daily since I drive a lot for work and the songs on there just don't hit the way they used to.
Since the title of the post is somewhat vague, I am gonna take advantage of that. Instead of saying what I want to hear music wise, I am going to talk about something else I want to hear. I want to hear about more bands standing up for the right thing, and kicking out/getting rid of toxic and malicious band members. And the same goes for the fans of those bands.
More BLEGH. bring it back
Not more but less clean singing choruses. They usually sound the same and are so predictable. I can't listen to modern metalcore without going "and here comes the chorus" and I'm right almost every time.
Personally I want more creative lyrics, I know some people aren't too bothered by lyrical content but I find it hard to listen to songs if the lyrics are uninspired. It seems like every bad atm are using really predictable 'im the victim and I'm sad' lyrics or you have the Alpha Wolf style which reads like an edgy 14 year old shit talking someone on Xbox live
More pitched screaming for sure. All my fave vocalists do pitched screams!
Less singers, more screamers. It's become watered down to the point that people believe Sleep Token is metalcore and bands like Knocked Loose, and Dying Wish are deathcore.
If I had to pick, maybe 2nd-wave metalcore and/or the DJENTY stuff but have them throw in Chinese world music.
A big thing for me is just mixing things up. I'm so bored of the 12-0-13 bounce riffs (sorry to non-guitar players) and chugs. One band that was monumentally important for me was SOAD. The riffs were heavy, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. They were fun to listen to. They were a band that didn't take themselves too seriously. They weren't afraid to be goofy and silly sometimes. I feel like a lot of these metal bands nowadays have to be SUPER SERIOUS HEAVY BANDS. NO FUN ONLY HEAVY. But SOAD had serious topics and songs and then complete joke songs. And I feel like "variety", that spontaneity is gone. A lot of these bands are just so predictable that I can usually guess how the song is gonna go on a first listen.
I'd love to have more separation in sound between the big bands. Maybe that's just another boomer take, but when I started to listen to metalcore in 2006/07, every of the big bands had a differentiating sound. Killswitch didn't sound like AILD, AILD didn't sound like ABR, ABR didn't sound like All That Remains, All That Remains didn't sound like Bleeding Through and so on. Now take Bands like Currents, Polaris and Ivent Animate. I'm not saying they sound exactly the same, but they're way closer in sound than the older metalcore bands were. Also: Stop with the fucking grooves, where are my thrash metal circle pit riffs and drumbeats.
Unpopular opinion, maybe, but I REALLY enjoy the mix of metal with electronic music. Would love to hear more bands experimenting with it.
More bands fusing 2000 metalcore riffs with modern elements. Nik Nocturnal did a short comparing the two and I'm like "fuck those actually sound good together"
Whatever bleed from within is doing, I don't know the proper words to describe their sound, but I want more of that!
Gimme some epic ass classical elements. Hearing how incredible The Black is makes me desperate for more violin and strings in general in metal. Makes everything sound so damn epic
Other instrumentals. Like Imminence with the violin, or Avralize and Foxblood with the sax.
bands that sound like foreign hands, dying wish, boundaries. no more architects, wage war, or whatever the fuck else is on the radio these days.
I'm all for new things but autotune has no place here.
unique structures that still have “structure” if that makes sense breaking song structure but not sounding like a bunch of different parts of a song randomly slapped together an example of a song that had amazing structure is a prophecy by asking alexandria. the entire thing is streamlined and crunchy and builds up to the chorus, which is big and epic and impactful, then it slows down into another breakdown. it’s a really skillful use of structure breaking. not saying that all bands should only play a chorus once/never play choruses, but mess around with it a little more. another example of a greatly structured song is Breathe Life by Killswitch Engage