Your way in
Powerviolence 1987
Hardcore taken to the limit: abrupt tempo shifts, twenty-second songs, blast beats cut with parts as slow as tar.
- Heaviness
- 8
- Speed
- 10
- Melody
- 2
- Where from
- California, USA
- Tempo
- 60-320 bpm
- Song length
- 18 sec-1.5 min
- Written about
- Contempt, Anti-machismo, Anti-scene politics, Jokes, frequently very dark ones
- Vocals
- Growled or shrieked
Why this one
| You said | Powerviolence | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| A growl or a shriek When someone is singing, what should come out? | harsh | 100% | ×3 |
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 8 out of 10 | 40% | ×2 |
| As fast as anyone can play What pace? | 10 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1987 | 88% | ×1 |
| Short. Say it and stop. How long should a song be? | up to 1.5 min | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 85% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, length 1 out of 9. Powerviolence leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Bad Brains, Bad Brains 1982
Bad Brains - Bad Brains (the ROIR cassette). The fastest band of the decade.
- 2The one to put on first
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Hardcore punk, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Powerviolence's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Screamo 85%
Emo pushed into hysteria: continuous screaming, cutting guitars and songs that collapse into silence. Also called skramz.
4 steps from Powerviolence, meeting it only at Hardcore punk.
The way into Screamo -
Cybergrind 84%
Grindcore with programmed drums nobody could play and electronic elements. Made in bedrooms more often than in studios.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 7 steps from Powerviolence.
The way into Cybergrind
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- A growl or a shriek put 78 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Alternative rock, Blues rock, Doom metal. Worth 3 of 9.
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 9.
- As fast as anyone can play put 4 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Doom metal, Drone metal, Funeral doom. Worth 2 of 9.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 9.
- Short. Say it and stop. put 18 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Doom metal, Progressive rock, Progressive metal. Worth 1 of 9.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.