Hardcore

1. In music, hardcore is a subgenre of punk rock characterized by bands who play short, loud, and angry songs with exceptionally fast chord changes on highly overdriven guitars. Early influences came from The Ramones and Wire's Pink Flag album. Yet probably the strongest single influence on hardcore in America came from Washington D.C.'s Minor Threat, who themselves were inspired by the Bad Brains, also D.C. locals. In 1980/81 Minor Threat galvanized the blunt and tightly organized sound that these bands would prefer to the more loose experimentalism of the "first generation" punks of the 1970s. Black Flag from Los Angeles were also a key influence, releasing their Damaged album in 1981 which many say defined musical aggression. It has proved to be an enduring and evolving style of music.

From England, Discharge emerged as one of the most copied bands, and were among the first to pare down their songs into ultra-fast three-chord blasts, without melodies and without excess ornamentation. Both Discharge and Minor Threat had lyrical themes that ranged from righteous indignation at societal hypocrisy--both within and without the punk scene itself--to promotion of some positive form of anarchy.

Later in the 1980s hardcore music found a kindred spirit with heavy metal and vice versa with bands such as Agnostic Front, DRI, and Sick of It All. Metallica claimed both the Misfits and Discharge as early influences on their own brand of metal. Discharge themselves took a 180 degree turn from hardcore to play slower metal songs, and switched from spiked hair to long hair in the process. Hardcore has since been a genre in which the stylistic line between "punk" and "metal" has often blurred.

There have been numerous trends and movements within hardcore, mostly self-classified according to a particular philosophy or political outlook. Perhaps most notable is the straight-edge "scene" (because many involved would not necessarily want to be called a "movement"), which got its name from a Minor Threat song that espoused complete avoidance of drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity. Other hardcore scenes include pacifist bands, Hindu bands, and even Eastern Orthodox Christian bands.

Hardcore Bands:

The Dillinger Escape Plan
Negative Approach
Articles of Faith
The Antibodies
Evil Eye
Black Flag
Free Beer
Hatebreed
Blood for Blood
Martyr AD
The Offspring
Dag Nasty
Snapcase
Where Fear and Weapons Meet
No Innocent Victim
Stretch Armstrong
Zao
Poison the Well
1/4" Micro Bomb
The Unseen

Some bands listed according to subgenre:

Straight Edge

Minor Threat
Society System Decontrol
Youth of Today
Earth Crisis
Uniform Choice
Vegan Reich

Pacifist/anarchist

MDC
Crucifix
Final Conflict

Hindu/Hare Krishna

Cause for Alarm
Shelter

Hardcore-Metal

Agnostic Front
Necros
Biohazard
Candiria
Madball
Sick of it All
25 ta Life

Reference

American Hardcore (Feral House, 2002)

2. Hardcore also refers to a kind of totally instrumental Techno music, being divided into such subcategories as Gabba and Happy Hardcore.

3. Hardcore also refers to explicit pornography which depicts sex organs or sex acts.