The difference, by ear
Power violence takes hardcore's speed past what a song structure can hold: thirty seconds, whiplash tempo changes, no groove at all.
Powerviolence is growled or screamed where hardcore punk is shouted, and swings further either way: 60 to 320 bpm against 190 to 250. To hear the difference, play Black Flag next to Infest. Powerviolence grew out of hardcore punk, seven years later. California appears in the origins of both.
In figures
Hardcore punk
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk
In short
Punk accelerated to 200 bpm, songs of one minute and shouted vocals. Without it there is no thrash, no grindcore, no metalcore.
How it sounds
- Tempos of 180 to 250 bpm with galloping or skank drum patterns.
- Songs under a minute, with whole albums running twenty minutes.
- Shouted rather than sung vocals, and direct political or personal lyrics.
Key acts
- Black Flag
- Minor Threat
- Bad Brains
- Discharge
Start here
The pickBad Brains - Bad Brains (the ROIR cassette). The fastest band of the decade.
Full page →Powerviolence
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Powerviolence
In short
Hardcore taken to the limit: abrupt tempo shifts, twenty-second songs, blast beats cut with parts as slow as tar.
How it sounds
- Abrupt switches between blast beats and slow passages, with no transition.
- Songs of ten to forty seconds, albums with twenty-five tracks.
- Deliberately ugly sound, with distorted vocals and clipping bass.
Key acts
- Infest
- Man Is the Bastard
- Spazz
Start here
The pickInfest - Slave. Twenty minutes that feel longer than a doom album.
Full page →