The difference, by ear
Metalcore has melody, clean choruses and Gothenburg leads. Beatdown has none of those and keeps the breakdown.
Metalcore is part sung, part screamed where beatdown / metallic hardcore is growled or screamed, and faster: 140 to 190 bpm against 90 to 140. To hear the difference, play Hatebreed next to Integrity. Beatdown / metallic hardcore grew out of metalcore, three years later.
In figures
Beatdown / metallic hardcore
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Metalcore › Beatdown / metallic hardcore
In short
Hardcore reduced to breakdowns and slow groove, with barked vocals and lyrics about loyalty and endurance.
How it sounds
- Slow, heavy riffing built entirely around the breakdown.
- Very low tunings with thick, matte guitar tone.
- Barked vocals with gang shouts and lyrics about loyalty, the street and endurance.
Key acts
- Hatebreed
- Madball
- Terror
Start here
The pickHatebreed - Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire. Twenty-seven minutes, produced by Steve Evetts.
Full page →Metalcore
Where it sits
In short
Hardcore and extreme metal fused: breakdowns, melodic riffing and screamed verses alternating with sung choruses.
How it sounds
- The breakdown: a half-time section with syncopated riffing, built for dancing.
- Swedish-influenced melodic riffs alternating with hardcore passages.
- Screamed verses and clean sung choruses - the standard formula after 2002.
Key acts
- Integrity
- Killswitch Engage
- Converge
- Parkway Drive
Start here
The pickKillswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing. The album that defined a decade.
Full page →