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Purpose: This page partly is for fans of the music. We can discuss
our music and introduce each other to quality music. However, one of the most important reasons for having this is to
help outsiders and newcomers appreciate what the music offers. I come from a background of liking different types of music, including music more conservative than that promoted here. I initially experienced some of the negative reactions to hardcore and metal that conservative music lovers have, so I understand such reactions and criticism to a degree. I like classical music, foreign music and other types of rock, and have studied jazz, so I certainly know and appreciate other music types. The fact is that hardcore, metal and ska gives things you just generally don't get from other music. Their songs can be moving in ways and at levels that other music types virtually never are. With rock now being a world cultural institution, the truth is that hardcore and metal are unacknowledged sources of rock's distinctive character. They are heavily stereotyped genres whose depth and dimensions are underappreciated. I've heard people say that they have outgrown such music. I say that it emphasizes and develops aspects of music that make many people like different types of rock in the first place. The problem is that many groups are lousy. However, the few that are very good make music that is incredible.  |
(some points apply to Ska)
Minimalism Myth- Certainly, too many groups are more minimalist than not. Though this term is applied readily by
some to hardcore, I have liked good hardcore in large part because their bands do more with their instruments than do bands
of various other types of music. more Unusual Vocal Style- There have been plenty of music genres in which singing is done in a distorted and/or unintelligible fashion. The throat singing of Siberia and other regions is a good example of this. It should never be an issue of degree of unorthodoxy, just one of quality of musical expression. more Use of Upbeat- It's absolutely one of the most powerful aspects characterizing all these genres. Use of the upbeat--including syncopation--is nothing new, and it's been seen in jazz, classical and international music. In popular music genres, particularly in rock, its use can really be viewed as very light when you're used to its bold use in hardcore/metal and ska. more Groove- This is a cornerstone concept in my case for more appreciation of this music. I consider groove the aspect of music that causes one to feel compelled to focus on and follow the details and changes of its rhythms. At higher levels, it's the aspect that also causes one to feel manipulated by the rhythms and other interactions. more Growth Factor- This is the degree to which your liking a song increases over repeated listenings. This applies, of course, to every type of music. With hardcore/metal, this factor takes on greater than average importance for several reasons. more Strength- Rock, even mainstream rock, has moved throughout its life toward more expression of strength of feeling, strength of passion and of conviction. The move toward more strength in vocal style and content was accompanied by the move in instrumental terms. This has been the will of the people, not the result of some construct. more Lyrical Content- Boy, this one is a mixed bag. One of the things that most impressed me about the first hardcore band I went nuts about was that they were close to the only band I knew (certainly the only band of that general time in rock that I heard so far) that were saying things with lyrics that to me were essential to say, and long overdue. more
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This list is not intended to be complete. It is not just a declaration to fans of what some guy thinks is best
in the genres. It is more a top grade sampler, and a course of enlightenment, for those who enjoy some hard spirit in their
rock but just don't know about true hardcore. It's certainly for those in that group who haven't tried this music but are
ready to make prejudgements on it. It's also for fans who don't know about this caliber of music.  Crumbsuckers - both albums 1988, 1986 They were a top grade band from Long Is. that played music with characteristics of both hardcore and metal. Most of their songs are good to quite excellent. They were powerful and elaborate instrumentalists, and absolutely not minimalist. more Agnostic Front - "Liberty & Justice For..." 1987 This is excellent, heavily muscled hardcore that is wonderfully manipulative. This is partly because of an outstanding sense of groove and a terrific ease with which they conduct themselves at the top levels of power, damage and control. more Carnivore - "Retaliation" 1987 This Brooklyn band was very hardcore in their instrumentation, vocal style, message and way of wording that message. The CD liner mentions that they were controversial, and it's extremely evident from their lyrics. more Sheer Terror - various albums 1991 - 1996 This is one of the most hardcore of hardcore bands, and they are like no other. It's not a band that expresses itself using a whole lot of instrumental elaborateness or complexity. Rather, they use interaction among the composition's parts, ... more Subzero - "Happiness Without Peace" 1997 I've read that this band started with a rudimentary command of guitars. Though it may show a little, what also shows is a very good sense of what to do with instruments in the genre, including a damn good sense of how to create power. more They are a Brazilian death metal group who offer some real orchestrated meat, extremely heavy music that has changes, variation, embellishment and some composition to it. I've heard nothing like it in recent times, ... more We welcome input on these and other groups. You may know a band that you feel is of this caliber. Consider sharing who they are with us, and if you know links to where their music may be sampled, let us know them. Bands and companies are welcome to send promotional items. We're in a society where music, which is art from our culture, is watered-down, formulated and bastardized to create product. Product is not art, unless you accept it as such. It is hoped that this page will be a reference for part of the true art of underground rock music. Only two are listed to help prompt input from people. There has been a lot of ska made in 40 years, and in its current wave, it has become a marvelously varied and internationalized genre. However, particularly with its recent adoption by commercial media, including TV, it is currently being ravaged and diseased. Let's Go Bowling- both albums 1996, 1991 They're a California band that's one of the very top in all-around quality. Intriguing compositions are executed very precisely. They span from jazzy top power ska to a more laid back or poppy sound. They can be very non-redundant. They show an expert sense of ska groove and style using both the old trade tools of ska and their own creativity. They display a connection with the first-wave roots and Jamaica, but also with jazz, latin, fusion and other music. "Mr. Twist" from '96 in particular is an album to have, with many well made songs. The other album, "Music To Bowl By", is recommended at least for the song "Sick Fish". P.S.- If you try this band, I recommend you turn up the bass quite a lot, despite my often being a sound reproduction purist. The bass player is excellent, and I feel his role in the band makes it necessary that he be louder than the recording has him. Mephiskapheles - all albums 1994 - 1999 They and their lyrics surely seem diabolical, but whatever, the music itself is excellent, original and sincere. They make songs of many different types, and show music beauty in every one. They range from dead serious power ska to melodic and even delicate traditional ska and other softer music. They have grown from CD to CD, improving and broadening. It's very evident that there is a fertile influence of jazz, traditional ska and hardcore. Even their diabolical side can be appreciated by someone not into that sort of thing. Subtlety, delicacy and symbolism give dimension to the vocals, but the vocals can also be blatant. There are delicious matches between lyrical expression and its musical accompanyment.
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Some music discussed on this page may contain elements listed below. Please, if you might be offended by these elements,
or if for any reason you think it is wrong for you to be exposed to these elements, use your judgement and seriously consider not
exploring this music. Do not expose yourself to this material if you feel it is wrong to do so.
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Some Of The All Time Best Of Hardcore/MetalThey were a top grade band from Long Island that played music with characteristics of both hardcore and metal. Most of their songs are good to quite excellent. They were powerful and elaborate instrumentalists, and absolutely not minimalist. Very much a power band, they are all on top of drive and groove, yet they show a variety of feelings, moods and power levels within a certain few songs. They are noted for extreme tightness in compositions that are sometimes quite involved. Seeing them live several times, I witnessed them always deliver at least 100% of what they had recorded, always playing masterfully and tightly. You get this feeling of prowess in the recordings. Bright, fusionistic guitarwork is accompanied by authoritative, manipulative drumming that easily switches between taking advantage of the downbeat and the upbeat. The vocal style will challenge some people's tastes. The voice is very distorted. The lyrics, often inaudible, are fired out, often with a fast pace. The lyrics include many positive statements about important things in life, such as good over evil, valuing life and environment, questioning authority and avoiding messing yourself up. Their second album, "Beast On My Back", is perhaps overall the one that displays their broadest expression. Only one of various songs I would list here is "Remembering Tomorrow", a splendid combo of musical composition, feeling and lyrical meaning (remembering to keep our earth and people well for tomorrow). Crumbsuckers' first work, "Life Of Dreams", is comparable to the second in high quality, and is different from it in, for one thing, being more straight-up hard and less varied in mood. In 1999, their works were rereleased as CDs. I learned this was because of
demand from people who wanted the old greats available. I believe they are still available, and you rockers,
they're both damn worth it.
Many songs on this album are worthy of mention. Three at the top that I'd recommend to explorers are
"Hypocrisy", "Happened Yesterday" and "Anthem". There are songs I like on other albums, but the band has changed much in its many years of
existance. For me, this album is the pinnacle of their work.
Their music is very hard-hitting, and can be quite lively, or solemn and gloomy. Their sound is very different from that of many others. There is an aggressive and unconventional use of bass. The rich, overwhelming vocal style does not have a blanket distortion imposed on it, but rather involves the vocalist's superdriving his (more or less) normal voice to levels of yelling or roaring. He is great at expressing agony and rage with his voice. He's the type of vocalist who very obviously uses pitch in his work, and he does so very enjoyably. The band is tight. The musicians work together well and go a long way to make a strong musical statement
Their second album is the one I recommend. They made only two. The CD rerelease has both.
The vocalist is perhaps the king and godfather, certainly the "reverend", of hardcore vocalists. On initial listening, many people might tend to stereotype and dismiss his work because of its hard nature. There is much to appreciate if one can open oneself. He, Paul Bearer, is a roarer who superdrives and changes his voice to a sort of roar that only he has developed. The vocal timbres (textures) he creates are incredible, as are some of the ways he uses his voice. He has mastered relating ideas and, especially, feelings in truly primal ways, sometimes with gutteral expressiveness. There's no talk about hell, fire or cadavers, just about real life and down-to-earth things. It's true that a few songs' lyrics seem to be varyingly abstract expressions of toughness. However, many are artistic expressions of suffering, criticism and/or powerful feelings like guilt. In some of his toughest sounding songs, he is really singing about his own sensitivity or vulnerability in some relationship. He also relates ideas on how people live and the ideas that one should not take oneself to ruin, that one should have integrity and that one should learn from experience. He is remarkably poetic and skillful with language.
A noteworthy aspect of Sheer Terror is the evolution of their music. Successive albums brought new and
different ideas of how songs were made. This is particularly true of what I think is the next-to-last CD, "Love Songs For
The Unloved". Even the vocal style is approached in new ways on this CD, and I was not let down by his sometimes daring
innovations. Two other albums needed in a collection are "Just Can't Hate Enough" and "Thanks Fer Nuthin'". Other
albums also have some excellent cuts.
Recent CandidatesThey are a Brazilian death metal group who offer some real orchestrated meat, extremely heavy music that has changes, variation, embellishment and some composition to it. I've heard nothing like it in recent times, but I am not the most up on modern metal. It's extremely intense, but it's not just some hammering and machine-gunning because of compositions that have depth, sense and groove. However, compared to where most music is at, this groove is from around the planet Jupiter. This jovian groove accounts much for a considerable possible growth factor in this music's enjoyability. Their sense of groove and music is quite valid, and when you see where they're coming from, you can enjoy them a lot. This points to their uniqueness. Songs to hear first are "Screams For The Supreme Force",
"Useless Cross", "Inquiring Fear" and "Flames Triumph". Some songs have a wonderful sort of military sound to them;
after the first 45 seconds of "Inquiring Fear", I'm ready to join the Navy, almost. There's certainly a dramatically
unorthodox metal vocal style. I don't know what the lyrics are (no lyrics on my promo copy), but, as I've said, I'm
considering the music. We welcome input on these and other groups. You may know a band that you feel is of this caliber. Consider sharing who they are with us, and if you know links to where their music may be sampled, let us know them. Bands and companies are welcome to send promotional items.
We're in a society where music, which is art from our culture, is watered-down, formulated and bastardized to create
product. Product is not art, unless you accept it as such. It is hoped that this page will be a reference for part of the
true art of underground rock music. BrooklynZone.com is not responsible for the content of its contributors. |
