Your way in
Screamo 1991
Emo pushed into hysteria: continuous screaming, cutting guitars and songs that collapse into silence. Also called skramz.
- Heaviness
- 6
- Speed
- 8
- Melody
- 5
- Where from
- San Diego, California
- Tempo
- 150-220 bpm
- Song length
- 1.5-4 min
- Written about
- Despair, Politics as personal experience, Collapse, Fragments rather than narratives
- Vocals
- Growled or shrieked
Why this one
| You said | Screamo | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| A growl or a shriek When someone is singing, what should come out? | harsh | 100% | ×3 |
| There, but not the point How much weight do you want behind it? | 6 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| Quick and driving What pace? | 8 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1991 | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 95% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 4 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1 out of 8. Screamo leads the next by 2 points. 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
Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary 1994
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary. The bridge between DC hardcore and everything that followed.
- 2The one to put on first
City of Caterpillar, City of Caterpillar 2002
City of Caterpillar - And You're Wondering How a Fool Can Die. Post-rock catching fire.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Emo, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Screamo'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
-
Atmospheric black metal 93%
Long songs, hypnotic repetition and synth textures. The landscape matters more than the riff.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 9 steps from Screamo.
The way into Atmospheric black metal -
Melodic death metal 90%
Iron Maiden-style guitar harmonies over screamed vocals. The Gothenburg scene later became the foundation of American metalcore.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 9 steps from Screamo.
The way into Melodic death metal
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 8.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 8.
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.