DEATHCORE THEN VS. NOW - Riffs From The 2000s vs. Today (2022) Riff Battle

Loved by scene kids, hated by metal gatekeepers, and misunderstood by the mainstream, deathcore was the black sheep of the metal world when it first emerged in the mid 2000s. It combined the abrasiveness of death metal with the breakdowns and tongue-in-cheek attitude of metalcore, at the time looked down on by much of the metal community. But if you look past the 0s and 1s, there is quite a bit of virtuosity on display especially as the genre has evolved. Modern deathcore bands continue to push the envelope on their quest for the sickest riff, nastiest breakdown, and deepest guttural. Have they succeeded, or were the 2000s the top of the mountain? You be the judge!
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#Deathcore #Metal #Guitar #Riffs

[@Carnifex]

Thanks for playing one of our riffs! In great company amongst bands old and new.

[@ThomasHogue]

Whoa! Always geeks me out when a video actually reaches the band. Thanks for the killer music 🤗

[@tylerwilson531]

Yoo! just saw y'all live in Seattle on Sunday. Never really listened to you guys much, but you put on one HELL of a show!

[@vancestanfield]

Ya'll are so awesome I love graveside confessions.

[@J.S.McDuff]

You guys had the best breakdown on this list by far!

[@MM-nw3dn]

Dude what an honor to have the band be like yo! Good shit! That’s gnar! Carnifex you guys are mad influential and have some shreddy licks hope to hear more soon

[@joshuahahaj]

2005-2009 was a great era for deathcore

[@MrDragonkarp]

2003-2009 was an amazing era of metal

[@cheezz0]

Best Album?

[@jonbaxter4285]

Deathcore certainly peaked in the 2000s

[@pastaduce2704]

​​@@cheezz0The Cleansing by Suicide Silence. That album perfectly captured the deathcore sound

[@iSmell_Butthurt]

New Lorna Shore and Shadow of Intent stuff is phenomenal. Maybe not textbook deathcore but I love whatever genre they are pushing into/defining.

[@claydarnell9350]

100% agree im an 80s baby and still agree that new deathcore is better

[@benjaminbovay10]

The Symph/blackened Deathcore is the new direction for the near future I think

[@zacharyedmond8223]

I know that style as Blackened Deathcore

[@joshuapilger8430]

It is very apparent in the vocal styling. Listen to gravesigner and compair it to dimmu borgir. A lot of vocal similarities.

[@claydarnell9350]

@@joshuapilger8430 dimmu is just a lil bit in the wrong direction but thats just me slaughter to prevail and lorna are my favs right now

[@NODcepter]

I CAN'T be the only one that went "What the FUCK" when he played Lie to my Face and actually did the break

[@jacobtridef48]

I did the entire vocal section in my head, including the “what the fuck”😂 it’s hard not to.

[@NihonNoMajin]

@@jacobtridef48 Best part! 😂

[@isabellarocks1000]

I was low key hoping another him would run up in the background and yell what the fuck.

[@faenorblack6943]

Same here. This video brought back great memories with those old songs

[@whitezetsu3450]

That used to be my ringtone

[@IICJZII]

Dude that last clip killed me 😂 fuckin excellent job though. Would love to see another of these, maybe with some AHFW, Oceano, The Faceless, Ingested etc.

[@Thischarletfire]

What about As Blood Runs Black: In Dying Days

[@matthewtE]

@@Thischarletfire Give a listen to Equipoise and Enigma - Stars Missaligned

[@reeree488]

@@ICANSEEDEADHORIZONS theyre slamcore with deathcore and gore/pornogrind elements

[@griffinchapman7835]

Need some Faceless riffs in my life ASAP

[@Hipno702]

It seems like more modern deathcore is getting back to its death metal roots. I fucking love it

[@TYLERtheMAGGOT1]

Into the hellfire is alright but nothing beats the line in this is exile where Phil goes This world is ours. Such an iconic line. I get goosebumps still to this day

[@alexr6913]

0:49 Brooo you nailded the Demolisher riff asfuuuuck!

[@regdenee]

Something I'm noticing when you're putting these two versions of deathcore side by side is how technical the genre has gotten over the years. Hell, some of those riffs in the modern version would've been classified as "technical deathcore" back in like 2008 - 2011 but are now considered as "standard riffs" haha. I can't help to get nostalgic when I hear those classic riffs that I grew up with. Being 13 and blasting Entombment of a Machine along with Knee Deep in my old Koss headphones was the shit back in the day. Still remember how mind blown I was by Suicide Silence when The Cleansing came out in 2007/2008. Good ol times!

[@Sergio-nb4hj]

The reason why the old stuff was almost never technical is because it came from the hardcore scene. Modern deathcore pulls more from death metal and modern metalcore (which is also divorced from its hardcore roots) Whether that's a good thing or not depends on whether you prefer metal or hardcore I think

[@bcepni00]

@@Sergio-nb4hj Old Deathcore sounds more similar to Death metal to me. At least if we’re talking OSDM. And timeline wise, that makes more sense. Should be noted that theyre’s a significant difference between death metal and tech-death.

[@ThatShitGood]

Lol what?😂😂 Like 90% of today's deathcore is just either numetal with heavier breakdowns or meshuggah with gutturals (aside from very few band), 2000's was the years were deathcore still had it's hardcore punk, grindcore and death metal influences. they used 2 steps, gang chants, hardcore shouts and real death metal riffs, and not to mention how boring, stale and overproduced the productions have gotten. Compare "The Boy Will Drown" to 90% of modern deathcore bands and tell me how deathcore is gotten more technical.

[@ThatShitGood]

@@bcepni00 thank god, someone finally understands.

[@Sergio-nb4hj]

@@bcepni00 OSDM? I think you're right if you mean the production (poppy snares, raw chainsaw guitars, etc.) But i don't hear it beyond that. Even with the more hardcore-infused NY scene in mind

[@DamonOfHouseFL]

I would love to see a then vs now on Whitechapel. From the Somatic Defilement to Kin. I feel like their sound has changed over the years drastically.

[@eluherrahaz1165]

Man I miss somatic defilement times.

[@DamonOfHouseFL]

@@eluherrahaz1165 So do I, So do I...

[@Mirozenx]

Yeah they got shit

[@slashfan091]

@@DamonOfHouseFLPhil stated theyre going for a this is exile/somatic defilement sound for the new album

[@Milk0matic]

thank you for the pigs man, it made me genuinely laugh which is something i don't do enough of these days

[@Knocker420]

Sick arrangement, man! You two sounded great!

[@ThomasHogue]

Thank you! 🤘

[@sagekwon6871]

One of my favorite, and sadly underlooked, parts of 00s deathcore/metalcore was the standout interludes trend that bands starting putting on their albums as a response to the lack of musicianship criticisms. Some are still my favorite songs to this day: Halcyon - The Acacia Strain Dry Ice - Emmure Pouring Reign - As Blood Runs Black Fifteen Fathoms, Counting - BMTH Jhazmyne's Lullaby - 7A7P Worlds & Dreams - Misery Signals

[@TheAlex4019]

You can add La Chupacabra-Burning the Masses

[@DennisFeinsteinCEO]

7A7P and Misery Signals are God tier...

[@jacksonislegend]

Misery Signals is in my opinion, the greatest melodic metalcore band of the 2000's. 7A7P was awesome too.

[@ThatShitGood]

The album "Fetish" from "The Boy Will Drown" definitely needs a mention, heaviest deathcore album I've ever heard

[@I3urton]

All Shall Perish - Memories of a glass sanctuary comes to mind.

[@allusivebumbleB]

I will say the breakdowns in today's deathcore are absolutely insane and also the vocalist have more techniques than a guitarist 🤣 older deathcore was more of a faster heavy sound which made you wanna jump off the walls. I love both either way

[@wadethesladewilson6753]

One thing I gotta say is I really love the new wave of Deathcore bands. Also how the previous gen has evolved. Great showcase of guitar skills here. Thanks

[@TheSuffocater]

Great battle ! Killer playing and awesome guitars !

[@ThomasHogue]

The man himself! Much appreciated 🤘

[@FaddaJoe]

Entombment of a Machine (and Job for a Cowboy in general) is the pinnacle of deathcore, to me. I remember being blown away by the sheer brutality and virtuosity of that band as a kid. It could be crushingly heavy and sludgy, mindblowingly fast, amazingly melodic, and even surprisingly beautiful, all in the same song. I don't hate modern deathcore, but the genre has definitely trended away from the melodic side into a depth of slow, drawn out brutality (both in heaviness and in over-technicality) that comes across as just plain emotionally unhealthy in the worst examples. I don't hate it, but I'd choose the old over the new most times. You chose some excellent examples of where deathcore shines, then and now, though!

[@benstanfill363]

That's why I started to move away from death core. It's either needlessly technical or just so slow and drawn out. I want to jam and its just not where its at.

[@burningbelow4424]

When I seen Job for a cowboy at warped tour in 2010 I was blown away they were phenomenal and are still the Pinnacle of deathcore in my eyes. And I'm not a big fan of deathcore but damn gotta give it away to Job for a cowboy! 🤘🏼

[@zulemazahir666]

I was expecting a joke when Lorna started and boy did it hit hard, absolute perfection. So glad I found this channel today, thanks to TheSuffocator (Collab.) ♡

[@fancybeard3430]

Man i remember back in the early days of deathcore it got a lot of hate from death metal elitists for being "too simplistic" "breakdown heavy" and "boring". Nowadays the genre has some of the most innovative bands in all of metal.

[@katyungodly]

As a deathcore musician, I must say that the criticisms definitely echo in the back of my mind every time I'm writing a riff. It has driven me to attempt to avoid everything deathcore stereotypically is and make everything more melodic and technical. That's just me though, can't speak for what inspired the other modern musicians far greater than I 💗

[@the_BattleGoose]

My biggest issue with Deathcore these days is everyone rips off of the biggest thing that hits. Lately I've noticed a LOT of Lorna Shore copy cats and it sucks. Lorna Shore is cool when Lorna Shore does it. It's boring when everyone else does it. At least Shadow of Intent is still cool.

[@SorceressWitch]

I am a fan of death metal and like deathcore too. Some people just want to exclude it from metal but I never got into elitism. One problem in metal community is seeing music as a competition and thinking that your type of music is superior to others. I just like music and be open minded. People say the same about metalcore, claiming that they take no skill and yet I guarantee that these elitists can't play the songs they hate on. I think metal community has the most judgemental people in it. So many rude assholes who would rather keep people out than be inviting to newcomers.

[@ICEESAreFuckinGood]

Great video! Hopefully we can get a Death Metal then vs Now video. This video has some of my favorite riffs in Deathcore.

[@joshgeiger8942]

I’m def a metal snob. This was a really fun video. Deathcore doesn’t do much for me at home - but at a live show it’s super fun and I always bang out. You gave me a lot to look into…. That is if I can ever get away from OSDM lol. Thanks for the fun video!

[@IluvBTBAM]

Generally I prefer the older stuff but to the hellfire is probably my overall favorite deathcore song.

[@thelittleowl1]

It’s only listening to the instrumental I realised how brutal that is.

[@cardinalcopia2762]

Same 🤘

[@kirisutegomen12]

I feel like it is overrated tbh

[@2174863]

@@kirisutegomen12 Agreed, there's way better bands imo

[@ThatShitGood]

@@kirisutegomen12 absolutely, you can find a ridiculous amount of MySpace Deathcore/early 10's breakdowns that are heavier than to the hellfire by miles, "The wolf" by fit for an autopsy is a good example.

[@andrewcoates4952]

Most of those 00’s were my formative secondary school years in the UK. We had a small group that listened to various types of metal from Deathcore to Thrash to Industrial etc, but Deathcore was what was round at the time

[@mattsaunders5033]

Same its was fun times for the scene

[@ryan_alexander]

that last lorna shore riff was fucking sick, never really got into them when I was in my deathcore era but i might give em a shot now

[@kokorolex]

Death metal back then vs now? Death's Symbolic album ( basically all their albums too) have aged like fine wine.

[@ThomasHogue]

Yes! Death metal then vs now definitely on the horizon

[@luukhoogland1431]

Amazing video again! That LTD is something else, so beautiful

[@Luminous083]

Always great to hear some old Thy Art. I get their old vocalist was a bit of a dick but that album still slaps.

[@maxr.k.pravus9518]

what did he do

[@AnimosityIncarnate]

@@maxr.k.pravus9518 it's the lyrics lol

[@shoeyjames]

I love all of it and have been happy to watch the genre grow 🤘🏽

[@devasyavlog8850]

We need "Make Them Suffer !!!"

[@SingularityCSGO1]

Hahah loved the lorna shore part! Man i replay your videos like crazy, especially metal evolution! You and joão medeiros is basically the only thing i need on youtube.

[@ThomasHogue]

A man of culture!

[@yongrisasagetaa8810]

great sound brotherr🔥🤘

[@vindicies7399]

I love those videos, please go on like this!

[@mr.bulldobs4337]

6:00 Damn I didn't know Will Ramos would be in this video! You should put that in the title!

[@The_KlaVra]

THE PIG VIDEOS WITH THE LORNA SHORE BREAKDOWN! I AM DEAD!

[@RobbMoreiraVO]

BAHAHAHAHAHA! The fucking pigs! I'M DEAD, dude. Amazing as always

[@danyegoyt]

that was ssick!!!brutal guitars, very well played. good work bro!!

[@mattreynierberger7529]

Awseome video ! Each time i'm amazed by your playing and how many riff you can nail ! Also love the interaction between the "Then" and "Now" Thomas it's rly fun !

[@vindicies7399]

Architects is auch a nice band^^

[@mattreynierberger7529]

@@vindicies7399 Not a fan of their newer stuff but yep I really like some of their albums !

[@shaunshuping5406]

Dude!,. Your tones are SIC!!!!! very nice, excellent playing!!!

[@nofacebeastmodecurbstomphu2591]

Man just so good you never cease to amaze me 😍

[@dape12345678]

best genre

[@Chaosdude341]

This must've been an incredible amount of work!

[@Cheesyblz]

this was just one jam sesh thanks for that

[@SqueakLP]

Subscribed for the last clip alone

[@handcable]

This was awesome.

[@lazylegolars]

You're so insanely skilled!

[@drocka36]

Great showcase of the genre has grown. Little sad at no ASP tho, they really defined the early 2000s for me. All your picks were great tho i dont wanna sound disrespectful lol

[@ThomasHogue]

Had ASP on the list but ran out of slots haha. Maybe for next round! And I agree the newer stuff is noticeably more sophisticated which is cool

[@Turbo_Toad]

Asp def had some of the best riffs in deathcore hands down

[@Lupine.]

Yeah, something from PoE

[@meadhound5658]

Awesome trip back to my younger days and some of the bangers from recently, pigs cracked me up great vid

[@jaschawohlkinger8055]

Reading through the comments, still seems a great divide between the old and the new. I enjoy the modern, as most have said, it has become a lot more technical. I still love the older catchier death core days. I was fully into that scene and genre at the time. Something about it still holds up strong in my opinion. I also do not know what it is, but I find myself going back to the older albums of my favorite bands vs the newer. Not all but most.

[@spectruur7198]

You have good taste for guitars man, i love them!

[@VinceMayer]

Dude you killed me with that ending, GREAT JOB 🤣🤣

[@jonathanolson1185]

Hi! New sub! Great vid! Although I'm a little sad All Shall Perish and Through the Eyes of the Dead didn't make the list. Especially TTEOTD. They're were one of the first modern deathcore bands. You could even throw The Red Chord in there. They were Kate 90's. Great stuff though!

[@ThomasHogue]

Thanks! The hardest part of these is always picking the bands/songs ha. I had ASP and red chord on the list but didn’t end up getting to them. Maybe a round 2!

[@breathelife662]

@@ThomasHogue we are waiting for the round 2!

[@Joshua-ww1fz]

Yep - was waiting for Two Inches from a Main Artery to show up. Maybe next time!

[@jonathanolson1185]

@@Joshua-ww1fz damn that was such an epic beginning to and epic album. That album blew my socks off when I first heard it. The follow up with the new vocalist and actually still is an amazing album also.

[@brunobeausse8877]

I Love it 🔥🔥🔥🤘😈🤘🔥🔥🔥 Good job Thanks

[@bkoskitalo96]

Kind of shocked that a deathcore riffs video didnt include As Blood Runs Black, im in to more modern deathcore/thall (Brand of Sacrifice, Fit For An Autopsy, Humanity's Last Breath) but Allegiance is a riff wet dream front to back

[@troybag3604]

ABRB is more metalcore, but they are great

[@adamujhelyi4340]

So glad i stuck around to the end to see the piggy pals. Reaaly cool to do the breakdown vs breakdown like that too.

[@Fossilized-cryptid]

nothing beats suicide silence early 2000s for me

[@JFKDrums]

🔥🔥🔥 More of this please👌

[@cardinalcopia2762]

2008 was a Great year for Deathcore 🤘

[@ThomasHogue]

It’s always interesting to me when I do these and find most of the biggest albums came out in the same year or two of each other ha.

[@ThatShitGood]

Br00tal year.

[@mattsaunders5033]

Yeah

[@MrDragonkarp]

2000s era was what I grew up on 2003-2006 Metalcore seemed to dominate 2007-2009 Deathcore was peak

[@mehrank6880]

Was hoping to see some Impending Doom as well. this band has always released solid music.

[@orangejews150]

I wouldn't really call them deathcore

[@mehrank6880]

@@orangejews150 what would you call them?

[@The_Real_Frisbee]

@@orangejews150 What? They're 100% deathcore.

[@orangejews150]

@@The_Real_Frisbee they always sounded death metal to me

[@Kohaui]

@@mehrank6880 death metal

[@victormiranda4664]

You forgot beneath the massacre, boo, winds of plague, abrb, and the uabb demos, those were the golden days of deathcore

[@j_b]

Always love these side by sides - great work. How long does it typically take you to put one of these together?

[@ThomasHogue]

Thank you! This took about two weeks (in between day job and all that ha)

[@playthefightriffjohn843]

A severe lack of The Red Chord

[@koopatroopafuckbitches936]

Most badass video I’ve seen this year, nice fucking shit man

[@defiants330]

It's all amazing 🔥🤘🏽

[@yiorgosravnio124]

This sounds amazing

[@Bryso69]

This is Exile into To the Hellfire is a nice touch. Good work

[@VegasLoungeAct]

I've always loved that Ken Susi guitar. It's looks awesome. 🤘

[@cRapT1ve]

Awesome vide man 🤟 would love to see some old the red shore stuff compared to newer bangers 🤟🤟🤟

[@joereyna614]

that Schecter apocalypse in rusty grey is a beauty!! Killer playing my dude

[@ThomasHogue]

Thank you!

[@sebastiennault8466]

both pretty good ! i love death/deathcore in almost all it's forms !

[@mitcheypoo1]

Dude. This was so great. I had an absolute blast watching this video. We could be besties.

[@daws25z]

Subbed 🤘🏻 so sick man!

[@ThomasHogue]

Thank you!

[@rocklobstar5672]

I'm honestly only hear to hear what song you chose from JFAC's DOOM album. Wish you would have picked something other than entombment of a machine there are some amazing songs on there! You guys killed it though!

[@elrevelde04]

I fell in love with the genre in that era and am still in love with the modern deathcore. Some bands even added a black metal touch that suits perfectly. Music evolution is beautiful

[@KentonJLey]

I always felt like Carcass and the likes of At The Gates were massively influential on the the sub genre and of course I’m probably missing some other obvious influences.

[@AWDor]

Here I am thinking I’ll enjoy this tier list video on deathcore, come to find this doood is licking it all himself 🐐 good stuff

[@markolivares6943]

The earlier deathcore is always gonna be my shit. That 06-08 🔥

[@ThatShitGood]

That shit completely slams modern deathcore by miles, i used to be knee deep into modern deathcore and thinking it's best but after listening to myspace treasures...nah man modern deathcore ain't no shit compare to them

[@SpookyApparition]

When I think of early deathcore I think of like The Red Chord, their 2002 debut is still one of the best

[@markolivares6943]

@@SpookyApparition crazy to think the vocalist is now a legit Sheriff.

[@ThatShitGood]

@@markolivares6943 i heard he's a cop now

[@christianmengel9407]

Dude, the pigs were icing on the cake 😂

[@princelorian]

*both are great. and probably the best taste in deathcore to display*

[@justamamad7423]

new sub

[@suicidewhitechapel23]

Such a nice ending

[@DjentleVoicesInMe]

I wish this video was wayyyy longer!

[@guyza123]

Killer as always...

[@VerminKing_]

I know it is just a small part of the video, but what has really confused me recently is that everyone seems to have thrown Lorna Shore's Immortal Album into the void since their last EP dropped, when literally every track on Immortal overshadows the whole EP. Don't get me wrong they're still quite good, but it is nowhere near as crazy as people make it out to be. To me it was just a big step back in nearly all aspects.

[@javierlopeznaguil9092]

WE-NEED-EIGHTEEN-VISIONS (please) btw excellent work!

[@koki31]

I like this series!🤘🔥

[@JohnReynolds1337]

Killer riffing! Those pig squeals had me dying 😂

[@otjunior]

Hasn’t change much and I love it 🤘🏽😡🤘🏽

[@cooperrobinson2975]

as much as i love the chugs, it always blows my mind when bands manager to fit higher-pitched melodies in between them

[@Easty2776]

Fucking great skills man for real

[@AltijdHarmen12]

I love how a lot of these 0's bands have evolved and (imho) define the modern deathcore sound

[@kathedraal9204]

Man, makes me miss the oldies, it was much better back then.

[@Tonjit41]

The bar for successful heavy music has been brought so high lately. I love it.

[@aidenarkham]

Awesome to see how much better bands have gotten ☺️

[@ph33lix]

Hahahahaha why you gotta do Will Ramos dirty like that? Great video btw!!

[@mirovasama8074]

Awesome

[@izzyalistair]

Those harmonics on that Shadow of Intent song are 👌

[@thevoid5117]

Both are great 😁

[@colbymurray847]

Thy art’s older stuff up till holy wars is text book. Older deathcore was just so raw and I loved it.

[@acexxxoasis]

Man those vocals on to the hellfire

[@MrJambiwana]

lets all argue about what is and isn't a genre like the good ol' days