Progressive Metalcore
Located in 3 routes
Progressive metalcore fuses the breakdown-driven aggression and screamed/clean dynamic of metalcore with the extended song forms, odd time signatures and harmonic ambition of progressive metal. Guitars run on 7- and 8-string instruments tuned to drop B or lower, alternating chugging low-end riffs with shimmering, reverb-soaked clean and tapped passages; drumming layers blast-adjacent double-kick with polyrhythmic accents. Vocals swing between full-throat screams and soaring, often layered clean choruses. The mood is widescreen and atmospheric, ambient pads and lead synths cushioning technical riffing, songs frequently pushing past five minutes with multiple movements rather than verse-chorus economy.
History
Progressive metalcore grew out of the late-2000s American metalcore boom as bands chafed against the genre's verse-breakdown formula, absorbing the rhythmic complexity of Meshuggah and the textural reach of prog. Sumerian Records in Los Angeles became the scene's hub, signing Periphery, Born of Osiris, After the Burial and Veil of Maya; Misha Mansoor's home-studio production and seven/eight-string riffing helped define the sound, which overlapped heavily with djent. Born of Osiris's 'The Discovery' (2011) and Periphery's self-titled debut (2010) crystallized the template, while Erra, Northlane and TesseracT pushed the ambient, melodic and polyrhythmic edges. The style spread internationally to Australia (Northlane) and the UK (TesseracT, Monuments), and by the mid-2010s its clean-sung, atmospheric wing had become one of metalcore's dominant modern dialects.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- AllMusic genre and artist entries (Periphery, Erra, Born of Osiris)
- Wikipedia: Progressive metalcore
- Periphery (album)
- The Discovery (Born of Osiris)
- Metal Injection and Sputnikmusic album reviews