Massachusetts Metalcore: How'd it Happen?

[cichra]

Does anyone know the story, or any stories, about how it is that so many American metal/metalcore bands that thrived in the mid-2000's were from Massachusetts? Killswitch Engage, All that Remains, The Red Chord, Unearth, Acacia Strain, Shadows Fall... all from MA.

Was there a person/promoter/club/magazine/label around which this scene developed?

I know Adam D from Killswitch worked with a lot of these bands... was he the focal point for this scene?

Maybe there is no scene? Just a coincidence that all these bands are from MA?

Wondered about this for a while and would love any info. Sorry if this has been discussed before; I did some forum searches and other searches and haven't really found anything.

 

[NovaReaper]

lol are you really asking how music developes regionally? this has happened since the beginning of time, recent examples include the evolution of jazz and rock n roll in new orleans, grunge in seattle, heavy metal in england, hardcore punk in mass. and new york, and i wont even get into death and black metal because those genres created an enormous diaspora of diverse sounds throughout the world that can't be as easily expressed as some of the other genres listed.

tldr yes there is a metalcore scene from Massachusetts.

 

[ittoa666]

It's a legitimate question. I could see why someone would want to know this.

 

[MFB]

Maybe there is no scene? Just a coincidence that all these bands are from MA?

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking there isn't a scene for it here in MA, because there DEFINITELY is

My guess is that it had something to do with the punk scene starting in New York and the whole CGBG-as-the-be-all-end-all-venue, but us being from Massachusetts - we hate NY and all it entails so we put our own spin on it and made it our own. From there it was just what was popular here vs. traditional punk style music and it became "our" thing and is still that way for the most part. I remember seeing Unearth play with a handful of local bands in a basement venue and it was a great show, and it just kind of harkens back to the days of when it was first starting out.

Certain regions have moments and that one just happened to be ours

 

[cichra]

lol are you really asking how music developes regionally? this has happened since the beginning of time, recent examples include the evolution of jazz and rock n roll in new orleans, grunge in seattle, heavy metal in england, hardcore punk in mass. and new york, and i wont even get into death and black metal because those genres created an enormous diaspora of diverse sounds throughout the world that can't be as easily expressed as some of the other genres listed.

tldr yes there is a metalcore scene from Massachusetts.

Agreed that the general question of how music develops regionally is a BIG QUESTION and the answer would be tl;dr. I'm asking about a SPECIFIC region's music and wondering if anyone has any information about its development.

 

[artmachine]

I don't think the original punk "movement" had much to do with it. Punk like the ramones and sex pistols, as much as they're very well liked, kind of failed to make punk rock an intimate, accessible thing, which in turn would create a very large scene. The emergence of hardcore punk is really what lit the match for bands to start quickly and hit the ground running. Not to mention that hardcore has influenced almost all forms of extreme metal. Boston had probably the third or fourth most important hardcore scene in the early 80's and as metallic hardcore became much more prominent in the 90's, I think things just shifted in a new direction(to an extent) as they always do. I don't particularly like the bands you listed, but I'm sure those bands take an influence from AT LEAST the scene that the early boston hardcore bands carved out. I'd also say that new england as a whole has always had a fairly active scene because this area is much more condensed than many other areas. You can go from one big city to the next in under two hours.

Boston hardcore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Massachusetts

 

[Semichastny]

I can't really say the origins for Metalcore with certainty but one of the earliest bands to be straight up Deathcore was "Deadwater Drowning" and its members went on to be in a lot of the popular/influential bands of first-wave Deathcore from Mass. & New England. You will find a lot of that, bands who's members broke off and created regional scenes based on a very general or specific sound from the band they were in.

This is from the WIKI
"While the band was short-lived, its members went on to form notable hardcore and extreme metal bands. Vocalist Nate Johnson also joined a variety of bands including Buckhunter, Since the Flood, Burnt by the Sun, Premonitions of War, the_Network, Fit For An Autopsy, and Through the Eyes of the Dead. Bassist Seth Coleman went on to join The Acacia Strain as well as Buckhunter and Fit For An Autopsy with Nate. Both Nate and Seth joined guitarist Steve Whalen in forming The Final Battle together.
Drummer Jon Dow and guitarist Jonny Fay both performed in The Red Chord. Fay also opened his own recording studio Backyard Studios where he has recorded artists such as The Red Chord and fellow Metal Blade label-mates Whitechapel, among others. Drummer Moe Watson went on to perform with War On Our Shores, Mercury Switch, and Running With Karma, as well as later joining The Final Battle."

 

[MFB]

^ Snap, I saw Buckhunter perform with Unearth and those dude's are fucking awesome. One of the few bands from the metalcore scene I actually enjoyed watching.

 

[ArrowHead]

Boston gets too much credit. All these bands actually came from Rhode Island, Maine, Boston, Connecticut, and western Ma. So it seemed like a huge concentration, but it's just that all these communities surround a gigantic city that's always been a musical hub.

The actual metal-core scene happened in a strange way. It involved a lot of cross breeding between bands (Killswitch, Shadows Fall, Overcast, All That Remains, etc... all started with the same band/group of kids). There was also a huge crew of scenesters with nothing to do in Worcester at the time, where there just happen to be a whole lot of venues, including what is currently one of the largest remaining - The Palladium.

So when you combine a tight scene of bands that share members and styles, and a tight scene of kids that will go to any and every show just to have something to do together, and you get a big explosion in other bands that want to get involved. For every one big (and good) metal-core band you can list, us locals can tell you about a few dozen others that came and went overnight. A few were really good, like Calyx in Ruin. Some were awful, and came across as incredibly in-sincere. Which in turn drove away a lot of those Worcester "scenesters" who made the shows and scene a success in the first place.

 

[Shaunheiser]

I'm not sure how the hell a thread about metalcore in Massachusetts can exist without a mention of Converge.

 

[artmachine]

I'm not sure how the hell a thread about metalcore in Massachusetts can exist without a mention of Converge.

Haha I wanted to sooo bad, but I couldn't find a way to tie them in to what I wanted to say. They're one of my favorite bands and they're so influential, but their spin on metallic hardcore is very unique and they were also a decade old as a band when they put out their(in most people's eyes) best/most important record. Also, massachusetts is known for early hardcore and the more modern "metalcore" stuff, as the OP was describing, but I feel like the really great 90's thrashy/metallic hardcore doesn't have very deep roots in massachusetts, aside from a handful of bands.

 

[cichra]

Thanks to everyone for their replies... this is all really interesting.

Would love to hear from more people if anyone else has more thoughts on this or stories.

 

[RagtimeDandy]

It's cause we're a pissed off folk! And you forgot Converge, I'm proud to say I live in the same state as those legends.

In my personal experience EVERYONE. EVERYONE. listens and follows the popular music. There's very few people like myself that want something different and honest, and I feel like a lot of the hardcore/metal bands from MA feel the same way as me - fuck the popular stuff, lets be original and honest. And it really shows with guys like Converge or The Red Chord

 

[ittoa666]

Let's not forget the melodeath influenced bands like Aftershock. Bands like that totally set up the archetype of metalcore as we know it.

 

[MFB]

Let's not forget the melodeath influenced bands like Aftershock. Bands like that totally set up the archetype of metalcore as we know it.

Just listened to these guys, at first listen they sounded like a more melodic version of Heaven Shall Burn with a slight KSE sound to the vocals

They have the BEST pic of Adam D on their MySpace page, fucking spiked, bleach blonde hair

 

[sol niger 333]

Killswitch....and gays

 

[RevDrucifer]

By the time I got to Mass in '05 or 06', I didn't see ANY band that really got me going, aside from Train Of Thought and I think they might be from Rhode Island.

I was living in Rockland, about 20 minutes south of Boston. The only music scene I knew about that was still going on was the punk/hardcore shows at VFW's. My girlfriend was big into that scene for years.

I really only stuck around Boston/South Shore, so I don't know anything about Western Mass, which seems to be where a lot of the metalcore bands came from. But I played a few shows at the Middle East, where I thought I'd see/hear some great bands, but that wasn't the case.

We rehearsed at the same place as Diecast, (Bandstand Live in Taunton) and I heard a few cool bands while I was walking to the bathroom. There was one KILLER Tool-like band that used to bust out Dream Theater songs occasionally....I used to sit by their door and just listen while the guys in my band argued with our drummer.

 

[Shaunheiser]

I just think Massachusetts just has a big music scene. Period. I don't think metalcore is specifically their "thing". I also don't really care much for any of the bands originally mentioned, but when I think of music from the Boston area from the early-00s I think more of what Bridge 9 records was releasing than I do Killswitch Engage. I'll admit that metalcore has never really been my thing, though the first few Unearth albums were cool.

 

[artmachine]

I just think Massachusetts just has a big music scene. Period. I don't think metalcore is specifically their "thing". I also don't really care much for any of the bands originally mentioned, but when I think of music from the Boston area from the early-00s I think more of what Bridge 9 records was releasing than I do Killswitch Engage. I'll admit that metalcore has never really been my thing, though the first few Unearth albums were cool.

Hell yeah. The other guitarist in my band works for bridge 9. I definitely think massachusetts and hardcore go hand in hand, but it's just something that stays pretty underground. Hardcore bands will never be as popular as "metalcore" bands like killswitch engage and stuff like that.

 

[Pushingink]

I'll throw my 2 cents in here.
There is a concert promoter by the name of Scott ( I have always called him Ogre, a name which we gave him around 1987.) Yes I'm old. He used to own a alternative clothing and music store in Indian Orchard MA called Red Rocket Records.
I mention him because he was very instrumental in getting many of the hardcore bands from Western Mass out and about.
He has worked with the Paladium in Worcester quite a bit.
If you get a chance check out Ligeia, there first cd, Your Ghost is a Gift.
Also try The Bloodening (one of my favorite heavier local bands).