Screamo is an aggressive 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.
Circle Takes the Square is an American screamo band from Savannah, Georgia. It is composed of founding members Drew Speziale and Kathleen Stubelek, as well as Caleb Collins. Their debut release was a 6-track self-titled EP released in 2001, followed by a 7" split with Pg. 99 in 2002. In 2004, they released their debut studio album As the Roots Undo on Robotic Empire, which released the CD, and HyperRealist Records, which released the gatefold LP. The album gained them considerable acclaim and the band toured extensively to promote it during the year. This included a six-week east coast tour that took the band into Canada for the first time, supported by Arkata and Raise Them And Eat Them. The band's second album, Decompositions: Volume Number One, was released after an 8-year silence on December 21, 2012, as a digital download; physical editions of the album were released in April 2013.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed is an American grindcore band. Its line-up has changed often over the years, with guitarist and drum programmer Scott Hull being the only continuous member. The current line-up includes vocalist Jay Randall, and Richard Johnson of Enemy Soil and Drugs of Faith, along with John Jarvis of Pig Destroyer and Fulgora on bass guitar.
The Blood Brothers were an American post-hardcore band which formed in Seattle's Eastside suburbs in 1997. The group released five full-length albums before their 2007 break-up, but reunited for a series of shows surrounding and including FYF Fest in 2014.
Envy is a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo, in 1992. They are signed to Rock Action Records in Europe and Temporary Residence Limited in North America, though originally they worked with Level Plane Records. Initially influential in the post-hardcore and screamo scenes, Envy soon began to employ elements of post-rock in their work as well.
Portraits of Past was an American post-hardcore band from the San Francisco Bay Area that existed roughly from 1994–1995. The genre of music that they helped create is often described as "screamo," though that term was not used at the time the band was active. As Kent McClard recounts on the Ebullition website, the band's popularity grew only a couple of years after their demise at the end of 1995.
Ampere is an American hardcore punk band from Amherst, Massachusetts known for their short but extremely loud and intense live shows. The band has put the importance of DIY punk ethics at the forefront of their lyrics and are known for the particular attention they bring to their vegan principles.
Pg. 99 was a screamo 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.
I Hate Myself was an American emo band formed by Jon and Jim Marburger in Gainesville, Florida, in 1996. The band used elements of post-hardcore and indie in their songs.
Panthers is an American punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. The Village Voice described them as "groundbreaking dissonant HC (hardcore) with Rolling Stones swagger." Three members were previously in the hardcore band Orchid. Panthers have released four records. The most recent two, The Trick and Things Are Strange were released on Vice Records. Prior to that they released via Dim Mak Records and Troubleman Unlimited.
Raein is an Italian hardcore punk band that features members of La Quiete and the post-rock band Neil on Impression. The band broke up in late 2005, but after a hiatus of almost 2 years they got back to play together in September 2007. They are often held responsible for bringing the screamo genre to Europe following its high point in the United States during the careers of bands such as Orchid and Saetia.
Powerviolence is an extremely dissonant and fast subgenre of hardcore punk which is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore. In contrast with grindcore, which is a "crossover" idiom containing musical aspects of heavy metal, powerviolence is just an augmentation of the most challenging qualities of hardcore punk. Like its predecessors, it is usually socio-politically charged and iconoclastic.
Chaos Is Me is the debut studio album by American screamo band Orchid. It was released on June 21, 1999, through Ebullition Records. Chaos Is Me heralded the change of the guard for extreme music, and brought both Amherst, Massachusetts and Hampshire College to the forefront of the scene's attention. The album was released on black, clear yellow, green, and red vinyl in 1999, and was also included on a 2002 compilation CD that included its follow-up Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow!. It has since been reissued multiple times, on magenta vinyl in 2013, lavender vinyl in 2015, yellow vinyl in 2018, and received a 20th anniversary reissue in 2019.
Combatwoundedveteran was a grindcore/screamo band split between Ithaca, New York and Tampa, Florida. In their 7 years of existence they managed to put out several splits, including one with heavily influential screamo band Orchid, a 10" EP, one full-length album and a posthumous release that compiles nearly all their splits and early EPs. Though the band did not tour very often or put out many records their footprint is still visible in the screamo and powerviolence underground. The band was signed to famous Florida record label No Idea Records late in their career. Guitarist Chris Norris currently does graphic design under the name Steak Mtn. and has contributed artwork for releases by groups such as Atom And His Package, Orchid and Against Me!.
Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, formed in 2007. The band consists of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Babin. Among other releases, they have released five studio albums: ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse in 2009, Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me in 2011, Is Survived By in 2013, Stage Four in 2016, and Lament in 2020.
Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! is the second studio album by American screamo band Orchid. It was released on 10" vinyl by Ebullition Records on December 4, 2000. The first press was limited to 5000 copies; 1000 each in red and yellow and 3000 in black. The second and third presses were limited to only 1000 clear copies and 70 blue copies. The fourth press had 1000 blue copies, 500 yellow copies, and 500 red copies. The entire album also included on a 2002 box set, along with the album Chaos Is Me.
Gatefold is the third and final album by the American screamo band Orchid. Gatefold marks the band's departure from their early powerviolence-influenced sound in favor of a more traditional screamo/post-hardcore sound. The album was released in 2002 through Ebullition Records.
Jeromes Dream is a screamo band from Connecticut, originally active from 1997 to 2001, and again from 2018 onwards.
Disembodied is an American metalcore band formed in 1995 in Minneapolis. Originally featuring Aaron Weseman (vocals), Justin James Kane (drums), Tara Johnson (bass), Joel Andrew Johnson (guitar) and Mario Diaz de León (guitar), the band split up in 1999 and reunited in 2008 and 2018, respectively.
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.
