Metal Reviews

I've got a few basic questions about metalcore...like almost everyone here, I don't like it very much, but at the same time I kind of want to know something about it so I can argue against it .

Anyways, my only real question is: what is a breakdown? And how can you identify one in a song?

And another issue with metalcore that's been on my mind lately is the band classification...some bands that sound pretty metalcore to me (Shadows Fall) aren't classified as metalcore, and some that don't sound metalcore at all (Lamb of God) are...why?

I realize that I sound really uneducated in metal in this post, but I'm still pretty much a n00b compared to you guys so I'm not too embarrassed...

A breakdown is basically the part in the song that goes

DUN - DUN - DUN - DUNDUNDUN - DUN - DUN - DUN - *SQEEL* DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN

You can identify it usually by when the vocalist yells "Go" or something beforehand.

At first, I was like but then I thought of "Laid to Rest" by Lamb of God...that has a breakdown in it, right?

Actually... I never heard that song. It probably does though.

I know Ruin by the same band has one, though. You'll know it becuase he's all like "GO!" and the drums go buntedebuntedebuntededededebom! then the guitars go all DUN DUN DUNDUNDUN DUN DUNDUNDUN DUN DUNDUN SQUEE SQUEE

Yaknow, like that.

I went and listened to that song...yeah, I know what you mean. I'm guessing a breakdown generally has a lot of start-stop stuff.

Yep, that's basically a breakdown. Now that you've identified one, you can identify them all. =P

Metalcore is kind of an ambiguous genre now. So many bands have abandoned virtually all hardcore elements that it makes little sense to call these bands metalcore anymore. Most of what some people call breakdowns aren't true breakdowns.

Check these out:

STRIFE - BLISTERED (true breakdown from 1:35 on, basically)
EARTH CRISIS - PROVOKE

Strife and Earth Crisis are the kinds of hardcore bands that really started the whole metalcore thing. They did it first, though it was still called hardcore back then. These were hardcore bands that had a good dose of metal in their music, but still retained their hardcore style. What came after, and what mainstream knows as "metalcore," is pretty much metal with virtually no hardcore at all. What is known as a breakdown now is usually just a bridge where a solo would normally go, but the band's guitarists are too shitty to play.

A breakdown is pretty much made for the live setting. It's that riff or riffs that you can imagine hundreds of people just grooving to. It makes little sense now, as the live climate has changed from back in the day. Mosh pits are now human blenders filled with meatheads and six-days-a-week-emo fags trying to act hardcore on Saturday night. It's not the same anymore. A breakdown doesn't go over well in today's live setting because of the mindset of this generation of fans.

That's not to say there isn't a ton of great metalcore bands out there. There are. If you want true metalcore, though, don't look to the mainstream.

The end of Converge's "last light" = best breakdown evar

Breakdowns are waaaaaaaaaay over used. My main problem with metalcore is that it's far too generic.

No more so than any other subgenre of metal =\

Metalcore by todays definition basically means Gothernburg with breakdowns and emo choruses.

I'm sure it once stood for something better and there's an army of tr00 Metalcoreheads out there that die a little inside everytime they see a Bullet For My Valentine video.

HATE! DIIIE! BALLS!

but I cried for youuuuuuu du du duuuu

PLEA! CROWN! ELEVATOOOOR!

I bleed for the bunneeh


there's a metalcore song for you made in 2 seconds.

Don't think I've ever really dug any metalcore on an especially deep level... plenty of hardcore I like, though. Dudes such as Minor Threat rock my socks, in actual fact.

Pure metalcore bands are usually not so great, some of them are enjoyable for me like Zao, Dead To Fall, Darkest Hour etc..

Wish I had thought of this. I wouldn't have had to write all that crap no one paid attention to.

I did...watched both of those videos. I didn't really like that stuff any more than I like metalcore today, though

But anyways...I think I can identify a breakdown when I hear one, now. I really just wanted to be able to do that when I made this thread so I could tell my friend that all the stuff he listens to is metalcore shit

Bomb the Music Industry! - "Brian Wilson Says SMiLE aka Beard Of Defiance"



Doesn't sound too much like the average breakdown to me but I trust these guys better than I trust myself concerning hardcore. I can see the "grooving" factor.

They have two albums up for download on their website, by the way: http://www.bombthemusicindustry.com/

There are some excellent metalcore bands like Caliban, Casket Garden, As Blood Runs Black, etc.

Why people dont like this genre I dont know as it has the riffs, speed, aggression...

Great style!!

Hee hee hee

We need more Kathy.

To be honest, I think a lot of metal fans simply use the term "Metalcore" in an insulting sense to refer to "mainstream metal bands." Kind of like how, before about 2004, "nu-metal" was used in that same sense (even though bands like System Of A Down have little, if anything, in common with Korn and Limp Bizkit). Because Metalcore started to gain a little mainstream popularity through bands like Unearth and God Forbid, metal fans automatically assume it's "the next big thing" and say that any metal band in the mainstream is "metalcore." For that matter, I guess Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Ozzy Osbourne, and Slayer must also be "metalcore."

I wonder how many metal fans have actually stopped and pondered just how equally stupid the whole "hate everything popular" attitude really is to the mainstream's whole "hate everything unpopular" attitude? I'd gladly take System Of A Down over Immortal anyday. Why? Because SOAD actually plays listenable music.