Metalcore can be a polarizing genre, but if you love it, you’ll be getting down to these 10 standout bands.

The very first metalcore album is a tough flag to plant, especially since the genre existed in prototype mode for well over a decade. Enthusiasts point out acts like Earth Crisis, Converge or even Agnostic Front as innovators of mixing melodic metal and hardcore punk, especially when implementing the breakdown, but the purest form of metalcore certainly popped up its head at the turn of the millennium.

Killswitch Engage became a frontrunner of modern metalcore with 2002’s Alive or Just Breathing and then again with the anthem-laced The End of Heartache. Whether Jesse Leach or Howard Jones held KsE’s mic, the band has always been a powerhouse, even when a million bands tried to out-do Killswitch as metalcore’s popularity hit its peak.

As I Lay Dying could have still been going strong today, but Tim Lambesis’ “solicitation of murder” arrest in 2013 brought the band to a screeching halt. Despite the turn of events, the six albums As I Lay Dying released still remain pillars of the metalcore genre.

Check out our picks for the 10 Greatest Metalcore Bands in the Loud List above!

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