# Gimme some hardcore history: who started the whole breakdown thing?



## sevenstringj (Dec 25, 2012)

By breakdown, I mean that obligatory part of the song where you got a basic, slow 1-2 rhythm with a crash cymbal playing quarter or half notes and the guitars playing 1 palm muted power chord staccato mimicked by the double kick.

The first time I heard something like that was Cipher, I believe the Protoculture EP, which was released 1998. I remember thinking HOLY FUCK THAT'S HEAVY!  Of course now it's cliche, but I'm curious whether Cipher was the first.


----------



## Polythoral (Dec 25, 2012)

I know Pantera always had some parts very reminiscent of modern breakdowns.


----------



## kevdes93 (Dec 25, 2012)

id be lying if i said i didnt love a good meaty breakdown to bang my head to. a friend of mine is convinced that unearth is the first band to actually coin the term, but i think he's full of shit


----------



## MontaraMike (Dec 25, 2012)

I thought technically the breakdown came from Jazz


----------



## WaffleTheEpic (Dec 25, 2012)

Well, in terms of music, the "breakdown" has actually been used in a lot of jazz, blues, and reggae since the invention of the genres...

The modern breakdown began in New York's hardcore scene though.

Prior influences and stuff were Pantera and I think Black Sabbath even had some breakdown-y parts in some of their songs.


----------



## Floppystrings (Dec 26, 2012)

2:16

People say New York hardcore was the first, but I haven't heard anything that I would really call a breakdown.


----------



## WaffleTheEpic (Dec 26, 2012)

They focused more on the mosh than the breakdown, but they were definitely still breakdowns. Slowed up and got bouncy.


----------



## gunch (Dec 26, 2012)

Break (music) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## Joose (Dec 26, 2012)

First band I heard full of breakdowns was Bury Your Dead. Sevendust too, who BYD got a lot of influence from. 7D's breakdowns have their own sound though.


----------



## Nile (Dec 26, 2012)

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.


----------



## Cynic (Dec 26, 2012)

chelsea grin


----------



## abandonist (Dec 26, 2012)

Forever. Classical music has it.


----------



## Jazzamatazz (Dec 26, 2012)

I've heard many times that Symphony in Peril's Stiletto was the original mordern breakdown


----------



## teamSKDM (Dec 26, 2012)

Metallicas one xD


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 26, 2012)

Nile said:


> Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.



In terms of metal, pretty much this. 



3:18 onwards.


----------



## jehu12141987 (Dec 26, 2012)

The original breakdown happened when the monolith came to earth and the gorillas jumped around on the Earth documentary: "Space Odyssey 2000". True story. It's science.


----------



## metaljohn (Dec 26, 2012)

I see your Raining Blood and raise you At Dawn They Sleep. Way heavier.

But, pretty much Slayer.


----------



## Mprinsje (Dec 26, 2012)

Pantera - domination


----------



## Monkeypriest (Dec 26, 2012)

Suffocation - Liege of Inveracity

Suffocation - Liege Of Inveracity - YouTube

2:52 this is the BREAKDOWN


----------



## Floppystrings (Dec 26, 2012)

I think wikipedia needs an update, they have breakdowns kind of confused with breakbeats, and they clearly are evolved and different these days.

I consider a breakdown to be kick drum and guitar locked, playing kind of slow, usually palm muted. I really would like to know exactly what bands did this first. 

Black Sabbath did most of this stuff first, playing slow, and heavy, I am sure they influenced the idea, but the Slayer breakdowns sound more evolved, I want to know what happened in the middle lol.


----------



## thrsher (Dec 26, 2012)

RIP cipher but bands have been doing breakdowns since the 80s as we know it in metal/hardcore but you can listen to music from the 60s/70s doing it but just not they way we expect it. you can only tempo change two ways.

early fear factory always comes to mind with breakdowns for me at least the more metalcore style then odvisiously suffocation for the slam style and then candiria for the style of breakdown you are talking about, i would think candiria was a huge influence on cipher


----------



## straightshreddd (Dec 26, 2012)

I've heard lots of theories on where they originated. I honestly have no clue but I've heard super old Dying Fetus songs with breakdowns. The modern breakdown that we're all referring to must have started fully evolving in the early 2000's. When I was learning to play guitar, I used to play "breakdowns" because I wanted to emulate hip hop beat patterns but had no idea they were a thing. My first memories of hearing breakdowns was Hawthorne Heights' Niki FM, Bury Your Dead's Magnolia, BTBAM's Alaska, and a bunch of other stuff around that time.

Also, breakdowns don't have to be only slow, guys. There's lots of bands who play fast 16 note breakdowns, too.


----------



## jehu12141987 (Dec 26, 2012)

I have heard the rumor that In Flames invented the "Hardcore" sound, so maybe with a little digging, you could find something in their back story?


----------



## no_dice (Dec 26, 2012)

My first encounter with breakdowns was in high school when I started listening to metalcore/hardcore, with bands like Buried Alive, Despair, Hatebreed, Piecemeal, etc. I doubt we will know who really started what is currently called a "breakdown" because everyone is going to have their own idea about it.


----------



## AntonioPetrole (Dec 26, 2012)

alot of people credit Suffocation for pioneering the breakdown and deathcore scene. Just my 2 cents


----------



## Basti (Dec 26, 2012)

There were plenty of breakdowns before Pantera's Domination, but that breakdown broke down all breakdowns.


----------



## FeedMeWithColours (Dec 26, 2012)

Shia Hulud...? I don't think anyone one band started it I believe it was a very long evolution.


----------



## mattofvengeance (Dec 26, 2012)

More importantly, who the fuck cares?


----------



## straightshreddd (Dec 26, 2012)

It's a topic to converse, man. If that logic applied everywhere, no one would ever talk, learn, etc because "who the fuck cares?".


----------



## goherpsNderp (Dec 26, 2012)

i first started facepalming at breakdowns when i first heard hatebreed. but then again some of their entire songs sound like breakdowns.


----------



## sol niger 333 (Dec 26, 2012)

Coldplay.


----------



## sol niger 333 (Dec 26, 2012)

Also...this guy


----------



## PyramidSmasher (Dec 26, 2012)

kevdes93 said:


> id be lying if i said i didnt love a good meaty breakdown to bang my head to. a friend of mine is convinced that unearth is the first band to actually coin the term, but i think he's full of shit



Its definitely not true but I was told the same thing haha


----------



## Marv Attaxx (Dec 26, 2012)

First breakdown I've ever heard was Korn's "Somebody Someone" in 1999 
While they didn't have the first breakdown I think they've started the whole bassdrop-thing back in the days with follow the leader


----------



## Nile (Dec 26, 2012)

Basti said:


> There were plenty of breakdowns before Pantera's Domination, but that breakdown broke down all breakdowns.



Correct me if I'm wrong, but Metallica's One was before Cowboys from Hell wasn't it?


----------



## Nile (Dec 26, 2012)

Marv Attaxx said:


> First breakdown I've ever heard was Korn's "Somebody Someone" in 1999
> While they didn't have the first breakdown I think they've started the whole bassdrop-thing back in the days with follow the leader



This, actually, has quite a merit to it. Probably true that they were the first to start doing bass drops. And man do I love them.


----------



## Joose (Dec 27, 2012)

mattofvengeance said:


> More importantly, who the fuck cares?



Lots of people.


----------



## Nykur_Myrkvi (Dec 27, 2012)

Floppystrings said:


> 2:16
> 
> People say New York hardcore was the first, but I haven't heard anything that I would really call a breakdown.



Came in here to post this.


----------



## FinnBehemoth (Dec 27, 2012)

Wasn't Suffocation one of the first band to have breakdowns?


----------



## Xaios (Dec 27, 2012)

jehu12141987 said:


> I have heard the rumor that In Flames invented the "Hardcore" sound, so maybe with a little digging, you could find something in their back story?



Uh, no. Hardcore has been around since the 70s. In Flames wasn't a band until 1990. They had a big hand in crafting Melodic Death Metal, but had nothing to do with hardcore.


----------



## Xarn (Dec 27, 2012)

Black Sabbath is probably the originator of the slow heavy breakdownish riffs. Napalm Death and Slayer both had "breakdowns" as we know them pretty early on in their respective careers. Though I guess hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Sick of It all, Biohazard etc probably took off from what ND and Slayer started and then coined the term "breakdown".


----------

