Screamo
Encyclopedia
Screamo, though used loosely to generally describe music that features screamed vocals, is actually a musical subgenre of hardcore punk
which predominantly evolved from emo
, among other genres, in the early 1990s. The term "screamo" was initially applied to a more aggressive offshoot of emo that developed in San Diego in 1991, which used short songs that grafted "spastic intensity to willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics."
. The genre is "generally based in the aggressive side of the overarching punk-revival scene." Primary characteristics of the genre are described by Allmusic:
In addition to melodic transitions from heavy to soft styles, the genre is also characterized "by frequent shifts in tempo and dynamics and by tension-and-release catharses." Screamed vocals are used "not consistently, but as a kind of crescendo element, a sonic weapon to be trotted out when the music and lyrics reach a particular emotional pitch." Some consider the genre to be a bridge between hardcore punk and emo.
saw themselves as implicitly political, and as a reaction against the turn to the right embodied by California politicians, such as Roger Hedgecock
. Some groups were also unusually theoretical in inspiration: Angel Hair cited surrealist writers Antonin Artaud
and Georges Bataille
, and Orchid
lyrically name-checked French new wave
icon Anna Karina
and critical theory
originators the Frankfurt School.
, with groups such as Heroin
, Antioch Arrow
, Angel Hair, Mohinder
, Swing Kids
, and Portraits of Past
. These groups were influenced by Washington D.C. post-hardcore
(particularly Fugazi and Nation of Ulysses
), straight edge
, the Chicago group Articles of Faith
, hardcore punk band Die Kreuzen
and post-punk
, such as Joy Division
and Bauhaus
.
Gravity Records
and Ebullition Records
released this more chaotic
and expressive style of hardcore. The scene is noted for its distinctive fashion sense, inspired by mod culture. Much as the term "emo" is, the term "screamo" has always been controversial in the scene.
The innovations of the San Diego scene eventually spread elsewhere, such as to the Seattle group The Blood Brothers. Many groups from the East Coast were influential in the continual development and reinvention of the style, including Orchid
, Circle Takes the Square
, pg. 99
, Hot Cross
, Saetia
, Ampere
, and City of Caterpillar
.
Some bands that formed in the North America during the late 1990s and remained active throughout the 2000s, such as Thursday
, Thrice
, Alexisonfire
, Poison the Well
, and The Used
made screamo much more popular. Many of these bands took influence from the likes of Refused
, At the Drive-In
, and Keepsake
. By the mid-2000s, the over-saturation of the screamo scene caused many bands to purposefully expand past the genre’s trademarks and incorporate more experimental elements.
Hawthorne Heights
and Story of the Year
, two bands frequently featured on MTV, have been noted for their popularization of screamo, although both have since made stylistic changes. Other active American screamo acts include Comadre
, Off Minor
, Men As Trees
, and Vendetta Red
.
The contemporary DIY screamo scene is also particularly active in Europe, with bands such as Amanda Woodward, Louise Cyphre, Le Pré Où Je Suis Mort, La Quiete
, and Raein
all being prime examples of their scene.
noted the term's constant misuse and jokingly stated that it "describes a thousand different genres." According to Jeff Mitchell of Iowa State Daily
, "there is no set definition of what screamo sounds like but screaming over once deafeningly loud rocking noise and suddenly quiet, melodic guitar lines is a theme commonly affiliated with the genre."
Styles of music such as post-hardcore, metalcore
, deathcore
, death metal
and black metal
are often mislabeled as "screamo" based on the assumption that any music with screamed vocals should be considered such. Juan Gabe, vocalist for the band Comadre
, alleged that the term "has been kind of tainted in a way, especially in the States." Jonathan Dee of The New York Times
wrote that the term "tends to bring a scornful laugh from the bands themselves." Bert McCracken
, lead singer of The Used
, stated that "screamo" is merely a term "for record companies to sell records and for record stores to categorize them."
. The name was coined half-jokingly by In/Humanity
. Recognisable elements of emo violence are its incorporation of amplified feedback and blast beats; the music is highly dissonant and chaotic, generally featuring fast tempos, shouting, and screamed vocals. Emo violence practitioners include Pg. 99
, Orchid
, Reversal of Man, Agna Moraine, RentAmerica, and In/Humanity.
Some screamo groups, such as Orchid, Reversal of Man, and Circle Takes the Square
tend to be much closer to grindcore
than their forebears. Other screamo acts have often incorporated post-rock
into their music. This fusion is characterized by abrupt changes in pace, atmospheric, harmonic instrumentation, and low-volume vocals. Pianos Become the Teeth
, City of Caterpillar
, Envy
, Funeral Diner
, and Le Pre Ou Je Suis Mort are examples of post-rock influenced screamo acts.
Other screamo-influenced genres include crunkcore
and Nintendocore
. Crunkcore combines screamo with crunk
hip hop
and various electronic elements.
Nintendocore, a term coined by Horse the Band
, describes a music genre that fuses elements of modern rock with video game music, chiptune
s, and 8-bit music. It is considered a derivative form of screamo, post-hardcore and metalcore. Nintendocore borrows many characteristic of screamo, such as screamed vocals and unpredictable rhythms.
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
which predominantly evolved from emo
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
, among other genres, in the early 1990s. The term "screamo" was initially applied to a more aggressive offshoot of emo that developed in San Diego in 1991, which used short songs that grafted "spastic intensity to willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics."
Characteristics
Screamo essentially describes a particularly dissonant style of emo influenced by hardcore punk. Screamo uses typical rock instrumentation, but is notable for its brief compositions, chaotic execution, and screaming vocalsScreaming (music)
Screaming is a vocal technique that is most popular in subgenres of heavy metal, punk and hard rock, including metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore, groove metal, black metal, and grindcore...
. The genre is "generally based in the aggressive side of the overarching punk-revival scene." Primary characteristics of the genre are described by Allmusic:
In addition to melodic transitions from heavy to soft styles, the genre is also characterized "by frequent shifts in tempo and dynamics and by tension-and-release catharses." Screamed vocals are used "not consistently, but as a kind of crescendo element, a sonic weapon to be trotted out when the music and lyrics reach a particular emotional pitch." Some consider the genre to be a bridge between hardcore punk and emo.
Conceptual elements
Many screamo bands in the 1990s1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
saw themselves as implicitly political, and as a reaction against the turn to the right embodied by California politicians, such as Roger Hedgecock
Roger Hedgecock
Roger Allan Hedgecock is a conservative talk radio host and former mayor of San Diego, California. His show is syndicated by Radio America. Hedgecock still resides in San Diego...
. Some groups were also unusually theoretical in inspiration: Angel Hair cited surrealist writers Antonin Artaud
Antonin Artaud
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, more well-known as Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director...
and Georges Bataille
Georges Bataille
Georges Bataille was a French writer. His multifaceted work is linked to the domains of literature, anthropology, philosophy, economy, sociology and history of art...
, and Orchid
Orchid (band)
Orchid was a screamo band from Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the "screamo" sound, Orchid combined this with a post-modern aesthetic, releasing several extended play and splits as well as three LPs...
lyrically name-checked French new wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
icon Anna Karina
Anna Karina
Anna Karina is a Danish film actress, director, and screenwriter who has spent most of her working life in France. Karina is known as a muse of the director, Jean-Luc Godard, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave...
and critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
originators the Frankfurt School.
Origins (early 1990s–early 2000s)
The term screamo is applied to a music genre that began in 1991, in San Diego, at the Ché CaféChe Cafe
The Ché Café is a worker co-operative, social center, and live music venue located on the University of California, San Diego campus in La Jolla, California, USA.-History:Founded in 1980 by UCSD students, the Che originally began its life as a vegan cafe...
, with groups such as Heroin
Heroin (band)
Heroin was a short-lived but influential underground post-hardcore band, originating in San Diego in 1989.-History:Heroin was a forerunner of the screamo subgenre of hardcore punk. They were noted for the psychological intensity of their songs, which tended to be very short and include...
, Antioch Arrow
Antioch Arrow
Antioch Arrow, from San Diego, California, was on the seminal post-hardcore label Gravity Records, responsible for putting San Diego on the map in the mid-90's as one of the centers of the movement....
, Angel Hair, Mohinder
Mohinder (band)
Mohinder was a four-piece post-hardcore band from Cupertino, California. Despite their brief existence, they were considered an important feature of the California hardcore punk scene, and helped to define the musical genre now known as screamo. Mohinder songs tended to be short in duration, and...
, Swing Kids
Swing Kids (band)
Swing Kids were a hardcore band from San Diego California during the mid 1990s. They were closely involved with and influenced by the forerunners of the San Diego hardcore punk scene of the 1990s....
, and Portraits of Past
Portraits of Past
Portraits of Past is a post-hardcore band from the San Francisco Bay Area that existed roughly from 1994-1995. The genre of music that they helped create is often described as "screamo," though that term was not used at the time the band was active...
. These groups were influenced by Washington D.C. post-hardcore
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
(particularly Fugazi and Nation of Ulysses
Nation of Ulysses
The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and James...
), straight edge
Straight edge
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a...
, the Chicago group Articles of Faith
Articles of Faith (Band)
Articles of Faith were a Chicago-based hardcore punk band notable for songwriting in a class above most of their contemporaries . The band's later work, the posthumous In This Life LP in particular, either founds or foreshadows the emo sound...
, hardcore punk band Die Kreuzen
Die Kreuzen
Die Kreuzen was a rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin which was formed in 1981. The name is broken German for "the crosses", and was picked up by the band from a German Bible...
and post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, such as Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
and Bauhaus
Bauhaus (band)
Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
.
Gravity Records
Gravity Records (US)
Gravity Records is an underground independent record label from San Diego. It was formed in 1991 by Matt Anderson, a member of the influential underground band Heroin. It has been central in developing and promoting the "San Diego sound" - an idiosyncratic form of post-hardcore with loose, chaotic...
and Ebullition Records
Ebullition Records
Ebullition Records is an independent record label and distro based out of Goleta, California. It published HeartattaCk, a zine focusing on independent punk and hardcore from around the world, informed by an anti-consumerist and D.I.Y. ideology....
released this more chaotic
Chaotic
Chaotic is originally a Danish trading card game. It expanded to an online game in America which then became a television program based on the game. The program is seen on 4Kids TV , Jetix, The CW4Kids, Cartoon Network and Disney XD. It was brought over to the United States from Denmark by Bryan C...
and expressive style of hardcore. The scene is noted for its distinctive fashion sense, inspired by mod culture. Much as the term "emo" is, the term "screamo" has always been controversial in the scene.
The innovations of the San Diego scene eventually spread elsewhere, such as to the Seattle group The Blood Brothers. Many groups from the East Coast were influential in the continual development and reinvention of the style, including Orchid
Orchid (band)
Orchid was a screamo band from Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the "screamo" sound, Orchid combined this with a post-modern aesthetic, releasing several extended play and splits as well as three LPs...
, Circle Takes the Square
Circle Takes the Square
Circle Takes the Square is an American post-hardcore band from Savannah, Georgia. Their debut release was a 7-track self-titled EP in 2001, followed later by a 7" split with Pg. 99...
, pg. 99
Pg. 99
Pg. 99 was a screamo band from Sterling, Virginia on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. The band formed as a six-piece in fall 1997 and later expanded to an eight-piece...
, Hot Cross
Hot Cross
Hot Cross was a hardcore band from Philadelphia. They were signed to Hope Division Records / Equal Vision Records. The band was composed of former members of such bands as Saetia , Off Minor , You and I , Neil...
, Saetia
Saetia
Saetia was a New York City-based screamo/post-hardcore band. Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track "Saeta", from his album Sketches of Spain, which, in turn, was named after the saeta, a religious tradition of flamenco music...
, Ampere
Ampere (band)
Ampere is a DIY punk band based in Amherst, Massachusetts known for their short but extremely loud and intense live shows. The band has put the importance of DIY punk ethics at the forefront of their lyrics and are known for the particular attention they bring to their vegan...
, and City of Caterpillar
City of Caterpillar
City of Caterpillar was an American band, from Richmond, Virginia. They released a split with pg. 99, a full length album, and an album-length compilation of their demo and some live tracks....
.
Modern screamo (2000s–present)
Thursday (band)
Thursday were an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formed in 1997, the group has released six full-length albums, their most recent being No Devolución, which was released in April 2011 on Epitaph Records...
, Thrice
Thrice
Thrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school....
, Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire was a five-piece, Juno-nominated post-hardcore band that formed in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada in 2001. The band consisted of George Pettit , Dallas Green , Wade MacNeil , Chris Steele , and Jordan Hastings .They describe their music as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls...
, Poison the Well
Poison the Well (band)
Poison the Well was an experimental hardcore band from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. Guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Chris Hornbrook were the only remaining members of the band who were involved since their inception, although vocalist Jeffrey Moreira was...
, and The Used
The Used
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third...
made screamo much more popular. Many of these bands took influence from the likes of Refused
Refused
Refused was a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1991. In total the band released five EPs and three albums, before splitting up in 1998...
, At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
, and Keepsake
Keepsake (band)
Keepsake was an American emo band formed in 1997 by Paul Geller and Mark Silva in Coral Springs, Florida. After releasing three records on the independent label, Eulogy Recordings, Geller left the band for personal reasons; returning to music years later as a solo act, "Pauly Jett"...
. By the mid-2000s, the over-saturation of the screamo scene caused many bands to purposefully expand past the genre’s trademarks and incorporate more experimental elements.
Hawthorne Heights
Hawthorne Heights
Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2001. Their line-up currently consists of lead-singer and rhythm guitarist JT Woodruff, lead-guitarist and vocalist Micah Carli, bassist and backing vocalist Matt Ridenour, and drummer Eron Bucciarelli...
and Story of the Year
Story of the Year
Story of the Year is an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri in 2000. The band was initially named 67 North but was then changed to Big Blue Monkey...
, two bands frequently featured on MTV, have been noted for their popularization of screamo, although both have since made stylistic changes. Other active American screamo acts include Comadre
Comadre (band)
Comadre is a band from Redwood City, a suburb of San Francisco, California, composed of former members of Heartcrosslove, One's Own Ruin, What Life Makes Us, and Light This City. Their sound is a shoot-off of emotive and punk, played fast and chaotic with an abundance of energy, but with a large...
, Off Minor
Off Minor
Off Minor are a Hardcore/Emo band from New York City. They formed in 1999 with Jamie Behar, Matt Smith, and Steven Roche, all former Saetia members. However, Smith later left and was replaced by Steven's brother Kevin on bass...
, Men As Trees
Men As Trees
Men As Trees is a band from Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit and home of Oakland University. Formed in 2003 the band sought to combine punk, hardcore and instrumental music into a form that is now often described as a hybrid of screamo and post-rock, and that strives for intensity, both in...
, and Vendetta Red
Vendetta Red
Vendetta Red is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington that formed in 1998. They released an EP, 6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive, in 1999 and two albums, Blackout Analysis in 2000 and White Knuckled Substance in 2001, before signing their first major label deal...
.
The contemporary DIY screamo scene is also particularly active in Europe, with bands such as Amanda Woodward, Louise Cyphre, Le Pré Où Je Suis Mort, La Quiete
La Quiete
La Quiete is an Italian screamo band which shares members with Raein. They formed in 2000 in Forlì.-Discography:*2002 - 3,5" Floppy Disc*2002 - Split 7" w/ Acrimonie...
, and Raein
Raein
Raein is an Italian screamo band that featured members from screamo act La Quiete and the post rock band Neil on Impression. The band broke up in late 2005, but after a hiatus of almost 2 years they got back to play together in September 2007...
all being prime examples of their scene.
Vagueness and misuse of the term "screamo"
Allmusic has noted that the term "screamo" can sometimes be vague, and that even bands that weren’t necessarily screamo would often use the style's characteristic guttural vocal style. Derek Miller, guitarist for the band Poison the WellPoison the Well (band)
Poison the Well was an experimental hardcore band from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. Guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Chris Hornbrook were the only remaining members of the band who were involved since their inception, although vocalist Jeffrey Moreira was...
noted the term's constant misuse and jokingly stated that it "describes a thousand different genres." According to Jeff Mitchell of Iowa State Daily
Iowa State Daily
The Iowa State Daily is an independent student newspaper serving Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, that is published in print and online. It was founded in 1890, and is largely funded by advertising revenues...
, "there is no set definition of what screamo sounds like but screaming over once deafeningly loud rocking noise and suddenly quiet, melodic guitar lines is a theme commonly affiliated with the genre."
Styles of music such as post-hardcore, metalcore
Metalcore
Metalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...
, deathcore
Deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal music genre that combines elements of death metal with elements of metalcore or hardcore punk, or both. It is defined by an "excessive" use of death metal riffs, blast beats and use of hardcore punk breakdowns...
, death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
and black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
are often mislabeled as "screamo" based on the assumption that any music with screamed vocals should be considered such. Juan Gabe, vocalist for the band Comadre
Comadre (band)
Comadre is a band from Redwood City, a suburb of San Francisco, California, composed of former members of Heartcrosslove, One's Own Ruin, What Life Makes Us, and Light This City. Their sound is a shoot-off of emotive and punk, played fast and chaotic with an abundance of energy, but with a large...
, alleged that the term "has been kind of tainted in a way, especially in the States." Jonathan Dee of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that the term "tends to bring a scornful laugh from the bands themselves." Bert McCracken
Bert McCracken
Robert Edward "Bert" McCracken is the lead singer and songwriter of the American alternative rock band The Used.-Biography:McCracken was born in Provo but grew up in Orem, Utah, USA, and was raised in a Mormon family...
, lead singer of The Used
The Used
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third...
, stated that "screamo" is merely a term "for record companies to sell records and for record stores to categorize them."
Influence on other styles
"Emo violence" is a term used to describe a fusion of emo, screamo, and powerviolencePowerviolence
Powerviolence , is a raw and dissonant subgenre of hardcore punk. The style is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore.-History:...
. The name was coined half-jokingly by In/Humanity
In/Humanity
In/Humanity was a hardcore punk band from Columbia, South Carolina.-Biography:In/Humanity formed in 1991 and made their debut on the 1992 Please No Profanity compilation, a benefit for local college radio station WUSC...
. Recognisable elements of emo violence are its incorporation of amplified feedback and blast beats; the music is highly dissonant and chaotic, generally featuring fast tempos, shouting, and screamed vocals. Emo violence practitioners include Pg. 99
Pg. 99
Pg. 99 was a screamo band from Sterling, Virginia on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. The band formed as a six-piece in fall 1997 and later expanded to an eight-piece...
, Orchid
Orchid (band)
Orchid was a screamo band from Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the "screamo" sound, Orchid combined this with a post-modern aesthetic, releasing several extended play and splits as well as three LPs...
, Reversal of Man, Agna Moraine, RentAmerica, and In/Humanity.
Some screamo groups, such as Orchid, Reversal of Man, and Circle Takes the Square
Circle Takes the Square
Circle Takes the Square is an American post-hardcore band from Savannah, Georgia. Their debut release was a 7-track self-titled EP in 2001, followed later by a 7" split with Pg. 99...
tend to be much closer to grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
than their forebears. Other screamo acts have often incorporated post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
into their music. This fusion is characterized by abrupt changes in pace, atmospheric, harmonic instrumentation, and low-volume vocals. Pianos Become the Teeth
Pianos Become the Teeth
Pianos Become the Teeth is an American rock band that formed in 2006. They perform a style of music inspired by post-rock and early screamo acts, and are a part of "The Wave"—a newly developed regional scene of post-hardcore music...
, City of Caterpillar
City of Caterpillar
City of Caterpillar was an American band, from Richmond, Virginia. They released a split with pg. 99, a full length album, and an album-length compilation of their demo and some live tracks....
, Envy
Envy (band)
Envy is a rock band from Japan. They are signed to Rock Action Records in Europe and Temporary Residence Limited in North America, though originally they worked with Level Plane Records. More recently in their career, Envy's music has grown to include elements of post-rock.Vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa...
, Funeral Diner
Funeral Diner
Funeral Diner was a screamo band from Half Moon Bay, California, located approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco, playing self-described "screamy, chaotic, melodic hardcore." During the last few years, the band has established a strong cult fanbase through a near constant string of releases...
, and Le Pre Ou Je Suis Mort are examples of post-rock influenced screamo acts.
Other screamo-influenced genres include crunkcore
Crunkcore
Crunkcore is a musical genre that combines crunk hip-hop with elements of screamo...
and Nintendocore
Nintendocore
Nintendocore is a music genre that fuses aggressive styles of modern rock with chiptune and video game music...
. Crunkcore combines screamo with crunk
Crunk
Crunk is a music style that originated in Memphis, Tennessee in the mid-to-late 1990s and gained mainstream success around 2003–2004. Performers of crunk music are sometimes referred to as crunksters. An archetypal crunk track most frequently uses a drum machine rhythm, heavy bassline, and...
hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and various electronic elements.
Nintendocore, a term coined by Horse the Band
HORSE the band
Horse the Band is a band from Lake Forest, California who are best known for their 8-bit Nintendo-influenced sound combined with metalcore. Frontman Nathan Winneke once described their sound as "Nintendocore".-Biography:...
, describes a music genre that fuses elements of modern rock with video game music, chiptune
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
s, and 8-bit music. It is considered a derivative form of screamo, post-hardcore and metalcore. Nintendocore borrows many characteristic of screamo, such as screamed vocals and unpredictable rhythms.