Screamo is a subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics". San Diego–based bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow pioneered the genre in the early 1990s, and it was developed in the late 1990s mainly by bands from the East Coast of the United States such as Pg. 99, Orchid, Saetia, and I Hate Myself. Screamo is strongly influenced by hardcore punk and characterized by the use of screamed vocals. Lyrical themes usually include emotional pain, death, romance, and human rights. The term "screamo" has frequently been mistaken as referring to any music with screaming.
Saetia is a New York City-based screamo band. While relatively unknown during their initial existence, the band is now seen as one of the most critically lauded bands of the late-1990s screamo scene. Stewart Mason of AllMusic described their music as an "essential document" for fans of screamo.
Pg. 99 was a hardcore punk band from Sterling, Virginia, a town on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., who are widely considered one of the pioneers of the screamo genre. The band formed as a six-piece in late 1997 and broke up as an eight-piece in 2003; at their maximum capacity they performed with two singers, three guitarists, two bassists and a drummer and were known for their intense live shows.
Robotic Empire is an American independent record label based out of Richmond, Virginia, specializing in hardcore punk, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Some of the most popular bands signed to the label over the years have been pg.99, City of Caterpillar, Crowpath, The Red Chord, Circle Takes the Square, Cursive, Versoma, Daughters, Isis, Kayo Dot, Cave In, Red Sparowes, Torche and Hot Cross. Robotic Empire was known as Robodog Records for their first 14 releases.
The Static Age is an American post punk band originally from Burlington, Vermont and now based in Chicago, IL. The band's style blends elements of post-punk, alternative, shoegaze, synth pop and indie rock and they have released five albums and a handful of EPs and singles as well as toured extensively across both North America and Europe.
Damien Zev Moyal is an American vocalist, lyricist, musician, songwriter, and designer. Born in Amstelveen, North Holland, Netherlands, he moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Miami, Florida, where he notably fronted such hardcore punk, metallic hardcore, and melodic hardcore bands as Shai Hulud, As Friends Rust, Morning Again, Culture, Bird of Ill Omen, and Bridgeburne R. Moyal has been based in Ann Arbor, Michigan since 2006, and is the founding member of the semi-eponymously named gothic rock/post-punk band Damien Done.
City of Caterpillar is the debut studio album by American band City of Caterpillar, which was released on May 1, 2002 on LP and CD formats through Level Plane Records. Since its release, critics have praised its sound, which combines elements of screamo with post-rock, and it is now seen as an essential recording of early 2000s screamo. The album would eventually become out-of-print for years, however Repeater Records reissued a remastered version of the album on LP format on May 27, 2016.
I Set My Friends on Fire is a post-hardcore band from Miami, Florida. The band was formed in 2007 by Matt Mehana and Nabil Moo. The group signed with Epitaph Records before releasing their debut album, You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter, in 2008. Drummer Chris Lent joined the band in 2009. The group's second album, Astral Rejection, was scheduled to be released on June 22, 2010, but it was shelved for a year by Epitaph. Moo left the band in 2010, then Lent left the band. The group's third album, Caterpillar Sex, was announced in 2013 but has never seen a release.
Pianos Become the Teeth are an American band from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2006. Their early musical style was inspired by post-rock and early screamo acts, and they were a part of the post-hardcore music movement, also represented by Touché Amoré, La Dispute, Defeater, and Make Do and Mend. The group reissued their well-received debut album Old Pride in 2010 through Topshelf Records.
The emo revival, or fourth wave emo, was an underground emo movement which began in the late 2000s and flourished until the mid-to-late 2010s. The movement began towards the end of the 2000s third-wave emo, with Pennsylvania-based groups such as Tigers Jaw, Algernon Cadwallader and Snowing eschewing that era's mainstream sensibilities in favor of influence from 1990s Midwest emo. Acts like Touché Amoré, La Dispute and Defeater drew from 1990s emo and especially its heavier counterparts, such as screamo and post-hardcore.
Jeromes Dream is a screamo band formed in Connecticut and currently based in San Francisco, California, originally active from 1997 to 2001, and again from 2018 onwards.
Reversal of Man was a hardcore punk band from Tampa, Florida that formed in 1995. The band is associated with the late 1990s screamo movement and noted for bordering on powerviolence and grindcore. The group's lyrical content was often political, and the group initially formed as a reaction to the then-growing underground nazi punk scene in Florida.
Vein.fm is an American metalcore band from Boston that formed in 2013. They are known for their frequent tours and have performed shows with groups such as Code Orange and Twitching Tongues while in Europe. In 2017 the band was signed onto Closed Casket Activities, who would issue their first full-length work Errorzone to positive reception among critics, even appearing on Revolver's early "Best Albums of 2018" list. The album also managed to peak at number 21 on Billboard's Hard Rock album chart. In July 2020, after the release of their remix album, the band announced it changed its name to Vein.fm.
Portrayal of Guilt is an American black metal band formed in Austin, Texas, in 2017. It was founded by guitarist/vocalist Matt King, bassist Blake Given, and drummer James Beveridge.
Fury is an American hardcore punk band from Southern California.
Infant Island is an American blackgaze screamo band formed in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2016. The band consists of vocalist Daniel Kost, guitarists Alexander Rudenshiold and Winston Givler, bassist Kyle Guerra, and drummer Austin O'Rourke.
Majority Rule is an American hardcore punk band from Northern Virginia, originally active between 1996 and 2004. Influential within the screamo subgenre, their releases include the studio albums Interviews with David Frost (2001) and Emergency Numbers (2003) and the split album Document #12 (2002) with Pg. 99. The band reunited in 2017, performing benefit shows with Pg. 99 and City of Caterpillar.
The discography of American melodic hardcore band As Friends Rust includes two studio albums, three compilation albums, four extended plays, five singles, one live video album, and three music videos. The original line-up recorded a demo tape in November 1996, but failing to secure a record deal, the band parted ways in February 1997. After reforming later that same year, but with a new line-up, the band recorded one new song and combined it with some of the demo's songs to create its debut EP, The Fists of Time, for Belgium's Good Life Recordings in July 1998. In December 1998, As Friends Rust released a split with Discount, also on Good Life.
Gospel is an American hardcore punk band. The band was formed in 2003 in Brooklyn, New York by guitarist/vocalist Adam Dooling, bassist Sean Miller and drummer Vincent Roseboom, with keyboardist/guitarist Johnathan Pastir joining the band in 2004.
The Moon Is a Dead World is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Gospel. It was released on May 10, 2005, by Level Plane Records. It was the band's only studio album during their initial existence.
