| Melodic hardcore | |
|---|---|
 Bad Religion's albumSuffer (1988) had a major impact on the development of melodic hardcore | |
| Other names | Melodic punk |
| Stylistic origins | Hardcore punk |
| Cultural origins | Early 1980s,California andWashington, D.C., United States |
| Derivative forms | |
| Local scenes | |
| Other topics | |
Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre ofhardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. The style often includes guitar harmonies, riffs using octave chords, as well asbroken chords. Additionally, lyrics tend towardsintellectualism, often being politically conscious or narrative, withconcept albums sometimes being prominent. Bands in the genre also have a tendency to take influence from a range of genres includingemo,post-punk,screamo,pop-punk,metalcore,post-rock andgothic rock.
In the early and mid–1980s, bands includingthe Faith,Descendents,Dag Nasty,Gorilla Biscuits and7 Seconds were amongst the first hardcore bands to put an emphasis on their melodies. In 1988,Bad Religion incorporated more melodic elements into their music with their third albumSuffer, which was widely influential, and reshaped theskate punk genre from its purely hardcore origins into a subgenre of melodic hardcore. During the 1990s, this melodic skate punk style became one of the most prominent styles in punk, withNOFX,Pennywise andStrung Out emerging as forefront acts. 1988 also saw the formation ofInside Out andTurning Point who pioneered an additional style of melodic hardcore, routed inyouth crew,emo andtough guy hardcore. This style began to gain prominence towards the end of the 1990s withIn My Eyes,Bane andReach the Sky.
During the 2000s, the genre became the most prominent style in the hardcore scene, and diversified into a variety of styles including thehorror punk and gothic rock informed style ofAFI andthe Nerve Agents, the heavy and nihilistic style ofAmerican Nightmare andthe Hope Conspiracy, the more melodic and punk-leaning style ofRise Against andStrike Anywhere, thepositive hardcore style ofHave Heart andVerse and the emotional style ofDefeater andTouché Amoré. Around 2009, the genre became less prominent in the American hardcore scene, but continued in the United Kingdom withDead Swans andWhile She Sleeps, and in the Americanmetalcore scene withHundredth,the Ghost Inside andCounterparts. During the 2010s, British and Australian melodic hardcore bands includingCasey andHolding Absence pushed the genre closer to post-rock. Since the beginning of the 2020s, the most prominent melodic hardcore bands have beenOne Step Closer,Anxious andKoyo.
Melodic hardcore differentiates itself from standard hardcore punk by incorporating melodic elements such asguitar harmonies, riffs using octave chords, as well as playing the notes of a chord individually in succession, rather than all at once. Bands in the genre also have a tendency to take influence from a range of genres includingemo,post-punk,screamo,pop-punk,metalcore,post-rock andgothic rock.[1]
Many melodic hardcore bands put a greater emphasis on lyricalintellectualism than bands in other styles of hardcore. This manifested through politics in the case of bands likeStrike Anywhere, and dark, poetic lyrics in the case of bands likeAmerican Nightmare andDead Swans.Concept albums are also common amongst groups includingthe Carrier andDefeater.[1]
According toBrooklyn Vegan writer Andrew Sacher, "melodic hardcore is not an easy thing to define", due to it encompassing a variety of disparate sounds including the early pop-punk ofDescendents, emo ofDag Nasty,skate punk ofNOFX, and heavy, nihilistic but tunefulhardcore punk bands likeModern Life Is War andthe Hope Conspiracy.[2] In his two articles on the topic, he differentiated between the heavy and nihilistic style based in modern hardcore that he labeled as simply "melodic hardcore" and the more traditional, punk-based "melodic punk" style "that ties togetherAgainst Me! toHot Water Music to Strike Anywhere tothe Lawrence Arms".[3][2]PopMatters writer Ethan Stewart instead suggested that melodic hardcore "as we know it today" began with late 1980s bands likeInside Out andTurning Point who mergedyouth crew hardcore with emo andtough guy hardcore, due to their influence upon much of the subsequent acts in the genre.[1]
The earliest melodic hardcore emerged from theCalifornian hardcore punk scene by the early 1980s. This includesDescendents, who formed in 1978. Their earliest work was simple,pop-influenced punk rock, but they went on to mix this melodic approach with hardcore, inspiring both melodic hardcore andpop punk groups.[4]
The Faith's 1983 EPSubject to Change is one of the first melodic hardcore records.[5] On the release, the band added and moved away from the more straightforward hardcore punk of their earlier work towards a more complex, textured, and melodic sound, accompanied by introspective lyrics; the release is notable for its influence onpost-hardcore.[6]Dag Nasty are a key melodic hardcore band[7] that formed during the mid-1980s as part of theWashington, D.C., hardcore scene, withBrian Baker (ex-Minor Threat) on guitar. In 1988, the bandAll formed, featuring three members of The Descendents. The band made music in a broadly similar vein to the Descendents, and were initially fronted by Dave Smalley of Dag Nasty.[8]7 Seconds ventured into melodic hardcore onThe Crew (1984).[9]
Bad Religion's 1988 albumSuffer was highly influential, pioneering a more melodic take on the pre-existingskate punk genre.[10] The album differentiated itself from the band's earlier hardcore material, by incorporating melodic singing and harmonies.Fat Mike of forefront skate punk bandNOFX, calledSuffer "the record that changed everything".[11] This style was domineering in the punk scene during the 1990s, being dubbed the "Epi-Fat" sound (named after the labels that housed its key bands,Epitaph Records andFat Wreck Chords), with key additional bands includingPennywise andStrung Out.[12]
In the mid-1980s, the hardcore subcultureyouth crew began, which hardcore would go on to be largely intertwined with. One of the earliest bands in the subculture to play a melodic style of hardcore wasGorilla Biscuits. Both California'sInside Out and New Jersey'sTurning Point, emerged from this movement, forming in 1988 and disbanding in 1991. Their shared merger of youth crew,emo andtough guy hardcore led to them becoming two of the most influential bands to the subsequent development of melodic hardcore.[1]
In 1994,H2O formed, mixing melodic elements of Washington D.C., with New York and California hardcore punk.Lifetime was a notableemo group whose sound drew heavily on pop punk and melodic hardcore.[13] Along with other melodic hardcore groups, they had much influence on subsequent pop punk, including bands such asFall Out Boy andSaves the Day.[14][15] When Lifetime broke up, some of their members formedKid Dynamite.[16]
For much of the 1990s, the hardcore scene was largely populated by amelodic, extreme metal influenced bands. As a reaction, around 1996, a revival of the sound of the youth crew bands began in Boston.[17] From within this movement, melodic hardcore bands includingBane,In My Eyes andReach the Sky built upon the foundation that Turning Point and Inside Out has laid out. In the subsequent years, the youth crew revival expanded to other cities and countries. In theSan Francisco Bay Area hardcore scene, bands includingAFI, Pitch Black,the Nerve Agents and Scissorhands created a separate, melodic outgrowth of youth crew, which merged withhorror punk andgothic rock.[1]
The mainstream success ofpop-punk in the 2000s led to an increase in commercial success of other melodic styles of punk, including melodic hardcore. This was prominent with Chicago bandRise Against, who formed in 1999, and achieved significant mainstream radio play andMTV coverage, with the release of their major label debutSiren Song of the Counter Culture (2004). Additional bands in the genre to benefit from this wereStrike Anywhere,Kid Dynamite,the Movielife andthe Suicide Machines.[3]
Growing out of the youth crew revival,[1] Boston bandAmerican Nightmare's 2001 debut albumBackground Music pioneered a new style of melodic hardcore, which callbacked to the 1980s punk-based style of hardcore, while also embracing the influence of the dark lyrics ofgothic rock.[2] American Nightmare's influence was apparent promptly leading to a wave bands includingCeremony,Ruiner,Modern Life Is War,the Hope Conspiracy andKilling the Dream.[18][19] A reaction against American Nightmare's negative melodic hardcore sound soon took place, beginning with Mental, who were quickly followed byHave Heart.[20] Have Heart's success led to the rise in popularity of otherpositive hardcore groups likeChampion,Verse andSinking Ships.[21][22] Other prominent groups playing these styles includedthe Carrier,Ruiner,This Is Hell andComeback Kid, many of which are housed by key hardcore labelsBridge 9 Records andDeathwish Inc.[7] In western Australia, this sound become one of its most commercially successful exports, withBreak Even andMile Away.[23]
Between 2005 and 2009, groups includingDefeater,Touché Amoré andBeing as an Ocean morphed Bridge Nine and Deathwish's melodic hardcore style into whatAlternative Press writer Brian Kraus termed "melodic, emotional hardcore".[7] By the 2010s this sound evolved into the experiment movementthe Wave. Typified by emotional lyrics, concept albums and the revival of elements of 1990s emo,screamo andpost-hardcore, the movement was originally fronted by Touché Amoré, Defeater,La Dispute,Pianos Become the Teeth andMake Do and Mend. As the movement continued into the 2010s, it also came to be embraced by an even more-diverse groups of acts includingTigers Jaw,Title Fight,Balance And Composure andState Faults.[24][2]
Melodic hardcore declined in popularity in the American hardcore scene following the release ofTrapped Under Ice's debut albumSecrets of the World (2009), which repopularised heavier, metal-influenced styles. However, melodic hardcore continued to gain traction in the United Kingdom, whereDead Swans,While She Sleeps and More Than Life were forefront acts, as well as in the American metalcore scene.[1] At this time, a wave of groups cross-pollinating the influence of melodic hardcore, like Killing the Dream, and metalcore bands likeShai Hulud andMisery Signals began to gain traction. This wave often made use of serious, solemn lyrics and sometimes clean vocals in addition to the commonplace screams. Music commentators includingStuff You Will Hate,Alternative Press and Bradley Zorgdrager ofExclaim! used the name "serious hardcore" or "srscore" to refer to this style.[25][26] Groups in this wave includedHundredth,the Ghost Inside,Counterparts[26] andStick to Your Guns.[27]
Through the 2010s, the melodic, emotional hardcore style grew an underground following in the Australia and the United Kingdom, especially Wales.[28][1] At this time, the YouTube channel Dreambound was one of the most prominent sources for finding bands, uploading music videos for many prominent bands,[29] with this era of the genre being posthumously named "dreamcore". Groups in this scene, often embraced elements ofpost-rock, and used cleaner and more commercially accessible production styles than had previously been uncommon in the genre. The most prominent act in dreamcore melodic hardcore wasCasey from South Wales,[1] with Australian bands Vacant Home and Ambleside too gaining international success.[30][31] In the later years of this scene, bands began decreasing the influence they took from hardcore, when Crooks UK,Holding Absence and Endless Height were instead leaning further into post-rock andshoegaze. This, in addition to Hundredth's switch to shoegaze onRare (2017) and the 2019 disbandment of Casey led to the end of this era.[1] By the time of Casey's 2023 reunion shows, they had entered a level of cult status whichNoizze writer Ethan Young stated made them "one of the most notable melodic hardcore groups of the decade".[32]
During the mid–to late 2010s, another movement reviving youth crew within the hardcore scene began, most prominent in the United States and United Kingdom. Within this movement, was a wave of bands inspired by the Bridge 9 melodic hardcore sound, including True Love, Time and Pressure, If It Rains, Fading Signal, Chemical Fix and Fixation.[1] Other prominent melodic hardcore bands from this time included Mil-Spec, Ghost Fame and No Longer At Ease.[2] Notably,One Step Closer emerged from this wave, originally playing standard youth crew before transitioning into melodic hardcore on their 2017Promo release. In the 2020s, One Step Closer became one of the forefront bands in the hardcore scene, their success leading to the increased prominence of additional bands in the genre includingFiddlehead,Anxious andKoyo.[1]
The early '90s was full of bands who promoted a straight edge lifestyle, but sounded more metal and played slower. Then the mid'90s brought bands made up of older guys from the late '80s who wanted that more traditional sound. There were younger guys who wanted that as well. So around 1996 or 1997, a full Youth Crew revival happened.
Greg W: When we formed the band Mental, it was a reaction to bands in our area like American Nightmare and Panic. We wanted to do something that was different to what was going on at the time. Luckily, the older people who got me into hardcore as a kid put me onto classic New York hard-core. I could never connect to any of that baggy-pants Victory Records stuff too much. The guys in Mental and I wereso into old New York and D.C. hardcore. We worshipped it, and we wanted to bring that style of music back...
Chris Wrenn: I saw Have Heart picking up the straight edge torch afte Mental. Bands like American Nightmare and No Warning only had black T-shirts. When Bridge Nine Records started working with Have Heart, Pat's only concern was that we didn't make black T-shirts for the band, and I don't think we ever did; red and royal blue definitely, but not black.