A few tenured musicians have reacted to the recent declaration made by Atreyu frontman Alex Varkatzas. In an interview with Rock Sound published earlier this week, Varkatzas boldly claimed that his band had “invented metalcore.” (you can read that full quote here.)
Among the scene vets to speak up were Bad Wolves guitarist Doc Coyle, who of course previously spent time in God Forbid. He commented on the matter:
Everyone knows I invented metalcore ?? https://t.co/vdhHSw6BI8
— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) October 16, 2018
In all seriousness, in the modern sense of what metalcore means – technical, metallic, thrash inspired riffing combined with breakdowns & the energy of hardcore & also a blend of screamed & melodic vocals – I think these 2 bands invented (modern metalcore)
Overcast
Cave In— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) October 16, 2018
Honorable mentions to Starkweather, Converge, Vision of Disorder, Earth Crisis & Rorschach.
— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) October 16, 2018
This led to All That Remains vocalist Phil Labonte to chime in. Labonte himself of course was an early vocalist for Shadows Fall as well.
Oh boy. ????? https://t.co/3d0prYMLoQ
— Phil That Probably Isn’t On Your “Team” (@philthatremains) October 16, 2018
I think @DocCoyle may be right about overcast. Though they didn’t have melodic singing. The European/melodic influence is surely from bands like ATG, In Flames, and Soilswork.
— Phil That Probably Isn’t On Your “Team” (@philthatremains) October 16, 2018
I considered what @brianshadfall did in Overcast to be melodic singing. As well as screaming
— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) October 16, 2018
They were first for sure but I guess considering how much melodic euro thrash metal I was into at the time it never struck me the same. I felt like it was way more hardcore. I felt like melodic stuff came after Overcast.
— Phil That Probably Isn’t On Your “Team” (@philthatremains) October 16, 2018
I think the Euro influence is semantics. It was the loudest voice in terms of a metal influence. But not necessary to be considered metalcore. Cave In didn’t have any of that. Still was definitive metalcore IMO. Same with All Out War, Dillinger
— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) October 16, 2018
See and those bands all strike me as heavy on the core part and light on the metal. To me they were a precursor. But this conversation is gonna do that. Who is to say who definitely started. Alex is smart. ??
— Phil That Probably Isn’t On Your “Team” (@philthatremains) October 16, 2018
Brian Fair, vocalist of 90s metalcore band Overcast as well as Shadows Fall and others, also took the time to share his thoughts on the matter:
Overcast definitely dipped our toe in both the metal and the core at a time a lot were not but I would point to Zero Tolerance, Starkweather and Leeway as the bands that pushed us in that direction. Cave In were always ahead of the curve in every way. https://t.co/Cy5Il5vemX
— Brian Fair (@brianshadfall) October 16, 2018
Totally. And for the record Overcast formed in 1990 (granted we sounded like a Cro-Mags clone with Hetfield style vocals, check the “Feel The Pain” demo in all its sloppy glory) and the metal influences started creeping in early. By the “Bleed Into One” 7” it started to show. https://t.co/accWzlcV5L
— Brian Fair (@brianshadfall) October 16, 2018
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