Blast Beats and BreakdownsMusic is a great way for everyone to connect and hear each other. Music is also an important element in everyone's life. There are many different genres of music including country, rap, reggae, metal, rock and many more. This essay will focus on a certain genre, metalcore. Metalcore is a mixture of hardcore punk and extreme metal, and makes judicious use of breaks, which are slow and intense passages conducive to moshing. Pioneering metalcore bands such as Hogan's Heroes, Earth Crisis and Integrity are described as leaning more towards hardcore punk, while later bands, such as Asking Alexandria, All That Remains and The Devil Wears Prada are described as leaning more towards the metal. The band Sepultura has been credited as the band that helped lay the foundation for the metalcore genre in the early 2000s, and Pantera is said to have directly influenced Atreyu, Bleeding through, and Unearth, while also being very influential in the early 2000s. Metalcore is described as having a complex history but primarily comes from thrash metal, hardcore punk and extreme metal. Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is most often characterized by its fast tempo and aggressiveness. Thrash metal songs typically use percussive beats and fast, low-pitched guitar riffs layered over shredding-style lead work. The origins of thrash metal can generally be traced back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when a number of predominantly American bands began fusing elements of British new wave heavy metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk. One note worth mentioning is that thrash metal is widely considered to have a "Big Four" group of bands, being the most successful and influential group...... middle of paper ...... itish group Asking Alexandria, reaching all the way to number nine on the Billboard 200, with 31,000 sales in its first week. Although Metalcore is not a genre that everyone likes, the genre has found considerable foothold, not only in North America, but all over the world, and every day the genre is growing in popularity and will continue to do so. in the foreseeable future. Works Cited Caramanica, Jon. “Metalcore, Screamo and hugs.” Nytimes.com. New York Times, July 18, 2010. Web. November 6, 2013.G, Ryan. “Looking ahead to 2012: Metalcore continues to diversify and The City Harmonic is having a huge year.” Iamtunedup.com. I'm listening, January 3, 2012. Web. 06 November 2013. Kelham, Andrew. " “Metalcore is not an interesting genre at this point” – In the Studio with August Burns Red." Altpress.com. Alternative Press, March 26, 2013. Web. November 6. 2013.