The top five post-hardcore songs (of my time)
by Dominic Sacco
(aka Dom Sacco)
A good post-hardcore song will have at least one epic riff. It will have breakdowns. It's gotta have some shouting. But most of all it better have some fucking intensity!
Here's my five favourite post-hardcore songs of all time. Hopefully this will give you an insight into my musical taste and get you into some decent music at the same time.
5. From First To Last
Ride the Wings of Pestilence
From that climbing little intro to a powerfully unsettling chorus, Ride the Wings of Pestilence is one of my favourite songs of all time. The second verse scream never fails to send a tingle down my spine and I never get bored of listening to it.
Sonny Moore's vocals are sweetly catchy if faintly whine-like, but the tune is addictive and the song has caught my life so many times in the past.
It's just a shame the ending drags out too long – and the lyrics seem more befitted to a death metal track.
(best bit: 1:05 - 2:05)
4. Thursday
Understanding in a Car Crash
Thursday deserve to be part of any post-hardcore compilation – they helped spearhead what would become the entire "emo" genre and have a legion of utterly devoted fans.
The fact frontman Geoff Rickly wrote it for a close friend who died in an accident is testament to this.
Passionate, deep and profound. Pick it apart as you will but the song itself is amazing. I'm not overly keen on Geoff's voice – this hinders it from achieving a higher ranking.
(best bit: 1:00 - 1:24)
3. Thrice
Under a Killing Moon
Picking one Thrice song above all is like trying to choose between Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman lying on a bed with nothing much on, only for the doors to burst open and another thirty gorgeous actresses run into the room. And you can only choose one…
Fuck them. I'd pick this any day.
(best bit: 1:50 - 2:47)
2. Comeback Kid
Wake The Dead
Killer intro? Check.
Lightning speed? Check.
Breakdowns? Check.
Epic chorus? Check.
Gang vocals? Check.
There's nothing more I want from a post-hardcore band.
(best bit: 2:22 - 3:10)
1. The Mars Volta
Inertiatic ESP
OK so it's more experimental prog rock than post-hardcore, but the fact it was founded by Cedric and Omar from At the Drive-In fame justifies my choice.
No I don't have a clue what the title means. Yes I do fucking love the song.
The intro is one of the best to ever grace a rock song – but what I love most is its creative simplicity – how can such a technical song sound so simple?
The Mars Volta did doing something very special AND different here – I can still remember them breaking into the alternative world on MTV2 a good few years back. And smashing everything else out of the way…
…shame all their other songs are shit.
(best bit: 0:00 - 1:02)