Define heavy or hardcore music

[Spark]

It's always being mentioned here. I tried searching for the meaning and I get stumped every time. What genre is this?

[Lavender_Harmony]

Music that is heavy is generally one that is very loud, with lots of very gritty, distorted or atonal timbres. Often accompanied with loud drums, but heavy can be so many things, and it's often easier to hear it and compare it to their opposites to understand it.

[the4thImpulse]

Music that is heavy is generally one that is very loud, with lots of very gritty, distorted or atonal timbres. Often accompanied with loud drums, but heavy can be so many things, and it's often easier to hear it and compare it to their opposites to understand it.

This what I would say to describe "heavy", I would also add (its obvious I know) "the opposite of easy listening" in other words its more chaotic in sound and harmonics and may not flow or sound plesant.

[thatguyzeke]

Music that is heavy is generally one that is very loud, with lots of very gritty, distorted or atonal timbres. Often accompanied with loud drums, but heavy can be so many things, and it's often easier to hear it and compare it to their opposites to understand it.

I like this example. It fits with most music I've heard classified as Heavy.

[LunchBagMusic]

*Headphones On*

...

[Random111223]

*Headphones On*

...

[bartekko]

Heavy music is also usually pretty slow, what gives it the, well, heavy feel

[colortwelve]

Heavy music is also usually pretty slow, what gives it the, well, heavy feel

It can also be fast, I mean... I'm pretty sure Noisia's 'Shellshock' counts as heavy. And everything by Slayer

But I do tend to appreciate the slower, more atmospheric side of heavy myself, the kind set in a minor key, with a possibly atonal lead, but lots of warm atmospherics that have been muffled or otherwise screwed with to make sound creepy, and then just a bunch of random(ish) sfx to make it sound like an actual atmosphere and not just a song. That with a nice, mechanical sounding drumbeat and some distorted bass can make the difference between a Tool interlude and a Skream track - both creepy, but one definitely heavier than the other.

[bartekko]

Heavy music is also usually pretty slow, what gives it the, well, heavy feel

usually

[ChromaticChaosPony]

I like to think of hardcore as being anything that is considerably louder, more distorted, and lower tuned than "normal music". Hardcore can slightly to extremely chaotic in style, depending on the genre.

Heavy music does not have to be slow. Take Cattle Decapitation or Carcass for example, they play blazingly fast and are heavier than any other artist you could possibly think of.

Heavy music doesn't necessarily have to be creepy. For example, After the Burial often plays in the major scale although they are a deathcore/technical metal band.

[Navron]

Heavy - The music you put on when traffic is aggravating you.

Any questions?