The following is a list of notable melodic hardcore bands. Melodic hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work.
Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".
Emo is a music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and post-hardcore from the mid-1980s Washington, D.C. hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands Rites of Spring and Embrace, among others, pioneered the genre. In the early-to-mid 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop-punk bands, including Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker, Cap'n Jazz, and Jimmy Eat World. By the mid-1990s, Braid, the Promise Ring, and the Get Up Kids emerged from Midwest emo, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the genre. Meanwhile, screamo, a more aggressive style of emo using screamed vocals, also emerged, pioneered by the San Diego bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow. Screamo achieved mainstream success in the 2000s with bands like Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Story of the Year, Thursday, the Used, and Underoath.
AFI is an American rock band from Ukiah, California, formed in 1991. Since 1998, it consists of lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backing vocalist Adam Carson, bassist, backing vocalist and keyboardist Hunter Burgan, and guitarist, backing vocalist and keyboardist Jade Puget. Havok and Carson are the sole remaining original members. Originally a hardcore punk band, they have since delved into many genres, starting with horror punk and following through post-hardcore and emo into alternative rock and gothic rock.
Skate punk is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a more melodic genre of punk rock in the 1990s similar to pop punk. Since then, it has predominately featured fast tempos, lead guitar playing, fast drumming, and singing. Occasionally, skate punk also combines the fast tempos of hardcore punk and melodic hardcore with the catchy hooks of pop-punk.
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".
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcore punk and melodic hardcore, Rise Against's music emphasizes melody, catchy hooks, an aggressive sound and playstyle, and rapid tempos. Lyrically, the band is known for their outspoken social commentary, covering a wide range of topics such as political injustice, animal rights, humanitarianism, and environmentalism.
Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. It generally incorporates fast rhythms, melodic and often distorted guitar riffs, and vocal styles tending towards shouting and screaming. Nevertheless, the genre has been very diverse, with different bands showcasing very different styles. Many pioneering melodic hardcore bands, have proven influential across the spectrum of punk rock, as well as rock music more generally. The term melodic punk is often used to describe both melodic hardcore and skate punk bands.
Mutiny! is the debut studio album by American rock band Set Your Goals. Within the first three months of 2006, the band signed to independent label Eulogy Recordings and recorded the album with Barrett Jones in Seattle, Washington. Immediately following recording, the band embarked on two tours across the United States. Before releasing Mutiny in July, the album was preceded by the single release of the title track. The band subsequently toured the US, either as a supporting act or headlining, into mid-2007. After appearing on that year's Warped Tour, the group toured across Europe before closing out the year with another US tour.
Have Heart are an American straight edge hardcore punk band formed in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 2002. The band recorded a demo that was released in 2003. In 2004, they released the What Counts EP, with their debut full-length, The Things We Carry arriving in 2006. Their last full-length, Songs to Scream at the Sun, garnered much critical acclaim from hardcore critics and fans alike, winning 'album of the year' from many hardcore-oriented websites.
Daggermouth is a Canadian pop punk band that was formed in 2004 in Vancouver. They started around early 2004 quickly building a solid reputation by touring with bands such as Moneen and SNFU. Their name is a reference to a robotic fish from the Family Guy episode "A Fish Out of Water".
Lucky Street is the debut studio album by American rock band Go Radio. Produced by Tim O'Heir and mixed by James Paul Wisner, Lucky Street was released March 1, 2011 on Fearless Records.
Counterparts are a Canadian melodic hardcore band formed in 2007 in Hamilton, Ontario, that currently consists of vocalist Brendan Murphy, guitarists Tyler Williams and Jesse Doreen, and drummer Kyle Brownlee. Their two most recent albums, released through Pure Noise Records, have received critical acclaim from Rock Sound and Exclaim! magazines. They are among the most visible bands within contemporary melodic hardcore, while they are also considered one of the major powers of the metalcore revival wave.
Code Orange is an American metalcore band that formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2008, while the members of the band were still in high school.
Being as an Ocean is an American post-hardcore band from Alpine, California, formed in 2011. They have released five studio albums: Dear G-d..., How We Both Wondrously Perish, a self-titled album, Waiting for Morning to Come, released on 8 September 2017, and PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story, released in 2019. How We Both Wondrously Perish was released in May 2014 and charted at number 57 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.
Turnstile is an American hardcore punk band from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2010. They have released five EPs and three studio albums. The band's third album Glow On was released in 2021 to critical and commercial success; the songs "Holiday" and "Blackout" earned the band three nominations at the 65th Grammy Awards.
Lay It On The Line are a British melodic hardcore band from London. They were formed in 2012 by Phinius Gage member Mike Scott, his brother Matt and Dave Smith, who was originally guitarist in Not Katies. They wrote their demo in a single evening and recorded it in a single day. Championed by Radio 1 DJ Mike Davies before they had played a show, the band have so far gone on to release four EPs and, featuring a new line-up, their debut album The Black Museum, was released on Disconnect, Disconnect Records on 30 June 2017. Their current line-up also features Donuts on bass, who is formerly of Hang The Bastard. As of 2018, they were in the studio recording their second album.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)We're not talking about the obvious keystones... but the entities who helped engineer manifestations of power and passion who fueled the [melodic hardcore] scene roughly between the years of 2005–2009.