Is Thrash Metal A Key Influence On Metalcore?

Honestly, the title of this post could've been a bit catchier if it goes something along the lines of "How Slayer is a Big Influence on Metalcore," but that would be a huge disservice to the other thrash bands that were a major influence on the development of that genre, even though it's accurate. So instead, I had to pick this pretty shoddy title.

Anyway, despite the fact that there are a lot of posts and whatnot here [on Metal Amino] that talked about metalcore, it is not often to see detailed ones on its roots and main influences. This is understandable since a lot of effort is required in order to fully grasp the genre, as it is still rarely represented in the metal community due to the amount of misconceptions surrounding it. (Yes, even though it's 2019 metal fans still have no idea about the genre.)

There is indeed a strong correlation for metalcore with thrash metal (especially the brutal and crossover kind such as Sepultura and Leeway respectively) but unfortunately, based on my experience most people don't know about this particular fact or just downright disagree even though it takes a couple of listens to see it. Some of you might be thinking of Trivium, which is cool and all, but frankly that isn't all of it. In order to easily demonstrate what kind of metalcore I'm going to talk about in this blog, listen to the song below for reference:

Assuming you listened to it, you may have realized that there is a ton of Slayer-inspired riffs. This is correct, as xRepentancex stated that they are essentially paying homage to traditional metalcore bands (mainly vegan straight edge bands, which I'll touch more on that later).

So getting right to it, to say that there is a close correlation between metalcore and thrash metal isn't that far-fetched as it seemed to be, as the latter played a huge part on the former's development. You can trace metalcore back to the metal adjacent NYHC scene in the mid-'80s, where bands such as Cro-Mags, Breakdown, Judge, Killing Time and Leeway were playing this metallic, heavy hardcore/crossover thrash style with an emphasis on groove and palm-muted riffing, while toning down the punk rock influence that traditional hardcore punk has. If we compare earlier Black Flag to Cro-Mags, the difference is substantial:

This rise of crossover coincides with the rising popularity of thrash itself, as bands like Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Kreator, and whatnot releasing massively influential albums (that I would not name since everyone heard of them at this point) around this period. Keeping this in mind, a lot of the members from these crossover bands either grew up with metal or decided to take notes from thrash when they already formed bands, so it's no surprise that its influence would eventually seep into hardcore, naturally making it metallic.

Harley Flanagan cited Venom, Motörhead, and Discharge as key influences on Cro-Mags – who are one of the earliest in the NYHC scene to play this chunky, metallic heavy hardcore style – while Carl Porcaro (ex-guitarist for Breakdown, Raw Deal, Killing Time) described Breakdown as "like a multi-car pileup of our influences at the time which included the heavy metal and thrash metal that we grew up on, the punk and hardcore we started to discover in the mid-80s, the hip hop and graffiti culture, and most importantly the NYHC scene." Additionally, Eddie Sutton of Leeway stated: "All we knew was when that record [Metallica's influential 1984 debut Kill 'Em All] came out, anybody who was in a band, whether it was hardcore or metal said, “These are the fucking riffs I’d want in my band.” Everybody was like, “I wish I came up with that.” We knew that’s what we wanted to do. There were no bands in New York doing that sound. Those bands didn’t come into the scene until ’86."

This shows that thrash was really big at the time, and a lot of hardcore bands fully embraced it.

Metalcore finally came to fruition when pioneering metalcore bands like Integrity (formed by ex-members of Die Hard, a heavy hardcore band), Starkweather, Rorschach and Earth Crisis took this prototypical metalcore/crossover framework and injected massive amounts of extreme metal – now finally in its full swing with firmly established subgenres such as death metal – into their sound. If we take a look at interviews, there is a recurring pattern where these metalcore bands mentioned thrash bands, alongside with various extreme metal and extreme punk bands as their inspiration.

As far as extreme metal goes, '90s bands such as Rorschach, All Out War, Liar, Clear, etc. all stated that Slayer was an inspiration for their sound, alongside with Kreator, Voivod, Sepultura, Sodom, Destruction, Metallica, Celtic Frost and Morbid Angel and so on and so on, depending on the band. (Jacob Bannon stated that Converge was influenced by Rorschach and Starkweather, and Slayer to0 I believe as you can hear it in their earlier material.) While some of these bands didn't explicitly mention they were influenced by thrash, they either cited them as favourites or pretty much mentioned them in a positive light as if they played a big part in their musical development.

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BrooklynVegan: "It could be argued that Rorschach and its offshoots laid the roots for forward thinking hardcore. Do you pay attention to modern hardcore? If so, who do you think is still carrying Rorschach’s torch?"

Charles Maggio (Rorschach): "Hmmm, we were torch carriers ourselves. We carried the torch of 80’s hardcore bands like Die Kreuzen, COC, Black Flag, Bl’ast etc… while listening to a lot of Voivod and Slayer. I think the entire band still listens to all different kinds of music. I pay attention to a lot of the early 80’s influenced bands and some of the new generation powerviolence stuff. I am not sure any band I have heard is necessarily “carrying a torch” as much just using what they like of ours and making it their own. Bands like Converge are brought up a lot as a band that was influenced by Rorschach, which I deem a great honor, they are a great band who, like Rorschach, seems to not really be concerned with what sound will make them popular but just plays music that they like." Source

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Breathe Plastic Records: "I’ve read quite some reviews that describe you as ‘hardcore’ or ‘metalcore’, I don’t think you can be placed into those genres. How would you describe the band yourself?"
 

Rennie Resmini (Starkweather): "We tend to view what we do as having a musical groundwork grounded in metal. The hardcore element has to do with our mental space. We have a no-bullshit hardcore aesthetic. We describe what we do as having a narrative or cinematic flow. The music balances aggression and melody – working dynamics: peaks, valleys, layering disparate tones, sonic dichotomies. The rhythms tend to be off kilter and tribal… something that came naturally for us probably because we’re always trying to do something different and the fact we’re not trained musicians."
 

BPR: "Your clean voice is very different from the usual vocalists in the metal genre. What are your influences and inspirations when it comes to vocalists?"
 

Rennie Resmini: "The clean vocals were always influenced by more “morose” vocalists like Gira from Swans, Diamanda Galas, Nick Cave/birthday party, Baron/Amebix, Killing Joke, etc than any of the typical melodic singers. The whole idea for the different “voices” so to speak is to use vocals as an instrument. To have vocal sounds and textures to offset or combine with the music."
 

BPR: "And music wise, what bands are an inspiration for you and the band?"
 

Rennie Resmini: "Voivod, Celtic Frost, Amebix, Swans, Articles of Faith are the big ones for me and Todd. Harry and Vince would probably cite Watchtower, Atheist, Dream Theatre, Fate’s Warning, Iron Maiden." Source

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Rocknytt: "If possible, could you name ten albums/artists that have inspired Earth Crisis over the years?"

Scott Crouse (Earth Crisis): "Sure. DYS, Judge, COC, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden." Source

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InEffectHardcore: "What were the early days of All Out War like as far as developing your sound and style? All Out War 2017 is this absolute beast with a heavy style that sees you guys just as comfortable at the New England Metal Fest as  you are at This Is Hardcore. Was the vision in the early days to do what you are doing now or were there more traditional hardcore ideas being kicked around?"

Mike Score (All Out War): "That was the plan from the beginning, to be a band that blended both styles and just be as heavy as possible while still maintaining some aspects of hardcore. The band started in 1991 with myself, Karate Chris from Merauder and Sam Carbone (RIP) and Tom Connelly from a band in Newburgh called A.W.O.L. We were all fans of Cro-Mags and Leeway, but at the same time loved German thrash like Kreator and Sodom. The vision was always to mix those bands and just be heavy. The final result, we've NEVER fit in anywhere. We have always been too metal for hardcore and too hardcore for metal. Even in the 90’s, when so many hardcore bands were playing "metal" ...bands like us, Confusion, Starkweather, and Darkside NYC never fit in with any of those bands. We always did our own thing and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Even though All Out War was on Victory, we really never blended with a lot of the bands they had on their roster. All Out War never tried to hide the fact that we were influenced by metal." Source

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With this knowledge in mind, we can conclude that metalcore is a combination of extreme metal ("extreme" thrash, death, groove, and black metal for some bands) and hardcore punk, especially the heavy hardcore and crossover styles, both of which are already influenced by thrash. Of course, while thrash isn't the sole influence on metalcore, it is certainly huge and undeniable, where I would argue that its influence is bigger than hardcore punk itself, as far as the music goes. In other words, thrash metal is a key influence on metalcore, and this should be acknowledged as such by more people.

However, considering metalcore has grown into various styles is it accurate to say that thrash is that one secret ingredient for the genre? Kinda. This statement remains true to the '90s styles and even traditional melodic metalcore to some extent but if we put stuff like scene metalcore into consideration, this is where it can get blurry. I already talked about scene metalcore in my past blogs so I won't dive into that. The main idea is that if a metalcore band sounds thrashy and heavy as hell no matter how new they are, it's safe to say that they were influenced by thrash metal or extreme metal in general, or traditional metalcore bands such as Integrity, or both.

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Bonus: Edge Metal

Before signing off I wanna briefly talk about a sub-style of traditional metalcore that really shows its thrash metal influence while being as extreme as possible: edge metal. Edge metal is a catch-all term for metalcore bands that abode straight edge. The term originated from the infamous H8000 scene in the 90s, West Flanders, Belgium. Generally, edge metal bands are some of the heaviest in metalcore as a result of bands infusing extreme amounts of thrash and death metal into their sound (to the point a lot of these bands pioneered deathcore).

Earth Crisis, who were influenced by the likes of Sepultura, Slayer, and Judge, is definitely a major player in the style's development thanks to their aggressive, vegan straight edge imagery and heavy sound, but it was Liar and Congress that ultimately solidified it. A lot of these edge metal bands are incredibly thrashy – with Slayer, again, being a noticeable influence. While edge metal initially originated from Belgium, it eventually grew out from that as more and more bands started to pick up the sound. Examples of edge metal bands are Arkangel, From The Dying Sky, Reprisal, Sentence, Purification, Day of Suffering, and xRepentancex.

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Sources

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Edge, B. (2015). Interview w/ John from XREPENTANCEX. [online] DxR. Available at: https://www.google.com/amp/s/droidxrage.com/2015/06/04/interview-w-john-from-xrepentancex/amp/ [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

Rettman, T. (2014). An Interview with the Influential NYHC Band Leeway. [online] Vice. Available at: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/rp7qn6/nyhc-1980-1990-leeway-eddie-sutton-interview-57a2069bbedac1e025ce4d79 [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

Pessaro, F. (2012). An interview with Carl Porcaro (Breakdown ’87 / Killing Time / Kings Destroy). [online] Brooklynvegan.com. Available at: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/an-interview-wi-79/ [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

Brooklynvegan.com. (2009). an interview w/ Charles Maggio of Rorschach (who are in the middle of their short run of reunion dates). [online] Available at: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/an-interview-w-16/ [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

Ineffecthardcore.com. (n.d.). InEffectHardcore.com - All Out War. [online] Available at: https://www.ineffecthardcore.com/features/all-out-war/ [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

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Thrashermagazine.com. (2018). Integrity Interview. [online] Available at: https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/integrity-interview/ [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

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Webjörn, N. (2016). www.rocknytt.net. Inför Throwbackfestivalen i Falköping – intervju med Scott Crouse, Earth Crisis. [online]. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Available at: https://www.rocknytt.net/intervjuer/32267-infor-throwbackfestivalen-i-falkoping-intervju-med-scott-crouse-earth-crisis [Accesed July 12, 2019.]

Metal-rules.com. (n.d.). Metal-Rules.com: Interview With CONGRESS guitarist Joost Noyelle (AKA: Josh). [online] Available at: https://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/Congress-June2004.htm [Accessed 12 Jul. 2019].

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