Why does almost all Metalcore sound the same?

Wyatt118

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Jun 16, 2011
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I mean it's almost impossible to distinguish bands like Attack Attack, Asking Alxendria, Bring me the horizon, etc. So if one member of the Escaspist can show me a metalcore band that attempts to be different, i might not turn my back on this atrocious genre of music.
 

DJDarque

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Aug 24, 2009
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I don't know, really. The only metalcore I regularly listen to is All That Remains and they sound nothing like the little bit of Asking Alexandria I've heard.
 

let's rock

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Jun 15, 2011
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comming from somebody who likes metalcore, this is a genera where you have to be into it to notice the differences in the songs. If you don't like it, it will probably all sound the same

EDIT: Oh wait different band. Try a day to remember, it is the most different metalcore I can think of, would recoment the song "The downfall of us all"
 

shrekfan246

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May 26, 2011
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First off, Attack Attack and Asking Alexandria are about as far as you can get from metalcore while still being in a "Hardcore" genre. Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, Every Time I Die, or Devildriver are better examples of "actual" metalcore.

Asking why it sounds the same is a relatively stupid question, however. It's like asking why does all rap sound the same, or pop, or rock. They share similar elements, and to notice the differences you need to dig deeper into the subtleties of the instruments, the chords, the timing, the pitch, and the content. For instance, many people say that Miss May I sounds exactly like the newer things by As I Lay Dying, and while I can see the similarities, they both have rather noticeable differences in the way they perform. I will try to give examples:

Killswitch Engage: They're the "mainstream" of metalcore. They are the generic sound that most of the genre typically strives to emulate.
As I Lay Dying: Not too far from Killswitch, but they are a bit more visceral in their performance and the melodies work much better as contrast to me.
Children of Bodom: They're set pretty far from the mainstream metalcore, because they stress guitar playing more than anything else which tends to usually be covered up by a mentality of "We need to make this sound as heavy as we can" in other bands. CoB understands that talent is something that shouldn't be squandered just to be "popular".
Every Time I Die: They've changed a lot over the years, their original stuff was closer to "metalcore" and now they're more "pop-metal" like A Day To Remember, but they still are not anything close to the sound of Killswitch or Bring Me The Horizon. They (In their older works) tended to go for an all-out sonic blast of sound (The "We need to sound heavy" mentality) and have definitely incredibly refined their sound in the last few years.

I could keep going on and on and on, but with what I have already said, I'll put a TL;DR
If you don't actually acquire an ear for picking out specific instruments and all of the little nuances that are different between each band, then everything will sound the same to you.

But please, don't base the entire "metalcore" genre off of Attack Attack!, Asking Alexandria, and Bring Me The Horizon, only one of which is even arguably in said genre.

EDIT: And while I don't agree with CAW on all metalcore being terrible, I will grant that there are simply way too many sub-genres now and it's become like attempting to navigate a labyrinth of entirely mislabeled items in the worlds largest library. In fact, I think it's the exact opposite of what has happened with the gaming industry: The Adventure label is no longer used anymore so Adventure games get pigeon-holed into the wrong genres. In metal, there are so many sub-genres that bands are struggling to even know what genre they are currently residing in.
Thinking about it, that could also mean the same thing is happening in both, just one is shrinking and the other is over-inflating...now it's getting convoluted, so I'll just stop.

EDIT EDIT: If you want a band that technically falls into the metalcore genre but definitely mixes things up, check out The Human Abstract. The main contributor to the actual songwriting (and lead guitarist, I believe) for the first and third albums by The Human Abstract went to a university to exclusively study classical music. As in, Tchaikovsky, Bach, and the like. So. . .yeah. They're not like Bring Me The Horizon.
 

duktapeman90

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Aug 16, 2009
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Well if you're not into it, of course it'll all sound the same. To me, all pop-punk and country sound the same, but that's because those are genres I avoid. I used to not like it, and it all sounded the same, then I got into it, now I can tell the difference.

Here's a test, do there's sound the same to you?
 

Snowy Rainbow

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Jun 13, 2011
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GreatTeacherCAW said:
Metalcore. Pfffft. So many sub-genres of metal. It's like how I have tried to explain the newer generation of hardcore to people.

"Hardcore: Death metal dumbed down for inbreds."

On that note, all "metalcore" does sound the same. It is all pretty terrible.
Dumbed down death metal? o_O What hardcore are you listening to?
 

parasyteFMA

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Jan 3, 2011
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Sylosis and Across the Sun. The two only "good" metalcore bands I like. Of course, them being good is subjective.
 

let's rock

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Jun 15, 2011
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kman123 said:
let said:
comming from somebody who likes metalcore, this is a genera where you have to be into it to notice the differences in the songs. If you don't like it, it will probably all sound the same

EDIT: Oh wait different band. Try a day to remember, it is the most different metalcore I can think of, would recoment the song "The downfall of us all"

Ahahahaha no. ADTR are one of my favorite bands...but 'metalcore' is a bit of a stretch.
they're a fusion of metalcore and pop punk, close enough