Are the 'core' genres finally reaching new metal styles?

The 'core' music genres are perhaps the most scrutinised genres in the metal music world, not only partially due to the fashion sense that comes with it and the associated links to emo's, but also because of its alienation that seems to part itself from the more traditional metal styles. But it may also be the case that fans of these morphed genres have forgotten where the roots lie, ideally from the days of Hardcore Punk, Hardcore in it's prime and also right back to Punk and Hard Rock, which on the same note is where Heavy Metal spawned, not forgetting blues rock, rock 'n' roll, classical music and the pop music days of ABBA, BeeGees and the like all coalescing for a direction into what modern musicians call 'pop rock', nay say BeeGees are more associated with the disco and 60's music wave, even so that is also when rock was on the journey of getting heavier. It was the 70's that saw the firming out of rock and essentially the Heavy Metal movement. In fact it was down to bands like Black Flag, Bad Brains, The Misfits and similar bands who led to the pollination of metal and hardcore punk, thus around 1984 metalcore was forming, it was only really till the 90's when metalcore was in full swing and come 2000, it was to become commercialized and a major player spawning of internationally successful bands from Hatebreed, Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine, Parkway Drive and many, many more.

However, when Deathcore emerged onto the scene in the mid 1990's, bands like Antagony were credited with the birth of the music style, but others have said the stylistic origins derived from Suffocation's breakdowns, the genre kicked into full swing in the late 2000's with bands such as Bring Me The Horizon and Suicide Silence (r.i.p. Mitch Lucker) baring the forefront of leading the genre to further recognition, however it has always been under scrutiny due to its almost anti-Death Metal stance, but this has been debated over by musicians, media and the music industry alike over the past decade or so, come 2003 Deathcore had (like Metalcore) reached saturation point and is still saturated nowadays, and so what does this mean for the genres aforementioned and how do they go about developing a greater presence? Simple, merge with other genres and as the following covers bands who have done that, imagine the possibilities in the future.

Of course genres like Nintendocore, Hardcore, Grindcore and Melodic Hardcore have already been established, even Melodic Metalcore has had its dues with bands like Essex's Tides of Virture imploring a modern style of said music style, but what comes below is perhaps the newest deviations of Metalcore and Deathcore.

Gothic Metalcore, many believe that Motionless In White (above top) were the pioneers behind the Gothic Metalcore (with industrial elements) movement, however at the same time the now defunct band Dreamscar had in fact formed at the same time as Motionless In White and so duly the new style is accredited (or at least should be) to both bands for developing a new style to Metalcore. Motionless In White are currently signed to Fearless Records and have just released their second album 'Infamous' to critical appraisal, whilst on the other hand Dreamscar have split up and leave numerous releases in their discography left to be purchased. This may yet become an increasingly popular deviation from the Metalcore trait.

Thrashcore, an amalgamation of Thrash Metal and Metalcore is simply an awe inspiring style of music that focuses on the heavy beats derived from Metalcore and it's associated breakdowns, but taking the agile speed and sharp riffing of Thrash Metal, for this music style the German band MYRA is the ideal choice, their song 'said and done' (and music video) is perhaps their most idealistic production in this music style, what music fans can expect is brutal breakdowns with slaying speed, in fact imagine Slayer meshed with your favorite Metalcore band, you get the gist. Another prime example is the American-Dutch ensemble Das Oath. Thrashcore may also yet to be proven as a new piece of the 'core' music puzzle.

So the question that remains to be answered is where will this crossing of Metalcore actually end? Answer is simply never, whilst the movement will always be criticized for entering other metal genres and essentially trying to place a negative image over it, the attempt to create new styles will always come around and ideally needs to in order to keep music evolving, however Rapcore bands like Hollywood Undead are essentially rap rock mixed with Hardcore elements, the stated genre may as well become a style that will compete with other crossover styles. Of course, Blackcore would be almost as bad as calling Justin Bieber a pop music god, blasphemous some would say, but with bands like Abigail Williams already been down towards that end of the road, it may become a musical fad. Other prominent styles emerging include electro-metalcore with bands like Enter The Primates, Asking Alexandria and others leading that front-line, whilst bands like The Browning firmly establish dubcore (or as one prefers Dubstep Deathcore), sure Enter Shikari mixed post-hardcore with trance music, the mixing is never ending. It will become interesting when bands mix Folk Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal and the never ending myriad of established metal styles with the colossal expansion of Metalcore and Deathcore to create a sound that could be groundbreaking or a sound that could eclipse the last time you passed gas after last night's curry.