It’s time we, as a Metal community, collectively begin to break up metalcore as a genre. As I re-read my review for Converge‘s Axe to Fall, I was struck by the opening sentence:
“Words cannot capture the depths of my frustration with the Massachusetts metalcore pioneers, who have been challenging heavy music audiences for nearly two tenacious decades.”
Not only did I call them “metalcore”, but I was reminded that the genre has existed for a solid generation. The genre now needs the same treatment being applied to death metal and black metal, so we may distinguish Shai Hulud from Shadows Fall from Starkweather… you get the idea. And by the way, in that time I have come to greatly appreciate bands like Converge, who innovate much further than the droves of imitators.
It’s so easy to cling to something that feels safe—the steady reassurance without fear of deviation is comforting. But listen, dammit, that is not what rock n’ roll has ever been about! At its core, Rock is a rebellious spirit. One that—lest we forget—has only been around about 60 years in the pantheon of musical entities, spawning a near-absurd amount of bastard children, half of whom play heavy. And we have let them run amok like a tantrum-addled toddler.
So I say it is time to either reel in or sever these lost ones,
who want the horizon brought to them
and think that Satan digs high fashion.
I’m all for self-expression but I’m also a critic, and folks, there are simply some holding the rest back. Stepping stones at best, I hope for a rapid and inevitable dissolution.
~MetalMattLongo
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