The difference, by ear
Same arithmetic, opposite temperature. Math rock is clean, dry and patient; mathcore plays the same rhythmic ideas at hardcore speed with screaming.
Math rock is mostly instrumental where mathcore is growled or screamed, and much slower: 100 to 160 bpm against 140 to 260. Songs run longer in math rock: usually 4 to 8 minutes, against 1½ to 4 minutes in mathcore. To hear the difference, play The Dillinger Escape Plan next to Slint. They share a root in rock, and math rock came first, by five years. United States appears in the origins of both.
In figures
Mathcore
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Post-hardcore › Mathcore
In short
Metalcore with its wiring torn out: meter changes every few seconds, dissonance and chaos controlled to the millimetre.
How it sounds
- Meter changes every few seconds, executed at maximum speed.
- Dissonant chords and minor-second intervals used as primary material.
- Jazz-level drum technique applied at grindcore intensity.
Key acts
- The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Converge
- Botch
- Car Bomb
Start here
The pickConverge - Jane Doe. Technically mathcore, emotionally something else entirely.
Full page →Math rock
Where it sits
Rock › Progressive rock › Math rock
In short
Odd meters and interlocking riffs assembled like a puzzle, usually without vocals. Post-rock's cerebral cousin.
How it sounds
- Frequently changing odd meters, often with two guitars in different metres at once.
- Clean or lightly overdriven guitars in alternate tunings, with tapping and harmonics.
- Usually instrumental; where there are vocals, they are spoken or whispered.
Key acts
- Slint
- Don Caballero
- Battles
- Toe
Start here
The pickSlint - Spiderland. Six songs that changed independent rock.
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