Crabcore is an internet meme that originated in 2007, mocking metalcore guitarists who squat low with their legs spread in a "crab-like" stance while performing. [1] [2] [3] It has been mimicked by a variety of musical groups, [4] leading many magazines and agencies, such as Rolling Stone , Houston Press , and NPR to classify it as a jocular musical style, or microgenre. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8]
"Crabcore" originated in late 2007, and was first seen in a live performance by Blessthefall. While performing "Higinia", former lead singer Craig Mabbitt is seen squatting, almost in a “crab-like” way during the breakdown.
However, the term "crabcore" was later popularized in reference to the Ohio metalcore band Attack Attack!, who featured a "crab-like" dance during breakdowns in their music video for the 2009 single "Stick Stickly" from the album Someday Came Suddenly . [1] [7] [8] Norwegian black metal musician Abbath of the band Immortal is similarly known for crouching and walking in a similar fashion to that of a crab during the band's performances and music videos. [9] Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo is also known for a similar stance during the band's live concerts, long before the popularization of the term "crabcore". [2]
In an interview with former Attack Attack! vocalist Caleb Shomo, Rolling Stone reporter Kory Grow referred to crabcore as a musical genre; Shomo, however, said he found the term "hilarious" and the band was "just being dumb". [7] The Phoenix New Times criticized "Stick Stickly" for its abrupt transitions and auto-tuned vocals, and stated that "crabcore" is "probably not a real genre". [10] According to John McDonnell of The Guardian : [1]
"Unlike all the other genres covered in this column, crabcore isn't defined by sonics or BPMs or lyrical content, or tied to a geographic location. Crabcore is defined by the body contortions of the band's guitarists when they perform. This is the lolloping crab-like stance adopted while a guitar player shreds, and it's not dissimilar to a sumo wrestler having extreme muscle spasms while readying themselves to engage with an opponent."
Music associated with "crabcore" and the use of the term itself has been met with criticism. [1] [10] On July 13, 2009, former Attack Attack! vocalist Nick Barham was asked about crabcore in an interview with Hardtimes, and said that the band has embraced the meme as a publicity stunt. In a 2010 interview with Village Voice Media , the band reiterated "people call us crabcore ... we just roll with it, it's funny." [11] Attack Attack!'s second album peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200, prompting Metal Insider reporter Zach Shaw to write "Crabcore reached this high on the charts? Indeed a sad day." [12]
In 2011 the animated sitcom South Park episode You're Getting Old aired, parodying "tween wave" music, possibly referring to "crabcore". [13] [14] In 2016, Abandon All Ships' bassist Martin Broda tweeted "#defendcrabcore" just prior to the release of their single "Loafting". [4] Members of the extreme metal band Allegaeon often perform dressed in crab costumes and imitate the typical stance. [15] [16] Many other bands have been referred to as "crabcore" for featuring a similar stance or musical style, including Asking Alexandria and This Romantic Tragedy. [4] [6] Crabcore has sometimes been associated with electronicore characteristics, auto-tuned vocals, and excessive breakdowns "one after the other". [10] Merchandise featuring the meme is sold online.
Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression".
Metalcore is a fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, that originated in the late 1980s. Metalcore is noted for its use of breakdowns, which are slow, intense passages conducive to moshing, while other defining instrumentation includes heavy guitar riffs often utilizing percussive pedal tones and double bass drumming. Vocalists in the genre typically perform screaming; more popular bands often combine this with the use of standard singing, usually during the bridge or chorus of a song. However, the death growl is also a popular technique within the genre.
Parkway Drive are an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. Parkway Drive have released seven studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled Ten Years of Parkway Drive. The band's latest three albums have reached number 1 of the Australian ARIA Charts – Ire (2015), Reverence (2018), and Darker Still (2022).
In music, a breakdown is a part of a song in which various instruments have solo parts (breaks). This may take the form of all instruments playing the verse together, and then several or all instruments individually repeating the verse as solo parts.
Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with metalcore/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 festivals.
Progressive metalcore is a fusion of progressive metal and metalcore characterized by highly technical lead guitar, "atmospheric" elements, and complex instrumentation. Some notable practitioners take influence from djent.
The scene subculture is a youth subculture that emerged during the early 2000s in the United States from the pre-existing emo subculture. The subculture became popular with adolescents from the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. Members of the scene subculture are referred to as scene kids, trendies, or scenesters. Scene fashion consists of skinny jeans, bright-colored clothing, a signature hairstyle consisting of straight, flat hair with long fringes covering the forehead, and bright-colored hair dye. Music genres associated with the scene subculture include metalcore, crunkcore, deathcore, electronic music, and pop punk.
Attack Attack! is an American metalcore band from Westerville, Ohio, originally formed in 2005 as Ambiance. After self-releasing their first EP in 2007, the band signed to Rise Records the same year. They released three full-length albums, Someday Came Suddenly, a self-titled album, and This Means War all through Rise Records. The band left Rise Records in 2012 and disbanded the following year after a farewell tour. On October 19, 2020, the band announced a re-formation, with a mix of returning and new members.
Someday Came Suddenly is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Attack Attack!. It was released on November 11, 2008, through Rise Records. The album's name derives from the third track, "Bro, Ashley's Here", and is the only album to feature vocalist Austin Carlile. Many of the album's lyrics feature strong Christian themes.
Johnny Franck, also known as Bilmuri, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the former clean vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Attack Attack!. He departed the band in 2010, and formed a new group called The March Ahead. In 2016, he started a new musical project under the name Bilmuri. Franck has also produced music for artists such as Dave Days and Jarrod Alonge.
Attack Attack! is the second studio album by American metalcore band Attack Attack! It was released on June 8, 2010, through Rise Records. It was produced by Joey Sturgis. The album was initially titled "Shazam!", but due to copyright issues, it was self-titled.
"Stick Stickly" is a song by American metalcore band Attack Attack!. It was released on June 4, 2008 as the lead single from their debut studio album, Someday Came Suddenly.
Caleb Joshua Shomo is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer. He is most well known as the lead-vocalist of Beartooth, though he records all studio instrumentals for the band. He is also the former lead vocalist, keyboardist, and early backing vocalist of Attack Attack!, and the owner of Studio Records in Columbus, Ohio. Shomo joined Attack Attack! as keyboardist at 15 years old while maintaining a passion for electronic music and eventually grew into record production by 18.
Electronicore is a fusion genre of metalcore music with elements of various electronic music genres, often including trance, electronica, and dubstep.
This Means War is the third studio album by American metalcore band Attack Attack!. It was released on January 17, 2012, through Rise Records. Initially scheduled to be produced by John Feldmann, production was instead handled by frontman Caleb Shomo in his home studio, making it the band's only album not to be produced by Joey Sturgis.
Beartooth is an American rock band founded by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Shomo in Columbus, Ohio, in 2012. Originally Shomo performed every instrument when in the studio, before being joined by a four-piece band. Beartooth has been signed to Red Bull Records since 2013; its debut EP Sick was released on July 26, 2013, followed by the debut full-length album Disgusting on June 10, 2014. Since then, Shomo has released a further three studio albums under the Beartooth moniker: Aggressive (2016), Disease (2018), and Below (2021). The band's fifth studio album, The Surface, was released on October 13, 2023.
Disgusting is the debut studio album by American rock band Beartooth. It was released on June 10, 2014, through Red Bull Records and UNFD Records. The single "Beaten In Lips" was released on May 13, 2014, along with the pre-order for the album.
The discography of the American metalcore/electronicore band Attack Attack!, consists of three studio albums, two extended play, seventeen singles and ten music videos. The band went through numerous line-up changes and broke up in 2013, only to reunite in 2020.
Beatdown hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with prominent elements of heavy metal. Beatdown hardcore features aggressive vocals, gang vocals, heavy guitar riffs and breakdowns and lyrics discussing unity, brotherhood, volatile interpersonal relationships and machismo. The genre has its origins in late 1980s New York hardcore bands such as Breakdown, Killing Time and Madball, and was pioneered in the mid-1990s by bands like Bulldoze, Terror Zone and Neglect. The definition of the genre has expanded over time to incorporate artists increasingly indebted to metal, notably Xibalba, Sunami and Knocked Loose.