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 2, 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 5, 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 5, 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
Originally a broader,more experimental offshoot of Hardcore Punk,but closer under the umbrella of 'Indie-rock',it traces its roots back to the time of the Revolution Summer (1985) when bands such as Rites of Spring and Gray Matter helped establish this genre along with the then,barely-coined ''emocore'' (which is why today,people still like to say that Post-Hardcore is 'emo',even if they don't even know these bands).
Soon enough,more Post-Hardcore bands were formed,such as the highly influencal Fugazi,Nation of Ulysses,Jawbox and Shudder to Think.
Many bands took influence from the 'noise rock' sound from Sonic Youth and Big Black.
As the 90's approached,post-hardcore found its way to a wider audience,with Quicksand and Drive Like Jehu signing to major labels and Fugazi still influencing bands by the masses.
Then came Hot Water Music,Cursive,and Small Brown Bike.
More bands formed towards the end of the nineties including the highly energetic At The Drive-in,Thursday and the Blood Brothers.
It then became bad.Horrible bands with horrible pig snorted screaming were crawling their way onto the cover of Kerrang! Magazine.
Enter Shikari,Alesana,Silverstein,The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus,Hawthorne Heights and From First To Last were obsessed over by 13 year olds and marketed as 'emo'.
The only good thing left was Thursday.
Its sad really.What mainstream did to destroy Emo,Indie Rock,Post Hardcore,Screamo,and Pop punk...
Soon enough,more Post-Hardcore bands were formed,such as the highly influencal Fugazi,Nation of Ulysses,Jawbox and Shudder to Think.
Many bands took influence from the 'noise rock' sound from Sonic Youth and Big Black.
As the 90's approached,post-hardcore found its way to a wider audience,with Quicksand and Drive Like Jehu signing to major labels and Fugazi still influencing bands by the masses.
Then came Hot Water Music,Cursive,and Small Brown Bike.
More bands formed towards the end of the nineties including the highly energetic At The Drive-in,Thursday and the Blood Brothers.
It then became bad.Horrible bands with horrible pig snorted screaming were crawling their way onto the cover of Kerrang! Magazine.
Enter Shikari,Alesana,Silverstein,The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus,Hawthorne Heights and From First To Last were obsessed over by 13 year olds and marketed as 'emo'.
The only good thing left was Thursday.
Its sad really.What mainstream did to destroy Emo,Indie Rock,Post Hardcore,Screamo,and Pop punk...
Teacher : So,Freddie,tell us what music are you into?
WannabePoser (freddie) : xHardXcorex,Emo...POST-HARDCORE
Teacher : ???
WP : Its like kinda hardcore metal stuff with totally rad screaming.
Teacher : Hmmm....Sounds very underground!
WP : Yeh,only the cool skater emo people like me listen
to it.Its not really on MTV,so yeh it's definitely underground.
Post-Hardcore expert : *sniggers* Oh my god!
Teacher : I'm Sorry??
P-HE : Dude you really need to learn the facts,Kerrang! is getting you brainwashed man,that screaming isn't rad it's unemotional and a headache!
They only get you listening to them 'cause THEY says its cool and 'cause they straighten their hair.As you can see Cedric Bixler-Zavala NEVER straightened his hair!!
WP : Cedric Bixler Who??
PHE : Oh My God!! Frontman of the LEGENDARY post-hardcore band,AT THE DRIVE-IN!!
WP : Post-Hardcore? Are They Good?
PHE : Better than your trash.
We're Talking, Drive Like Jehu!! Husker Du!! Jawbox!! Cap'n Jazz!!
And there 'aint no 'shit' in FUGAZI!!!...er except for the 'I'
Teacher : Will You Please Calm Down!!
P-HE : I can't unwind until i listen to Unwound!!!
WP : Who???
P-HE : *Screams Geoff Rickley-esque scream*
WannabePoser (freddie) : xHardXcorex,Emo...POST-HARDCORE
Teacher : ???
WP : Its like kinda hardcore metal stuff with totally rad screaming.
Teacher : Hmmm....Sounds very underground!
WP : Yeh,only the cool skater emo people like me listen
to it.Its not really on MTV,so yeh it's definitely underground.
Post-Hardcore expert : *sniggers* Oh my god!
Teacher : I'm Sorry??
P-HE : Dude you really need to learn the facts,Kerrang! is getting you brainwashed man,that screaming isn't rad it's unemotional and a headache!
They only get you listening to them 'cause THEY says its cool and 'cause they straighten their hair.As you can see Cedric Bixler-Zavala NEVER straightened his hair!!
WP : Cedric Bixler Who??
PHE : Oh My God!! Frontman of the LEGENDARY post-hardcore band,AT THE DRIVE-IN!!
WP : Post-Hardcore? Are They Good?
PHE : Better than your trash.
We're Talking, Drive Like Jehu!! Husker Du!! Jawbox!! Cap'n Jazz!!
And there 'aint no 'shit' in FUGAZI!!!...er except for the 'I'
Teacher : Will You Please Calm Down!!
P-HE : I can't unwind until i listen to Unwound!!!
WP : Who???
P-HE : *Screams Geoff Rickley-esque scream*
by SDRErule August 15, 2009
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.
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