Mathcore
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| Mathcore | |
| Stylistic origins | |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins |
early 1990s North America
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| Typical instruments | |
| Mainstream popularity | Little to none during the careers of early bands, has gained some popularity in recent years |
| Other topics | |
| Breakdown | |
Mathcore (also known as technical metalcore, technical hardcore and progressive metalcore) is a polyrhythmic and dissonant style of metalcore, recognized for a high level of technical musicianship. Mathcore has its roots in bands like Converge[1], Botch[2][3], and the Dillinger Escape Plan[4]. The term mathcore is suggested by analogy with math rock. Both math rock and mathcore make use of polyrhythms and unusual time signatures. Math rock groups (Slint, Don Caballero, Shellac, Drive Like Jehu) have some influence on mathcore, though mathcore is more closely related to extreme metal. For this reason, the term is misleading; math rock actually draws on traditional hardcore punk to a greater degree than mathcore does. Mathcore is also linked to post-metal, in much the same way that math rock opened the gates for post-rock.
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[edit] Description
Mathcore is characterized by discordant, technical riffing, complex time signatures and song structures, passionate, energetic vocals and often overt jazz influences. Songs played by bands of this style tend to vary from seconds in length to over 15 minutes and rarely feature a conventional verse-chorus song structure.[citation needed]
Mathcore bands are often categorized differently by music journalists. Because metalcore draws on both hardcore punk and heavy metal, bands such as the Fall of Troy, and the Dillinger Escape Plan are often referred to as hardcore.[citation needed] Others, such as As the Sun Sets, Daughters and the Number 12 Looks Like You often are labeled as grindcore or noisegrind.[citation needed]
Some punk-influenced mathcore bands take a more lyrical approach, such as Some Girls or Head Wound City (formed by members of the Blood Brothers, the Locust and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). While these groups are closer to noise rock or post-hardcore, their compositional strategy is aligned with mathcore. These groups are less indebted to metal.[citation needed]
Other styles of music, such as blues rock and free jazz, have influenced mathcore bands. Coalesce released a Led Zeppelin covers EP named There Is Nothing New Under the Sun; Dillinger Escape Plan has discussed an appreciation for avant-garde jazz.
[edit] History
While not named as such, the first groups to anticipate mathcore emerged from New York hardcore: Born Against and Rorschach, both of whom practiced an alternative style to both the youth crew of Youth of Today and the crust punk of Nausea. While both groups co-existed with the youth crew hardcore scene and identified with straight edge, they were removed from it. In contrast to the melodic hardcore emphasis found in youth crew, Born Against and Rorschach took greater inspiration from the later work of Black Flag, which was much more dissonant and aligned with noise rock. Both groups also felt some kinship with the West Coast power violence scene, which emphasized brevity and intensity in a manner similar to grindcore. Rorschach began to experiment with many unusual time signatures, and eventually covered King Crimson's progressive rock classic "21st Century Schizoid Man". Starkweather, from Philadelphia, was active at the same time as Born Against and Rorschach, and also practiced an amalgamation of noise rock, hardcore, and heavy metal. In the early 1990s, Converge and Cave In, both from Massachusetts, Botch, from Seattle, Coalesce, from Kansas City, and Knut, from Switzerland, all practiced a complex, noisy variety of metalcore. Simultaneously, Today Is the Day, a group that mixed noise rock with extreme metal, with little indebtedness to hardcore punk, was also recognized as similar to these groups. All of these groups recorded for Hydra Head Records. In 1999, the Dillinger Escape Plan released Calculating Infinity. A considerable success in the extreme metal and hardcore punk communities, this was the first group and album to be given the "mathcore" designation -- previous groups had sometimes been referred to as "noisecore", which confusingly also refers to a style of breakcore.
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[edit] See also
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