Math sucks. Mathcore is way more fun and so are these albums that helped invent the style.
Math evolved over the course of several thousands of years from prehistoric tally marks to the works of Sumerians, Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and beyond. But mathcore? The highly unpredictable, often dissonant and fully chaotic metal subgenre took its first breaths in the early 1990s. By the end of the decade, and rounding the corner into the new millennium, mathcore’s frenetic fits and starts were in full force.
Bands such as Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan are long known to have left their handprints in the first-laid foundations of mathcore, but there are other lesser-known bands who were just as instrumental in the invention and development of the genre. Not all of those earliest mathcore acts are still active, but they deserve the recognition for creating the formula that makes it all function.
READ MORE: The Christian Rock Band That Actually Invented Deathcore in the ’90s
Some of mathcore’s earliest inventors are still holding it down for the genre today with new releases, continuing to push the limit alongside newer metal mathematicians such as The Callous Daoboys, Chamber and Frontierer. But it’s the erratic vocals, odd time signatures and rapid groove changes of those ’90s and Y2K veterans that mathcore makeup is all owed to.
These are 11 of the most monumental albums that originally helped to invent mathcore.
11 Albums That Helped Invent Mathcore
In the 1990s, these bands were pioneering mathcore whether they realized it or not. These albums played a huge part in shaping the whole thing.
Gallery Credit: Brian Hauntly
Below, take a step into the 2000s and another new subgenre — deathcore. These classic bands pioneered it and these are their best albums:
The Best Album by 15 Classic Deathcore Bands (Formed Before 2010)
Exploring the bands of deathcore’s initial and classic era and the best album by each.
Gallery Credit: Brian Hauntly
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