1999 Was Ground Zero for Chaotic Metallic Hardcore BY BEN SAILOR
1999 WAS A BANNER YEAR FOR CHAOTIC METALLIC HARDCORE, ONE PACKED WITH INFLUENTIAL RECORDS THAT ALLOWED THE GENRE TO HIT ESCAPE VELOCITY OUT OF THE DIY UNDERGROUND. WHILE NU-METAL MAY HAVE DONE MORE TO PUSH HEAVY MUSIC INTO THE MAINSTREAM (FOR BETTER OR WORSE), THE MORE ADVENTUROUS SIDE OF THE METALCORE UNDERGROUND WAS BREWING UP SOME INTERESTING SOUNDS JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE. THE TWO EVEN BEGAN TO INTERSECT IN INTERESTING WAYS AROUND THIS TIME, MAKING AN IMPACT THAT’S STILL REVERBERATING ACROSS THE SPECTRUM OF METAL TODAY. Cave In got the ball rolling with their debut fulllength, Until Your Heart Stops. The opening 30 seconds of “Moral Eclipse� may be the best Slayer riff that Slayer didn’t write. It would be the last record the band put out before embracing the space-rock vibe they’re more commonly associated with, but their lone foray into metalcore remains a cornerstone of the genre. In the early fall of 1999, The Dillinger Escape Plan would destroy all previously conceived notions of what metal could be with Calculating Infinity. They committed to pushing aggressive music to its most extreme conclusion, and across 37 uncomfortable minutes, they smashed that goal entirely to hell. Sounding something like Cryptopsy on a Black Flag bender, the album established a bar for technical excellence and unhinged genius that would take others bands years to surpass. Botch and Coalesce would fire their own salvos in November 1999, with the former’s second full-length We Are The Romans, and the latter’s swansong 0:12: Revolution In Just Listening forming a brutal one-two
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punch. Botch guitarist Dave Knudsen proved one guitar could sound like two (a tendency he’d later explore in an indie rock context with Minus The Bear), while Coalesce perfected their Jesus Lizard-infused take on hardcore, shortly before imploding in somewhat dramatic fashion. Poison The Well’s The Opposite of December‌ A Season of Separation was released, fittingly enough, in December 1999, and may have been the record that most clearly connected fringe nu-metal influences with experimental noisecore leanings. Blending Deftones-esque guitar textures with melodic choruses and grinding breakdowns, the album was heavy enough for the hardcore faithful but accessible enough to catch mainstream attention. They’d later join Norma Jean as a common entry point into hardcore for kids outgrowing nu-metal's aimless angst. By the turn of the century, metalcore’s infiltration onto MTV2 and into the CD sections of Christian bookstores everywhere would expand the genre’s reach, even in cities with limited scenes. By the early- to mid-2000s, you couldn’t have gone to a hardcore show at a VFW hall without hearing at least one band blending low E-chord chugging with odd-time breakdowns and sharp guitar dissonance.
Across the pond in the U.K., Bring Me The Horizon would mix these influences with touches of death metal, preceding the widespread proliferation of deathcore. Their countrymen in Architects would also cite The Dillinger Escape Plan as a key influence, which can be heard all over early their releases like Nightmares and Ruin. Labels like Solid State Records grew exponentially on the backs of bands like Norma Jean and The Chariot, continuing what 1999s graduating class of experimental noisemakers had started. Without them, what came next might not exist. Attempting to draw a family tree of all the bands descended from the influence of these seminal records would take a lot more space than what’s available in a single article. Yet, the point remains that 1999 may have been the most important year in the intersection of metal and hardcore. Nothing was the same before or after. As The Dillinger Escape Plan nears the end of their career after accumulating two decades’ worth of bodily injuries on stage, it’s inspiring to see newer bands like SeeYouSpaceCowboy and Wristmeetrazor bringing back elements of late-90s and early-2000s metalcore, making them fresh for a whole new audience. Plus, with streaming services, tracing your way backwards is easier than ever. We can take at least five good guesses where you’ll end up. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł
1999S CHAOTIC HARDCORE BOOM DIDN’T HAPPEN IN A VACUUM. HERE ARE FIVE OTHER RECORDS FROM EARLIER IN THE DECADE THAT HELPED LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE GENRE’S EVOLUTION AND EVENTUAL EXPLOSION. RORSCHACH PROTESTANT (1993) Your favorite classic metalcore band’s favorite band (literally - they were a major influence on Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou). DEADGUY FIXATION ON A COWORKER (1995) Fast, brutal, and sarcastic, Deadguy’s lone full-length remains essential listening for anyone wanting to understand how hardcore and metal learned to get along in the mid-90s. HATEBREED SATISFACTION IS THE DEATH OF DESIRE (1997) Hatebreed have never been known for their complexity. However, the god-tier riffs and crossover appeal of Satisfaction is the Death of Desire went a long way towards opening the door for bands to break through from the hardcore scene into the wider world of metal. Hell, they’ve even toured with Korn. ZAO WHERE BLOOD AND FIRE BRING REST (1998) Carcass might seem like an interesting influence for what was perceived as a spirit-filled hardcore band. But then again, Zao never fit the mold of stereotypical Christian metalcore.
