It all starts with punk rock, see, and rock 'n roll. From rock 'n roll spawned a style of music called "hard rock" which is basically rock 'n roll but deeper. When hard rock is blended with punk rock, we get hardcore rock which essentially pre-emo punk rock with heavier rhythms. Also spawning from rock 'n roll and classical music we get metal. Now, when we blend hardcore with metal, we get "metalcore" which is hardcore but with harmony elements and the occassional guitar solo. Now it gets complicated. When we blend hard rock with metal, we get thrash metal. If we take thrash metal, add some more emo and myspace, and blend it with hardcore rock, we get "post hardcore" which can very very easily be confused with screamo. The main difference between post hardcore and screamo is that in post hardcore, the singer still "sings" but doesn't go into a crying fit at some point during the song. Now, there is one more style that is left un-discussed. A style called "hXc'mo" (prounounced "aytch ex see mo". I'm not quite sure, but I think that hXc'mo is the product of blending screamo and post hardcore...that's the only logical way I can figure this shit out.
by Sceir January 06, 2006
A genre that once related to fugazi but now is related to pussies like Alesana, and A skylit Drive. A genre for kids who follow the rules and attend Sunday School every week because they're good children, and if a song doesn't have a breakdown than it's not good song.
Trapped Under Ice scares me so I'll listen to two guys fucking each other with some guitars that's true post hardcore beauty.
by Ceremony Rules October 04, 2011
Originally, a generation of art punk bands emanating from the infrastructure of what had been the American hardcore punk scene. Closely related or perhaps even derivative styles of post-hardcore included math rock and emo.
The Washington, DC scene surrounding Dischord records circa 1985 is often considered ground zero for post-hardcore, thanks largely to Revolution Summer, a campaign by Dischord to revitalize the then-creatively stagnant Washington, DC hardcore punk scene. Initially, groups like Embrace, Rites of Spring and Ignition integrated melody, a sense of groove, an introspective lyrical focus, and a stronger command of rock songwriting into hardcore sensibilities, though subsequent groups formed circa 1987 such as Moss Icon and Soulside moved post-hardcore into a more art rock direction by introducing elements such dynamic shifts, progressive songwriting styles, and angular guitar work influenced by the original post-punk movement, in many ways the sonic and spiritual antecedent of post-hardcore.
Fugazi, formed in the late 1980s by former members of Embrace and Rites of Spring, were arguably the most important and influential post-hardcore band. Committed to independent rock values, touring throughout the world, and relentlessly pioneering stylistically, Fugazi played throughout the 1990s and set the tone for the American underground rock scene during that time. By the start of the new millennium, post-hardcore groups like At The Drive-In, Unwound, Les Savy Fav and the Dismemberment Plan had all released sonically lush albums, landed major label contracts, or both. Additionally post-hardcore had also arrived as a force in popular culture by that time under the guise of emo, for better or worse. Sadly, post-hardcore's current state is one of confusion and dilapidation, as many pedestrian emo groups have adopted the term as representative of their style in hopes of increasing their credibility.
The Washington, DC scene surrounding Dischord records circa 1985 is often considered ground zero for post-hardcore, thanks largely to Revolution Summer, a campaign by Dischord to revitalize the then-creatively stagnant Washington, DC hardcore punk scene. Initially, groups like Embrace, Rites of Spring and Ignition integrated melody, a sense of groove, an introspective lyrical focus, and a stronger command of rock songwriting into hardcore sensibilities, though subsequent groups formed circa 1987 such as Moss Icon and Soulside moved post-hardcore into a more art rock direction by introducing elements such dynamic shifts, progressive songwriting styles, and angular guitar work influenced by the original post-punk movement, in many ways the sonic and spiritual antecedent of post-hardcore.
Fugazi, formed in the late 1980s by former members of Embrace and Rites of Spring, were arguably the most important and influential post-hardcore band. Committed to independent rock values, touring throughout the world, and relentlessly pioneering stylistically, Fugazi played throughout the 1990s and set the tone for the American underground rock scene during that time. By the start of the new millennium, post-hardcore groups like At The Drive-In, Unwound, Les Savy Fav and the Dismemberment Plan had all released sonically lush albums, landed major label contracts, or both. Additionally post-hardcore had also arrived as a force in popular culture by that time under the guise of emo, for better or worse. Sadly, post-hardcore's current state is one of confusion and dilapidation, as many pedestrian emo groups have adopted the term as representative of their style in hopes of increasing their credibility.
by Mmccormick88 March 18, 2008
Agenre of music formed when people in the hardcore scene got tired of hardcore's limited form. Retains some characteristics of hardcore but builds more on tension and release
Fugazi, Quicksand, and Jawbox are really good post-hardcore bands. The Used isn't post hardcore, it's pop punk trying to be scary
by geoff April 02, 2005
A style of underground music that evolved from combinations of different genres of music. It combines elements of punk and hardcore/metal. Some also refer to bands that are post-hardcore as "emocore." Although many consider post-hardcore to be heavier and less main-stream than emocore. Post-hardcore includes screaming as the major vocalization technique within most songs, with melodic singing at other times. Some bands have a "screamer" and others who "sing," while still others have one lead vocalist who goes from screaming to singing throughout a given song.
Dude, I was at this show yesterday, there were some awesome bands, especially this one post-hardcore band that played at the end.
by Geko Martel May 05, 2004
Music that is as heavy, nasty and edgy as hardcore but not as one-dimensional and features exponentially less use of the words "respect" and "hate" in its lyrics and content... It has nothing whatsoever to do with Taking Back Sunday or Dashboard Confessional; defining "Post Hardcore" in such a manner displays profound ignorance of even the slightest notion of what constitutes this phrase's crucial rootword "Hardcore" and anyone providing such a definition that includes the above-mentioned bands wouldn't know "Hardcore" if it walked up and punched them in the teeth while wearing brass knuckles or if Sheer Terror was playing a live show in their mother's basement.
"That website all the emo-mo's and whitebelts whine and post pictures of themselves on lists 400 Blows as "Post Hardcore" - that's interesting, I'd call it Metal or Rock."
by MattFromVacationlandWhat January 05, 2006
This definition applies to modern post-hardcore, not the old school one.
Post-hardcore contains elements of hardcore, punk, and metal, with slightly heavy, fast-paced guitar riffs. Screaming is the main vocal feature, but there are also melodic breakdowns sung in clean vocals at other times, usually in a fairly high voice.
The lyrics are often regarded as what people believe as "emo" nowadays, but if emo really did stand for "emotional", then practically all music out there should be called emo as well, like Britney Spears. The real emo is actually very different compared to the emo that MTV brainwashed everyone with, but I won't go into depth about that because there are plenty of entries of emo that talk about the real deal.
A lot of people like to associate modern post-hardcore with emo and screamo, especially since some post-hardcore bands selected those as their genres on their Myspace, but that is because Myspace doesn't have anything near post-hardcore as a selection, so selecting emo and screamo are probably the only other closest genres that people would familiarize with post-hardcore (although the real emo and screamo aren't very similar to modern post-hardcore at all). Please don't call post-hardcore "emo" and "screamo". It's post-hardcore.
Post-hardcore contains elements of hardcore, punk, and metal, with slightly heavy, fast-paced guitar riffs. Screaming is the main vocal feature, but there are also melodic breakdowns sung in clean vocals at other times, usually in a fairly high voice.
The lyrics are often regarded as what people believe as "emo" nowadays, but if emo really did stand for "emotional", then practically all music out there should be called emo as well, like Britney Spears. The real emo is actually very different compared to the emo that MTV brainwashed everyone with, but I won't go into depth about that because there are plenty of entries of emo that talk about the real deal.
A lot of people like to associate modern post-hardcore with emo and screamo, especially since some post-hardcore bands selected those as their genres on their Myspace, but that is because Myspace doesn't have anything near post-hardcore as a selection, so selecting emo and screamo are probably the only other closest genres that people would familiarize with post-hardcore (although the real emo and screamo aren't very similar to modern post-hardcore at all). Please don't call post-hardcore "emo" and "screamo". It's post-hardcore.
Some modern post-hardcore bands include:
Alesana
Funeral For A Friend (before Tales Don't Tell Themselves)
A Skylit Drive
Lovehatehero
Escape The Fate
Chasing Victory
Alexisonfire
Underoath
Before Their Eyes
Eyes Set To Kill
Blessthefall
Dear Whoever
I Am Ghost
Alesana
Funeral For A Friend (before Tales Don't Tell Themselves)
A Skylit Drive
Lovehatehero
Escape The Fate
Chasing Victory
Alexisonfire
Underoath
Before Their Eyes
Eyes Set To Kill
Blessthefall
Dear Whoever
I Am Ghost
by liklibo September 23, 2007