Deathcore Bands

Deathcore is a sub-genre of extreme music mixing death metal and hardcore, and the best deathcore bands capture a punk rock spirit while playing with metal's technical skill. While many deathcore bands are popular with teenagers who identify themselves as "scene," few are popular with actual punk rockers or metalheads. The best deathcore bands cross these scene lines, though, and unite extreme music fans under the banner of moshing to crushing breakdowns. Here are five of the best deathcore bands around.

1. The Acacia Strain. The Acacia Strain may be the most perfect of all deathcore bands. They have hate and anger-filled lyrics filled with punk rock nihilism and dark humor, but their music is a breakdown-heavy mix of the hardest hardcore and the most technical, slamming brutal death metal. Their 2010 album, "Wormwood," has re-written the standards for other deathcore bands; they'll need to step up their game or be annihilated in the pit.
2. Dying Fetus. Around for two decades, Dying Fetus are an inspiration to all other deathcore bands, having helped to create the genre by adding crushing slams to their already brutal mix of death metal and political grindcore. Technically proficient metal with a punk rock spirit, Dying Fetus topped all of their previous efforts with the 2009 album "Descend into Depravity."
3. The Black Dahlia Murder. One of the most popular deathcore bands is Michigan's The Black Dahlia Murder, named for the Elizabeth Short murder case in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Their second album, "Miasma," was a huge hit as far as albums by deathcore bands go, charting in the Billboard 200 and bringing a taste of brutal, extreme music close to the mainstream.
4. The Red Chord. The Red Chord distinguish themselves from the pack of generic deathcore bands by writing insightful, deep lyrics, with albums often linking songs through story elements, even as the brutal music keeps the mosh going. Like a mix between unfettered brutal id and smart superego, the Red Chord's "Clients" is one the genre's best albums.
5. Veil of Maya. The final entry on our list of the best deathcore bands is a more progressive outfit, adding elements of prog-rock and art-rock to the deathcore blend. Their album, "Id," released in 2010 on Sumerian Records, is one of deathcore's biggest successes. It's easy to tell the band is doing well, as a bunch of imitators, under the banner of "Sumeriancore," have come up in their wake.