The ‘Core of China - Deathcore, Metalcore, Post Hardcore, Nintendocore

Abstract

Deathcore, Metalcore, Post Hardcore, Nintendocore and also the punk-influenced genre of Screamo developed in China relatively late compared to the West. With metal having started in the beginning of the Mid 1990s and experiencing its first tidal wave of extremer bands (Black Metal and Death Metal) in the 2000s, ‘core-music started to become famous with the manifestations of bands such as Ego Fall, Hollow, Nuclear Fusion-G and a re-born nu metal legend, Yaksa in 2006 to 2008. It was 2008, the year of the Olympic Games in China, that the founding band of Nintendocore visited China, Horse The Band, and presented their music to audiences of fans and musicians alike in Shanghai, Ningbo, Wuhan and Beijing.

General information

Author	Max-Leonhard von Schaper
English title	The ‘Core of China - Deathcore, Metalcore, Post Hardcore, Nintendocore
Publication	Rock in China
Date of publication	2012 exactly on 2012/05/08

Entities mentioned
In this article, especially the following entities (bands, artists, cities, articles, etc.) are being called out: Ego Fall, Hollow, Nuclear Fusion-G, Yaksa, CORE IN CHINA (VA)

Keywords & Genre
The following keywords / genres apply for this article: Metal, Deathcore, Post Hardcore, Metalcore, Hardcore

Article

This is an accompanying article to the release of CORE IN CHINA (VA)

Deathcore, Metalcore, Post Hardcore, Nintendocore and also the punk-influenced genre of Screamo developed in China relatively late compared to the West. With metal having started in the beginning of the Mid 1990s and experiencing its first tidal wave of extremer bands (Black Metal and Death Metal) in the 2000s, ‘core-music started to become famous with the manifestations of bands such as Ego Fall, Hollow, Nuclear Fusion-G and a re-born nu metal legend, Yaksa in 2006 to 2008. It was 2008, the year of the Olympic Games in China, that the founding band of Nintendocore visited China, Horse The Band, and presented their music to audiences of fans and musicians alike in Shanghai, Ningbo, Wuhan and Beijing.

At the same time, two of the major three nu-metal bands that had signed with Scream Records in the 2000s had left their path and joined new ones: Miserable Faith turned folk and Yaksa released with their KEEP ON FIGHTING their very own metalcore statement: a turn to the heavier side and a relief for a lot of their fans that had feared Yaksa to become “popularized” as many other elder rock and metal bands had (Overload, Black Panther, etc.).

Tookoo, another nu-metal band turned rock further developed their music into emo and formed the band association King-Size China, a group of emo and screamo bands that released their musical statement in the form of two compilation records King-Size China 1 and King-Size China 2 in 2006 and 2007. After the Olympic Games and with the turn of the decade in 2010, legendary Heaven Shall Burn visited Beijing in 2010, bringing another taste of metal to fans in China.

Nowadays every major and minor city in China has seen the rise of metalcore music with bands listening to the biggest influencers in the genre online at either Google Music or via VPN-cracked Youtube videos copied to China’s Youku and Tudou video system. Be it Attack Attack! or Dungeon Elite *!*, Western bands and influences have given birth to Monkey King, Sun And Monster and many other bands.

Especially in the hardcore and metalcore scene, bands have started to form country-wide and regional band associations like the Hell United group in Shanghai / Nanjing or the United CN Metalcores. Organizing themselves online at China’s underground music social network Douban and spreading the word of gigs via Twitter-alike Weibo there are usually at least two or three shows in major tier-one cities and two or three gigs per month in tier-two and tier-three cities in China.

It was due to the efforts of these young and fresh bands that have started to experiment (mixing styles and ideas) that the CORE IN CHINA compilation was born. We wanted to create a statement to the world, a snapshot of the current scene, a record that stands not just for music it represents but also for China.