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.
Hot Water Music is an American punk rock band formed in October 1994 and based in Gainesville, Florida. Since their formation, the group has consisted of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard on shared lead vocals and guitars, bass guitarist Jason Black, and drummer George Rebelo. Since 2017, the band has also included guitarist-vocalist Chris Cresswell. The band initially broke up in August 1998, but reformed by October 1998. The group split up again in 2006, but has remained active since 2008.
As the Roots Undo is the debut studio album by screamo band Circle Takes the Square in 2004. It was released on CD and vinyl by the Robotic Empire and HyperRealist labels respectively. The album would later see a repress on the LP format in 2014 through GatePost Recordings
Orchid is an American screamo and hardcore punk band from Amherst, Massachusetts. Originally active from 1997 until 2002, they released several EPs and splits as well as three studio albums. The band consists of lead vocalist Jayson Green, drummer Jeffrey Salane, guitarist Will Killingsworth, and bassist Geoff Garlock. Orchid announced a reunion in December 2023.
City of Caterpillar is an American post-hardcore band from Richmond, Virginia, formed in 2000. They have released a split with Pg. 99, two studio albums, and a full-length compilation of demos and live tracks. Their songs, some of which are over 10 minutes long, are often characterized by melodic post-rock passages building up into chaotic outbursts.
The Vindictives are an American, Chicago-based punk rock group, founded by singer and songwriter Joey Vindictive in 1991, releasing 12 EPs and albums by July 1996.
The Thumbs were an American punk rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. They were active from 1995 until approximately 2002. They were known for having an intense touring ethic, having completed nine U.S. tours, and two Japanese tours between 1997 and 2001. The band was formed by Mike Hall, Bobby Borte, and Mark Minnig, however Hall and Borte remained the only constant members amidst constant drummer changes.
Love Lost But Not Forgotten was an American screamo band formed in 1997 in suburban St. Peters, Missouri, composed of ex-members of End Over End and The Paxidils. Known for their violence onstage and unique vocals provided by a lineup that sometimes included two main vocalists and a trio of guitarists. The group has performed many tours across the United States and has performed with the likes of Converge and Godflesh. Since their break-up in 2003, the group has performed three different brief reunion shows in 2005, 2008 and 2010.
Benümb was an American grindcore band from Millbrae, California.
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.
Document #8 is the third studio album by the American screamo band Pg. 99. The album was originally released as a vinyl LP on June 13, 2001, through Robotic Empire, with various versions also be released through Electric Human Project and Scene Police. A remixed and remastered edition was released in 2005 through Robotic Empire on CD with two additional bonus tracks, "The Lonesome Waltz of Leonard Cohen" and "The List", the latter being a Filth cover. Both tracks were previously released on Document #9: A Split Personality.
Document #5 is the first full-length album by hardcore punk band Pg. 99, released in 2000 through Reptilian Records. The album was released on vinyl and CD formats; the vinyl version was released in limited quantities, with 666 copies made. 200 copies were on grey marble vinyl, while the rest were standard black vinyl. Reptilian Records announced that the album would be reissued on LP format in the summer of 2015, however, its release date was pushed back to October 27, 2017, to coincide with the band's reunion tour. The reissue was released on compact disc, vinyl, and digital formats.
Document #7 is the second full-length album by American screamo band Pg. 99, originally released in early 2001 through Happy Couples Never Last. The vinyl edition first came out on July 23, 2002, through Magic Bullet Records. There were four pressings of the album on vinyl, with a total of 1,902 vinyl copies pressed. The album's overall tone and sound is very different to other Pg. 99 releases, focussing much more on progression and atmosphere rather than energetic fury. Originally, the entire record was supposed to be the Pg.99 side of a cancelled split with Love Lost But Not Forgotten and The Hareste.
Jeromes Dream is a screamo band from Connecticut, 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.
Document #12 is a split album by American screamo bands Pg. 99 and Majority Rule, originally released on CD on July 23, 2002, under the Magic Bullet Records. The LP edition of the album first became available on October 9 of the same year. It is noted for showing Pg. 99 experimenting with melody more than on their previous releases.
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.
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.
