The difference, by ear
Both use ambient layers and long builds. Post-metal comes from sludge and has no clean choruses.
Both are part sung, part screamed, but post-metal / atmospheric sludge is much slower: 60 to 120 bpm against 130 to 190. Songs run longer in post-metal / atmospheric sludge: usually 8 to 15 minutes, against 4 to 7 minutes in progressive metalcore. To hear the difference, play Architects next to Neurosis. They share a root in heavy metal, and post-metal / atmospheric sludge came first, by thirteen years.
In figures
Progressive metalcore
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Metalcore › Progressive metalcore
In short
Metalcore with eight-string guitars, ambient passages and structures borrowed from djent.
How it sounds
- Seven- and eight-string guitars with polyrhythms taken from djent.
- Ambient passages and electronic textures between the heavy sections.
- Very clean production with wide dynamics and vocals across many registers.
Key acts
- Architects
- Erra
- Northlane
Start here
The pickArchitects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us. Devastating in both senses.
Full page →Post-metal / atmospheric sludge
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Doom metal › Sludge metal › Post-metal / atmospheric sludge
In short
Sludge with post-rock logic: long songs, crescendos and instrumental passages. Neurosis invented the form.
How it sounds
- Eight- to fifteen-minute pieces with long crescendos in post-rock logic.
- Delay and reverb guitars for the quiet passages, massive distortion at the peaks.
- Vocals used sparingly, as an accent, often howled from a distance.
Key acts
- Neurosis
- Isis
- Cult of Luna
- Russian Circles
Start here
The pickIsis - Oceanic. The most accessible album in the genre, and no weaker for it.
Full page →