DeaDeathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with

[1][2][3][4]
metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and
[5]
metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of
death metal fused with metalcore and hardcore elements seen in the 1990s,
deathcore itself emerged in the early 2000s and gained prominence beginning in
the mid-2000s within the southwestern United States, especially Arizona and
inland southern California, which are home to many notable bands and various
[6][7][8]
festivals.

Some of the genre's earliest examples include Antagony, Despised Icon, and the
Red Chord. Deathcore's expansion in the mid-2000s saw bands like All Shall
Perish, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Bring Me the Horizon, Suicide Silence,
Carnifex, Job for a Cowboy, Chelsea Grin and Whitechapel taking off. In the
2010s, deathcore bands began experimenting with an eclectic selection of other
genres.

The genre is noted for its criticism from longtime fans of heavy metal music,
usually for its frequent use of breakdowns. Some musicians classified as
deathcore have rejected the label.

Characteristics[edit]
[9]
Compared to metalcore, the fulcrum of deathcore is "weight and volume". A
fusion genre, deathcore combines death metal characteristics such as blast
beats, down-tuned guitars, tremolo picking, and growled vocals with metalcore
[citation needed]
characteristics such as breakdowns. The genre is usually defined
by breakdowns and death metal riffs or metalcore riffs played in the usual death
[5][10]
metal tuning. Like in other extreme metal fusion genres, deathcore guitarists
down-tune their guitars to give their music a heavier sound. Deathcore bands
[11][12][13][14][15]
may also employ guitar solos as well.

[5][16]
Low growls and shrieked screams are common types of vocals in deathcore.
Some other techniques that deathcore vocalists have used include what is known
[17][18][19][20][21]
as pig squeals. Sung vocals in the genre are rare and most bands
seldom if ever use them, but the idea has been experimented with by a few bands
such as All Shall Perish (in the song "Awaken the Dreamers") and Oceano (in the
[22]
song "Incisions").
Some lyrical themes common in deathcore songs include antireligion,
[23]
psychological pain and body horror.

History[edit]
Predecessors (1990s)[edit]

Death metal band Suffocation

The term "deathcore" has had convoluted uses on-and-off in various

metal/hardcore scenes far before it was considered an established or recognized
genre. The earliest known use of "deathcore" as a word was by New York band
N.Y.C. Mayhem, a self-description for their merger of hardcore punk and thrash
[24]
metal. Outside of the US however, there also existed some early exampled
uses; a German deathgrind band named Deathcore existed in the mid 1980s, and
another German deathgrind band Blood, used the word as the title for a demo put
[25]
out in 1986. However it wasn't until 1996 that "deathcore" eventually began
gaining traction to describe a musical style; Nick Terry of Terrorizer magazine
that year publicized: "We're probably going to settle on the term deathcore to
describe the likes of Earth Crisis (as well as the more NYHC-ish but still as
[26]
deathly Merauder)." Embrace the Eternal (1998) by Embodyment, Yesterday Is
Time Killed (1999) by Eighteen Visions, and Rain in Endless Fall (1999) by Prayer
for Cleansing are early examples of albums that feature a metalcore sound
[27][28][29]
combined with death metal influences, in 2019 music site The New Fury
has even gone on record to credit Embodyment as "[pioneers] of the deathcore
[30][31]
genre" due to their performance on Embrace the Eternal. Decibel magazine
wrote that death metal band Suffocation were one of the main inspirations for the
genre's emergence by writing: "One of Suffocation's trademarks, breakdowns,
[32]
has spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore."
The Belgian H8000 music scene was also influential to the development of the
sound, with bands like Deformity, and Liar helping to pioneer a prototype for the
[33]
genre in the late-1990s and early-2000s. When writing about deathcore
pioneers Despised Icon, Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer wrote: "blending death
metal with hardcore was by no means a new thing when Despised Icon
[34]
emerged." Suffocation bassist Derek Boyer says Suffocation "were influenced
[34]
by many early metal and hardcore bands". Death metal bands like Dying Fetus,
Suffocation, and Internal Bleeding were influential on deathcore due to their use
[34]
of "crushing, mid-paced grooves and breakdowns", according to Lawson.

Despised Icon

Origins (early to mid-2000s)[edit]

[35][36]
Despite a few earlier metalcore/death metal hybridizations, Antagony and
[37][38]
Despised Icon are considered to be the true pioneers of deathcore, however
[36][39]
both bands have rejected the label. Antagony founder and frontman Nick
Vasallo is credited as being the "father of deathcore" due to his work in the
[40]
band. The Red Chord is referenced as an early influential source for the genre
due to their hybridization of metalcore and death metal sounds (among other
[41]
genres). New Hampshire band Deadwater Drowning and Californian group All
Shall Perish are also seen as notable early entries of the genre. Deadwater
Drowning's 2003 EP was remarked as "basically the blueprint for every current
[42]
deathcore band out today," while All Shall Perish's debut album Hate, Malice,
[43]
Revenge (2003) "never got tied down to [simply] death metal or metalcore."
Music journalist T Coles said, "in a similar fashion to their grindcore ancestors,
cultural barriers melted away as kids with earnest interests in various heavy
sounds melded ideas together [...] they were earnestly trying to be as ruthlessly
heavy as possible, taking elements from everything they liked and pushing them
as hard as they could, just as bands [in the 1990s], and a decade before that, had
[44]
done."

In the mid 2000s, deathcore spiked in popularity shortly after Job for a Cowboy
released their EP Doom in 2005, which is heavily credited as one of deathcore's
[45]
most significant and influential releases for the genre. The genre saw an
increase in popularity even further when English band Bring Me the Horizon
released their deathcore debut full-length Count Your Blessings in 2006. The
band were presented the 2006 Kerrang! Award for "Best British Newcomer"
[46]
shortly after the album's release, however the band abandoned the deathcore
[47]
genre soon thereafter.

Expansion (late 2000s and 2010s)[edit]

Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence

In the mid-to-late 2000s, many deathcore groups began to embrace elements of

nu metal, with Whitechapel and Suicide Silence making use of a "heavier and
more groove-driven sound than their predecessors and increasingly bordered
[48]
nu-metal", and Emmure, Winds of Plague and the Acacia Strain embracing its
[49]
urban, black aesthetics. As early as 2011, publications including MetalSucks
had begun to use the term "nu-deathcore" or "nu-dethcore" to refer to a wave of
bands combining nu metal and deathcore, including Emmure, Suicide Silence,
[50]
Here Comes the Kraken, Upon a Burning Body and Gorelord. This wave led
Japanese band Dir En Grey to return to their nu metal influence sound while also
[51]
embracing deathcore on songs such as "Different Sense". Suicide Silence's
No Time to Bleed (2009) peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200, number 12 on
[52]
the Rock Albums Chart and number 6 on the Hard Rock Albums Chart, while
their album The Black Crown peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200, number 7
[52]
on the Rock Albums Chart and number 3 on the Hard Rock Albums Chart.
Whitechapel's album This Is Exile sold 5,900 in copies, which made it enter the
[53]
Billboard 200 chart at position 118. Their self-titled album peaked at number 65
[54] [55]
on the Canadian Albums Chart and also at number 47 on the Billboard 200.
Their third album A New Era of Corruption sold about 10,600 copies in the United
States in its first week of being released and peaked at position number 43 on the
[56]
Billboard 200 chart.

San Diego natives Carnifex witnessed success with their first album Dead in My
Arms (2007), selling 5,000 copies with little publicity. On top of their non-stop
touring, the band's methodical songwriting resulted in Carnifex quickly getting
[57]
signed to label Victory Records. Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder
[58]
debuted at number 35 on the ARIA Charts with their album Hate (2012), making
[59]
them the first extreme metal band to ever reach the Top 40 of this chart.

In the 2020s, deathcore experienced a resurgence in popularity, with bands like

Fit For An Autopsy, Boundaries, Paleface Swiss, Ingested and Angelmaker
bringing new attention to the genre. Lorna Shore, in particular, gained
mainstream recognition with their 2021 song "To the Hellfire," which went viral
[60]
and was credited with revitalizing deathcore. These bands have introduced
symphonic and progressive elements while maintaining the core traits of
[61]
breakdowns, blast beats, and guttural vocals. Russian deathcore group
Slaughter to Prevail reportedly reached over 3.5 million streams on music
services for their song "Hell" (2015); the band also performed a line of sold-out
shows in China, which made the group the only foreign metal band to perform a
[62][63]
sold-out concert in the country in all of 2020. Lorna Shore's 2021 song "To
the Hellfire", saw the band gain significant attention, primarily through videos
shared on TikTok, to the extent that in a 2022 article by Revolver, writer Eli Enis
[64]
called the band "the new faces of deathcore".

thcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with

[1][2][3][4]
metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and
[5]
metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death
metal fused with metalcore and hardcore elements seen in the 1990s, deathcore itself
emerged in the early 2000s and gained prominence beginning in the mid-2000s within
the southwestern United States, especially Arizona and inland southern California,
[6][7][8]
which are home to many notable bands and various festivals.

Some of the genre's earliest examples include Antagony, Despised Icon, and the Red
Chord. Deathcore's expansion in the mid-2000s saw bands like All Shall Perish,
Through the Eyes of the Dead, Bring Me the Horizon, Suicide Silence, Carnifex, Job for
a Cowboy, Chelsea Grin and Whitechapel taking off. In the 2010s, deathcore bands
began experimenting with an eclectic selection of other genres.

The genre is noted for its criticism from longtime fans of heavy metal music, usually for
its frequent use of breakdowns. Some musicians classified as deathcore have rejected
the label.

Characteristics[edit]
[9]
Compared to metalcore, the fulcrum of deathcore is "weight and volume". A fusion
genre, deathcore combines death metal characteristics such as blast beats, down-tuned
guitars, tremolo picking, and growled vocals with metalcore characteristics such as
[citation needed]
breakdowns. The genre is usually defined by breakdowns and death metal
[5][10]
riffs or metalcore riffs played in the usual death metal tuning. Like in other extreme
metal fusion genres, deathcore guitarists down-tune their guitars to give their music a
[11][12][13][14][15]
heavier sound. Deathcore bands may also employ guitar solos as well.

[5][16]
Low growls and shrieked screams are common types of vocals in deathcore. Some
other techniques that deathcore vocalists have used include what is known as pig
[17][18][19][20][21]
squeals. Sung vocals in the genre are rare and most bands seldom if
ever use them, but the idea has been experimented with by a few bands such as All
Shall Perish (in the song "Awaken the Dreamers") and Oceano (in the song
[22]
"Incisions").

Some lyrical themes common in deathcore songs include antireligion, psychological

[23]
pain and body horror.

History[edit]
Predecessors (1990s)[edit]
 Death metal band Suffocation

The term "deathcore" has had convoluted uses on-and-off in various metal/hardcore
scenes far before it was considered an established or recognized genre. The earliest
known use of "deathcore" as a word was by New York band N.Y.C. Mayhem, a
[24]
self-description for their merger of hardcore punk and thrash metal. Outside of the
US however, there also existed some early exampled uses; a German deathgrind band
named Deathcore existed in the mid 1980s, and another German deathgrind band
[25]
Blood, used the word as the title for a demo put out in 1986. However it wasn't until
1996 that "deathcore" eventually began gaining traction to describe a musical style;
Nick Terry of Terrorizer magazine that year publicized: "We're probably going to settle
on the term deathcore to describe the likes of Earth Crisis (as well as the more
[26]
NYHC-ish but still as deathly Merauder)." Embrace the Eternal (1998) by
Embodyment, Yesterday Is Time Killed (1999) by Eighteen Visions, and Rain in Endless
Fall (1999) by Prayer for Cleansing are early examples of albums that feature a
[27][28][29]
metalcore sound combined with death metal influences, in 2019 music site The
New Fury has even gone on record to credit Embodyment as "[pioneers] of the
[30][31]
deathcore genre" due to their performance on Embrace the Eternal. Decibel
magazine wrote that death metal band Suffocation were one of the main inspirations for
the genre's emergence by writing: "One of Suffocation's trademarks, breakdowns, has
[32]
spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore."

The Belgian H8000 music scene was also influential to the development of the sound,
with bands like Deformity, and Liar helping to pioneer a prototype for the genre in the
[33]
late-1990s and early-2000s. When writing about deathcore pioneers Despised Icon,
Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer wrote: "blending death metal with hardcore was by no
[34]
means a new thing when Despised Icon emerged." Suffocation bassist Derek Boyer
[34]
says Suffocation "were influenced by many early metal and hardcore bands". Death
metal bands like Dying Fetus, Suffocation, and Internal Bleeding were influential on
deathcore due to their use of "crushing, mid-paced grooves and breakdowns",
[34]
according to Lawson.

Despised Icon

Origins (early to mid-2000s)[edit]

[35][36]
Despite a few earlier metalcore/death metal hybridizations, Antagony and
[37][38]
Despised Icon are considered to be the true pioneers of deathcore, however both
[36][39]
bands have rejected the label. Antagony founder and frontman Nick Vasallo is
[40]
credited as being the "father of deathcore" due to his work in the band. The Red
Chord is referenced as an early influential source for the genre due to their hybridization
[41]
of metalcore and death metal sounds (among other genres). New Hampshire band
Deadwater Drowning and Californian group All Shall Perish are also seen as notable
early entries of the genre. Deadwater Drowning's 2003 EP was remarked as "basically
[42]
the blueprint for every current deathcore band out today," while All Shall Perish's
debut album Hate, Malice, Revenge (2003) "never got tied down to [simply] death metal
[43]
or metalcore." Music journalist T Coles said, "in a similar fashion to their grindcore
ancestors, cultural barriers melted away as kids with earnest interests in various heavy
sounds melded ideas together [...] they were earnestly trying to be as ruthlessly heavy
as possible, taking elements from everything they liked and pushing them as hard as
[44]
they could, just as bands [in the 1990s], and a decade before that, had done."

In the mid 2000s, deathcore spiked in popularity shortly after Job for a Cowboy released
their EP Doom in 2005, which is heavily credited as one of deathcore's most significant
[45]
and influential releases for the genre. The genre saw an increase in popularity even
further when English band Bring Me the Horizon released their deathcore debut
full-length Count Your Blessings in 2006. The band were presented the 2006 Kerrang!
 [46]
Award for "Best British Newcomer" shortly after the album's release, however the
[47]
band abandoned the deathcore genre soon thereafter.

Expansion (late 2000s and 2010s)[edit]

Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence

In the mid-to-late 2000s, many deathcore groups began to embrace elements of nu

metal, with Whitechapel and Suicide Silence making use of a "heavier and more
[48]
groove-driven sound than their predecessors and increasingly bordered nu-metal",
and Emmure, Winds of Plague and the Acacia Strain embracing its urban, black
[49]
aesthetics. As early as 2011, publications including MetalSucks had begun to use the
term "nu-deathcore" or "nu-dethcore" to refer to a wave of bands combining nu metal
and deathcore, including Emmure, Suicide Silence, Here Comes the Kraken, Upon a
[50]
Burning Body and Gorelord. This wave led Japanese band Dir En Grey to return to
their nu metal influence sound while also embracing deathcore on songs such as
[51]
"Different Sense". Suicide Silence's No Time to Bleed (2009) peaked at number 32
on the Billboard 200, number 12 on the Rock Albums Chart and number 6 on the Hard
[52]
Rock Albums Chart, while their album The Black Crown peaked at number 28 on the
Billboard 200, number 7 on the Rock Albums Chart and number 3 on the Hard Rock
[52]
Albums Chart. Whitechapel's album This Is Exile sold 5,900 in copies, which made it
[53]
enter the Billboard 200 chart at position 118. Their self-titled album peaked at
[54]
number 65 on the Canadian Albums Chart and also at number 47 on the Billboard
[55]
200. Their third album A New Era of Corruption sold about 10,600 copies in the
United States in its first week of being released and peaked at position number 43 on
[56]
the Billboard 200 chart.

San Diego natives Carnifex witnessed success with their first album Dead in My Arms
(2007), selling 5,000 copies with little publicity. On top of their non-stop touring, the
band's methodical songwriting resulted in Carnifex quickly getting signed to label Victory
[57]
Records. Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder debuted at number 35 on the
[58]
ARIA Charts with their album Hate (2012), making them the first extreme metal band
[59]
to ever reach the Top 40 of this chart.

In the 2020s, deathcore experienced a resurgence in popularity, with bands like Fit For
An Autopsy, Boundaries, Paleface Swiss, Ingested and Angelmaker bringing new
attention to the genre. Lorna Shore, in particular, gained mainstream recognition with
their 2021 song "To the Hellfire," which went viral and was credited with revitalizing
[60]
deathcore. These bands have introduced symphonic and progressive elements while
[61]
maintaining the core traits of breakdowns, blast beats, and guttural vocals. Russian
deathcore group Slaughter to Prevail reportedly reached over 3.5 million streams on
music services for their song "Hell" (2015); the band also performed a line of sold-out
shows in China, which made the group the only foreign metal band to perform a
[62][63]
sold-out concert in the country in all of 2020. Lorna Shore's 2021 song "To the
Hellfire", saw the band gain significant attention, primarily through videos shared on
TikTok, to the extent that in a 2022 article by Revolver, writer Eli Enis called the band
[64]
"the new faces of deathcore".