Yuor mom
There's nothing wrong with using drum machines. Controversial statement, I know. But the fact is that drum machines are a choice, and the use of a drum machine or a real drummer doesn't inherently make the music worse, one way or the other. Let's take Godflesh as an example. The majority of Godflesh's music is made up of harsh guitar riffs, sparse vocals, and drum patterns that simply work better with a drum machine, at least on the early material. But sure, that's industrial music. Agorophobic Nosebleed is another band that uses a drum machine because their drum patterns are physically impossible to play with a live drummer. They've experimented with a live drummer, but in the end, a drum machine just works better with their music. And that's all it is. Drum machines often work better with electronically or industrially influenced music or music that has incredibly complex drum patterns, and also allow for vast amounts of experimentation due to the fact that the drum noises can be customized infinitely. On the other hand, human drummers have human rhythym. Though the sounds of acoustic drums and a machine really have no difference between them in the current year, human drummers have a fundamentally different rhythym. In addition to this, some time signatures are difficult to program into a drum machine. Completely random rhythyms are very difficult to program as well. There's advantages and disadvantages to using a human or a machine, and it's something to consider.
But here lies the crux of a lot of this argument. No matter if you use a human or a machine, it doesn't make your music inherently worse. But many metal fans have a view of all drum machines being "fake" because the rhythym isn't being played by a human. In general, many metal fans worship technicality over music. But technicality is realistically only a means to an end. Music prodigies don't often make good music. In fact, in general, they seem to make good music less often than non-prodigies. Of course, that's not to say that they never do. The issue is that many musical circles, notably metal and jazz, worship technicality to an absurd extent. What does it matter if your music falls emotionally flat and is completely uncreative if you can play sixteenth-notes across the fretboard? Music is a form of expression, and worship of technicality only hurts it. And in a lot of cases, drum machines catch the flack because they enable incredibly complex rhythyms to be played without a human drummer.
What's mathcore? Mathcore is mainly a synthesis of hardcore punk, metal, and math rock. It's characterized by syncopated rhythms, rapidly shifting time signatures, harsh vocals (not always!), and a focus on drumming. Many early mathcore bands were formed in response to an overly ideological and constrictive hardcore scene.
Deadguy - Fixation On a Coworker (1995)
Widely considered as the first mathcore album, Fixation On a Coworker is an album where you can really see the shift from hardcore and metal leanings to mathcore. It's fairly mathy, and the rhythyms are complex. For the most part, a lot of the identifiers of mathcore are here. It's fast, aggressive, dissonant, and has the signature hardcore yell. But for the most part, it just isn't as easily distingished from other metalcore as what would come after. When you take early metalcore like Rorschach and compare it side-by-side with Deadguy, you don't see as much difference compared to if Rorscach were side-by-side with Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, or Botch, often considered the most prominent bands in the genre. However, this album is absolutely worth a listen if you're interested in the origins of what would come later.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (1999)
This is probably the most interesting album on this list. Created by Dillinger Escape Plan, which I'll be referring to as DEP from now on, Calculating Infinity is full of furious yells, blistering guitar work, absurdly technical drumming, and jazz. 43% Burnt is usually considered the best track on the album, but I like a number of others, like 4th Grade Dropout, Sugar-Coated Sour, Destro's Secret, and the title track. Don't let that turn you away though, because every track on this album is good. This is an album that's very distinctively mathcore. Time signatures change every few bars, and in general, the album is very difficult to follow along with. If you can get past all that, you'll love it. Even DEP hasn't put out an album like this since. Calculating Infinity is the only album like Calculating Infinity.
Botch - We Are the Romans (1999)
Often thought to be Botch's magnum opus, We Are the Roman's is a carefully crafted album. From the roller coaster of an opener, To Our Friends In the Great White North, to the clearly Slint-influenced Swimming the Channel Vs. Driving the Chunnel, Botch has a penchant for chaos and overly lengthy song titles. The album is extremely diverse, containing spoken word, high pitched guitar squeals, slow melancholy sections, and of course, gratitious amounts of yelling from the fantastic Dave Velleren. Throughout the album, you can hear him screaming at the top of his lungs, putting everything he has into the performance. When paired with Dave Knudson's incredibly unique guitar work, it ends in a work that effortlessly differentiates itself from the majority of mathcore. I guess you could call this the band's swansong, because due to creative differences, they disbanded after releasing what they had made for their next album and touring one last time, though they've had a few posthumous releases.
Converge - Jane Doe (2001)
Most people I've talked to believe this to be the best mathcore album ever released, and it's not hard to see why. Jane Doe is presumably the tale of singer Jacob Bannon's tumultuous breakup. A whole wide range of emotions are displayed here, from palpable anger on the opener Concubine, to confusion on Distance and Meaning, to some sense of closure on the closing title track. This album covers the unhappy relationship, the breakup, and trying to find something to hold onto in the mess. The riffs are unique and varied, not getting old even under multiple listens, and the album seamlessly flows from song to song. From the opening to the closing, it's a journey, and although many people begin listenting to mathcore with this album, and promptly find themselves lost in the chaos, at some point, it clicks, and you understand what the album is all about.
All the albums I've listed here are widely considered classics. Does this mean that these are the only ones? Of course not. There are many new Mathcore bands today from Mouthbreather to Pupil Slicer to The Callous Daoboys that you should absolutely check out. In the end, these are just some of the most popular albums.
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Does it matter?
10/24/2032
It will happen as it has.
In a world on unknowns, questions of legality become irrelevant
Is it ethical?
It is to me.
Profit? Aren't I enough?
it's never enough for you never never never never never sufficient
none of it never meant anything.
never
never
never
never
never
never
never
never
never
never
never
Scalable? Huh?
do you improve the world?