It's already been 15 years since the first wave of deathcore bands came onto the scene, pissing off stuffy old heads and tantalizing young headbangers who yearned for the most abominably heavy mosh material they could imagine. A lot has changed in that time period, but one thing's for damn certain: Deathcore isn't dead. The once-polarizing blend of death metal and metalcore never truly went away, but it's currently experiencing a serious resurgence thanks to younger bands who are injecting new flairs and older bands who've consistently carried the torch for nearly two decades.
We asked you to pick your favorite band in the genre's history, and the results are reflective of the multi-generational landscape that's currently thriving. Below, are the top five vote-getters.
5. Brand of Sacrifice
There's a new generation of deathcore bands, and Brand of Sacrifice are at the forefront of it. At once technical, symphonic and utterly brutal, the Canadian quintet are making some of the most unique music in the genre without sacrificing any of its foundational elements. A song like "Animal" sounds like it could soundtrack a sci-fi movie and take out a few teeth in the pit.
4. Slaughter to Prevail
Whether it's advancements in recording technology, an even angrier generation of young musicians or just something in the water, many newer bands are making deathcore sound significantly heavier than it ever has, and Russia's Slaughter to Prevail might be the heaviest. While they also pull from nu-metal and sprinkle in blast beats that are more tech-death than 'core, they know how to fucking chug, and frontman Alex Terrible's ungodly lows make him sound like he's legitimately possessed by Satan himself.
3. Thy Art Is Murder
Despite forming in the mid-2000s, it wasn't until they drafted their second vocalist, CJ McMahon, and released their 2012 album, Hate, that Thy Art Is Murder became the uncompromising force that they are today. With some of the angriest and most extreme songs in the genre's lexicon, the Australian unit are now heralded as one of the best to ever do it, and they're largely responsible for spearheading deathcore's second wave in the mid-2010s.
2. Suicide Silence
Even after the inimitable Mitch Lucker tragically died in 2012, Suicide Silence were able to keep the flame alive by recruiting another one of the genre's pioneering vocalists, Eddie Hermida of All Shall Perish. However, the songs Lucker shrieked his fucking lungs out over during his time on earth have remained at the upper echelon of the deathcore canon. No one else has done groovy, chuggy, violently high-pitched deathcore quite like them.
1. Whitechapel
Although Whitechapel have expanded beyond traditional deathcore on their recent albums, they'll always be ground zero for most fans of the genre. Yes, there are bands who came before them, and Whitechapel have always had many formidable contemporaries, but at the end of the day, frontman Phil Bozeman's demonic bellows on a classic like "This is Exile" are straight-up unrivaled. Any band who plays fast, pulverizing, guttural deathcore owes something to these Tennessee crushers.
