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.
Native Nod were a post-hardcore group fronted by Chris Leo.
by Mmccormick88 March 18, 2008
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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 5, 2004
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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.
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
by liklibo September 23, 2007
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A genre that was started by emo kids that hated other emo kids, but stayed true to the punk and hardcore roots, thereby emerging as one of the greatest genres of music of all time.
Great post-hardcore bands? Why, try;
Bear Vs. Shark
Thursday
Thrice
Glassjaw
Circa Survive
mewithoutYou
Fugazi
The Rites of Spring
and, of couse, At The Drive-In.
by xMaxx June 12, 2006
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Euphemistic term for emo.
Emo: "No, I don't listen to mallcore emo, I listen to post-hardcore..."
by _fraek April 18, 2010
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A. A genre of punk rock based in hardcore, but more experimental. Has a lot in common with emo, but less introspective.

B. A word scene kids who don't even know who fugazi was use to describe their music
A- "At the drive-in is a pretty good post-hardcore band."

B- trendy kid: "Chiodos is a good post-hardcore band."
punk kid: "fuck you."
by leonardkoehn July 31, 2008
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A musical genre that often goes hand in hand with screamo, metalcore and hardcore punk. A main feature of the genre is the contrast of melodic and/or emotional singing with screaming, and sometimes other vocal styles, like whispering, yelling, etc. Fast-paced hardcore/thrash metal guitar riffs and high-pitched, heartfelt melodies are another example of the contrast commonly used within this genre. Kind of like a mixture of emo and thrash.
Some good examples of post-hardcore are:
From Autumn to Ashes
Thursday
My Chemical Romance (on their first album)
Glassjaw
Alesana
Haste the Day
Underoath
Atreyu
by Pieces Mended April 24, 2007
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