Metalcore

Metalcore fuses heavy metal’s riffs with hardcore punk’s aggression and ethos, and is best known for the breakdown — a slow, heavy, syncopated passage built to trigger a pit. It grew from the 1990s marriage of metal and hardcore, with Integrity, Earth Crisis, and Converge laying the groundwork before Killswitch Engage’s melodic, clean-sung take made it a mainstream force in the 2000s. Vocals typically alternate harsh screams with melodic choruses over palm-muted, double-kick-driven riffing. It became one of the most popular heavy styles of its era.