Genre Wars: Ranking the Scene’s Subgenres
New generations of fans seem to care a lot less about genre divisions. We’ve seen elements of hip-hop, R&B, and pop become more commonplace as bands pull influence from all over the musical spectrum, not just rock and metal. But it’s always fun to start a genre war, isn’t it?
Inspired by The Punk Rock MBA’s genre tier list, we wanted to take a look at the genres that shaped our scene, influenced our favorite bands, and rank them. I’ll use the same criteria from the source material, meaning there are three areas to judge each subgenre on: commercial success, cultural relevance and influence, and of course, personal preference.
God Tier
TRL-era Pop Punk
blink-182, New Found Glory, Good Charlotte
It’s clear these guys are architects of the scene as we know it today. They were embedded in the late-90s, early-2000s culture, with many of us growing up on albums like Take Off Your Pants and Jacket and The Young and the Hopeless. Pop-punk bands today still try to emulate the energy and aesthetic of these bands, and with rappers like Doja Cat sampling blink-182 in their music, it’s clear their influence goes far beyond rock music.
Nu Metal
Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park
Nu metal was on the receiving end of a lot of criticism, with many eyebrows raised at Jonathan Davis’ growl-beatboxing or Fred Durst’s lyrical content. But OG nu-metal bands fused the percussive rhythm of rap and hip-hop with rock instrumentation while combining the aggression of both genres. And if that’s not a summary of 90% of metalcore bands out there today, I don’t know what is. The kids that grew up on Slipknot, Korn, and Linkin Park are now making music of their own and it’s impossible to deny nu metal’s influence on their sound.
A Tier
2000’s Post-hardcore
Hawthorne Heights, Taking Back Sunday, Underoath
Post-hardcore feels like an umbrella term, so to be clear, I’m talking about the music playing when you went to Hot Topic to buy your studded belt in 2005. Bands like Underoath and Hawthorne Heights trademarked the clean/scream dueling vocals, while At the Drive-In and Glassjaw pushed alternative music to a grittier and grungier sound. Post-hardcore has evolved at a steady pace since with artists like Dance Gavin Dance, Touché Amoré, and La Dispute pushing the genre even further into unexplored territory.
Metalcore 1.0
Killswitch Engage, The Devil Wears Prada, Atreyu
Metalcore was the gateway drug to heavy music for many of us that grew up in the 2000's. Combining aggression and angst with accessible, melodic elements set metalcore up for success. It was edgy enough to appeal to disaffected teens, while not being too extreme. Metalcore has proved it has longevity and can change with the times as Issues, Motionless in White and I Prevail lead a new generation of artists reinventing metalcore.
Emo Rap
Lil Peep, Nothing,Nowhere., Wicca Phase Springs Eternal
As a newer genre, it’s hard to evaluate emo-rap based on cultural influence, but I truly believe this is the future of the scene. Just like metalcore and nu-metal before, emo rap is introducing a whole new generation of kids to heavy, dark music. And these kids care about genre lines a lot less than older generations, so I think it’s safe to assume we’ll be hearing more screaming over trap beats and seeing more artists like Lil Lotus and Cold Hart signed to rock labels like Epitaph.
B Tier
Hardcore
Strife, Terror, Hatebreed
It’s impossible to deny hardcore’s immense influence on the scene. There’s a reason we add “-core” to the end of damn near every new subgenre of the last 20 years. Breakdowns, gang vocals and even moshing itself can be traced to origins in hardcore and the genre has truly proved to be a backbone of the scene. However, hardcore never saw any mainstream success due to its abrasive and extreme style. Newer hardcore bands like Code Orange, Turnstile, and Knocked Loose now carry the torch, redefining what hardcore will be in the 2020’s.
Skate Punk
Pennywise, NOFX, The Offspring
Skate punk as a subculture laid the groundwork for pop-punk and indie/alternative scenes at large with bands like PUP, Trash Boat and Milk Teeth drawing influence from the genre. Skate punk was also an integral part of early Warped Tour lineups, with Pennywise and NOFX becoming fixtures on the tour. While bands like The Offspring and Green Day enjoyed mainstream success and we saw skate-punk culture in popular shows like “Jackass,” most bands did not reach the popularity of MTV and Billboard charts.
C Tier
Crabcore
Attack Attack!, Abandon All Ships, early Asking Alexandria
In 2008, Attack Attack! released “Stick Stickly” and the world would never be the same. Crabcore gave us excellent memes, decent metalcore and opened heavy bands up to using synths. They caught a lot of criticism at the time, but ultimately Falling in Reverse and Bring Me the Horizon probably wouldn’t be putting out the electronic-influenced music they’ve dropped in the last couple years without the foundation of crabcore.
Deathcore
Whitechapel, Chelsea Grin, Thy Art is Murder
Deathcore once again pushed the scene’s boundaries by aiming to sound as extreme as possible, incorporating blast beats, guttural vocals, and heavy breakdowns. It’s a pretty niche genre and obviously among the heaviest music out there, so it’s not for everyone and never would hit mainstream success. Many of the bands responsible for deathcore’s foundation have since moved on to expand their sound outside of the genre, namely Bring Me the Horizon, Suicide Silence, and Whitechapel.
D Tier
2010’s Pop Punk
Neck Deep, State Champs, The Story So Far
The pop punk revival has given us some great new bands. Despite far less mainstream success than the TRL-era of pop punk, these bands have introduced younger kids to pop punk and given those of us that grew up on blink-182 and New Found Glory a fresh take influenced by some of our favorite bands.
Easycore
A Day To Remember, Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals
Easycore is the most fun genre on this list. Heavy rhythm and breakdowns combined with sing-along choruses and bright guitar leads made it digestible for pop-punk fans and heavy enough for hardcore fans. Sadly, easycore was short-lived. While we can take solace in albums like Homesick and Enemy of the World to fall back on, easycore seemed to leave as quickly as it arrived.
Emo
American Football, Foxing, The Hotelier
Drawing on punk, indie, and math rock, the emo revival opted for a more subdued sound than many of the genres we’ve focused on thus far. With twinkling, tapping guitar riffs, irony and sarcasm peppered throughout and honest lyrics, emo has built a strong underground following. Despite dedicated fans (myself included), the genre has mostly kept to itself without much influence on other genres.
Neon Pop
Metro Station, 3OH!3, Millionaires
Maybe I take back what I said about easycore being the most fun genre; neon pop is a blast as well. Modern classics like “Shake It” and “Don’t Trust Me” became megahits in 2008 and there was plenty of crossover with major pop stars like Katy Perry and Kesha. However, neon pop proved a product of its time, without much influence on the rock scene or pop music.
F Tier
Djent
Periphery, Animals as Leaders, TesseracT
Djent is the most technically complex of the subgenres and as a result, has created a passionate niche fanbase without depending on mainstream success to keep it alive. With complex and ever-shifting rhythms bolstered by technical prowess, djent is the heavier cousin of progressive metal. It takes a group of technically skilled musicians to create djent, and while it deserves credit, it’s remained mostly contained within its own scene.
Crunkcore
Brokencyde, Breathe Carolina, I Set My Friends On Fire
Crunkcore is an anomaly. It somehow makes zero sense while making perfect sense. Autotune used by popular rappers like T-Pain and club beats joined hands with the screamed vocals of metalcore and created something that was truly a product of its time. Some bands (Breathe Carolina) did it better than others (Brokencyde), but crunkcore proved to be a short-lived musical moment.
Did we miss some of your favorite genres? What would you put in your God Tier? Let us know in the comments below!