Editing Metalcore (section)

=== Stylistic elements ===
[[File:Cave In.jpg|left|thumb|Metalcore band [[Cave In]] performing in 2006]]
Metalcore fuses elements of [[hardcore punk]] and [[extreme metal]], and is known for its use of [[breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock|breakdowns]]. Jon Weiderhorn of ''[[Loudwire]]'' said that deathcore and some metalcore bands were influenced by elements of [[death metal]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://loudwire.com/heavy-metal-101-history-of-death-metal/ | title=Death Metal 101: The History of Death Metal | website=[[Loudwire]] | date=31 August 2017 }}</ref> The genre is broadly defined, and throughout its history, various metalcore acts have fused elements of hardcore and metal in different ways. Some earlier metalcore bands, such as [[Botch (band)|Botch]] and [[Cave In]], were stylistically derived from traditional hardcore scenes. Jorge Martins of ''[[Ultimate Guitar]]'' explained, "some of those bands fused [[Slayer]]-based assaulting riffs with [[Pantera]]-leaning plummeting breakdowns and punk's ferocity and ethics, and a whole new beast was formed."<ref name="JorgeM, 2020" />
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| quote = The word "metalcore" is one of the few subgenres of music that conjures up an incredibly different range of sounds depending on who you ask. For old heads, it brings up a moment in time when the worlds of heavy metal and hardcore punk combined to a new underground genre, a grassroots movement and [an] exciting time for punk. For others, big room metal anthems pitted with poppy choruses are conjured, riffs descended from the Gothenburg school of metal contorted into music with a sense of bounce.
| source = John Hill of ''[[Loudwire]]'' (May 25, 2020) [https://loudwire.com/best-metalcore-albums-all-time/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral]
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Some later acts, such as [[Killswitch Engage]], gravitated towards a more accessible [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] sound, while also incorporating elements of [[Swedish death metal|Swedish melodic death metal]] and [[Boston hardcore]].<ref name="JorgeM, 2020">{{Cite web |title=Top 10 Best '90s Proto-Metalcore Albums That Shaped the Genre |url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/top_10_best_90s_proto-metalcore_albums_that_shaped_the_genre-113093 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.ultimate-guitar.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=20 Years Ago, This Underground Classic Changed the Game for Metal and Punk (But It's Not the One You Think) |url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/20_years_ago_this_underground_classic_changed_the_game_for_metal_and_punk_but_its_not_the_one_you_think-169512 |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=www.ultimate-guitar.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Killswitch Engage > Loudwire |url=https://loudwire.com/tags/killswitch-engage/ |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Killswitch Engage Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio ... |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/killswitch-engage-mn0000771792#biography |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> Many 2000s metalcore bands were heavily influenced by [[melodic death metal]], and extensively incorporated elements of the style into their music.<ref>{{cite web |last=Crane |first=Matt |date=2 September 2014 |title=12 melodic death-metal songs any self-respecting metalcore fan should like |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/12_melodic_death_metal_songs_any_self_respecting_metalcore_fan_should_like/ |access-date=30 November 2019 |work=[[Altpress.com|Alternative Press]]}}</ref> ''[[Alternative Press (magazine)|Alternative Press Magazine]]'' described metalcore as the "breakdown-heavy counterpart" of melodic death metal, referring to the latter genre as the "founding ancestor" of the former.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crane |first=Matt |title=12 melodic death-metal songs any self-respecting metalcore fan should like |url=https://www.altpress.com/12_melodic_death_metal_songs_any_self_respecting_metalcore_fan_should_like/ |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Alternative Press Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Malcolm Dome of ''[[Revolver magazine|Revolver]]'' wrote that without Swedish melodic death metal band [[At the Gates]]' 1995 album ''[[Slaughter of the Soul]]'', modern North American melodic metalcore acts such as [[As I Lay Dying (band)|As I Lay Dying]] and [[All That Remains (band)|All That Remains]] "wouldn't even exist."<ref name="AtTheGates">{{cite web |last=Dome |first=Malcolm |date=14 November 2018 |title=How At the Gates Changed Metal Forever With 'Slaughter of the Soul' |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/how-gates-changed-metal-forever-slaughter-soul |access-date=30 November 2019 |work=[[Revolver magazine|Revolver]]}}</ref> Graham Hartmann of ''[[Loudwire]]'' retroactively assessed that the album appeared to be a "[[Nostradamus]]-esque prediction of how metal would evolve."<ref>{{cite web |last=Hartmann |first=Graham |date=21 January 2014 |title=Will At the Gates Release a New Album in 2014? |url=https://loudwire.com/at-the-gates-new-album-2014/ |access-date=30 November 2019 |work=[[Loudwire]]}}</ref>

Critics and journalists have observed the increased presence of ballads on modern metalcore albums, claiming that the "[[punk rock]] spirit [is] long gone" from the genre. Stephen Hill of ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' assessed, "[[Killswitch Engage]] became something akin to the [[Metallica]] of metalcore, enjoying continued success whilst others dwindled but, with [[Howard Jones (American singer)|Howard Jones]] taking the mic from [[Jesse Leach|Jess Leach]], becoming more [[hard rock]] and [[ballad]]-heavy with each new album." Journalists have also observed many later metalcore bands omitting direct hardcore punk influence entirely. Hill also assessed, "So instantly recognisable was the Killswitch sound that it was aped unashamedly by many a newcomer, where before it was an underground scene full of innovative and eclectic bands, there was now a formula."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hillpublished |first=Stephen |date=2015-01-29 |title=From Crossover To Metalcore: The Genesis Of A Genre |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/from-crossover-to-metalcore-the-genesis-of-a-genre |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=louder |language=en}}</ref> Furthermore, many of the genre's more commercially successful acts, such as All That Remains, [[Asking Alexandria]], [[Of Mice & Men (band)|Of Mice & Men]] and [[Bring Me the Horizon]], eventually abandoned their metalcore roots entirely, opting for what has been described as a "more radio-friendly [[Rock music|rock]]- and [[Pop music|pop]]-inclined" approach.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metalcore Bands are Going Mainstream, and It's Painful |url=https://www.houstonpress.com/music/metalcore-bands-are-going-mainstream-and-its-painful-7805113}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Revolver |title=Fan Poll: 5 Greatest Metalcore Albums |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/fan-poll-5-greatest-metalcore-albums/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}</ref> Stephen Hill of ''Metal Hammer'' explained: "To onlookers from the outside, metalcore was dead, a one dimensional flash in the pan to go alongside [[Glam metal|glam]] and [[Nu metal|nu-metal]] in the ‘what were we thinking?’ Fads of alternative culture."<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Hillpublished |first=Stephen |date=2015-01-29 |title=From Crossover To Metalcore: The Genesis Of A Genre |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/from-crossover-to-metalcore-the-genesis-of-a-genre |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=louder |language=en}}</ref>