I'm 18 and I'm not that huge on metalcore and I detest most deathcore. But no, I'm not a massive fan of the really extreme metal stuff either like Venom, Cannibal Corpse, Burzum. Metallica are one of the greatest bands ever though. Just wanted to add a bit of perspective.

i'm on the extreme opposite - the more extreme it is, the more i love it

my fave sub-genre of metal is still grindcore

BM is also up there somewhere

Venom is not exactly extreme, they're quite thrashy

i don't listen to either of the other two bands you mentioned, i'm more into Death, Obituary etc.

Number one I don't enjoy the imagery of all that, Number two stuff like nonstop blast beats and vocals that sound like the singer recently ran his vocal chords through a mince grinder don't do much for me either. Black Metal stuff that I enjoy is usually the atmospheric stuff, and I like a bit of melodic death metal, but not really the straight death stuff. But I listen to a crapload of music that isn't heavy at all so it probably reflects that I don't enjoy the more brutal bands.

I got bored of metalcore a while back, and figuring out what's "core" and what's not core doesn't really interest me. It's more the association with bands that are considered trendy by the more new-school metalheads.

I can understand that. Seems a lot of modern metal bands kind of all get dumped into the metalcore bin.

that's tragic. i wish it weren't so..

One reason I have the capacity to enjoy metalcore is that I do enjoy the clean/harsh vocal dynamic. Vocals are generally the deciding factor for whether I like a band or not, which is generally reflected in the bands I listen to. Some of the older extreme metal genres lose points for me because of unintelligible vocals, as well as the shrieks in black metal that I find monotonous. I also don't like the "heaving" type growls from Machine Head. Not to say I have a problem with these styles, I just prefer vocalists with a wider range of abilities. Not all, but many metalcore acts fit this, and those that don't are able to make up for it with excellent musicianship elsewhere (I like the vocals of BTBAM, but how can the rest be ignored even if the vocals sucked?). Lyrics also play a big part for me, which is where bands like KSE lose points for me with their most recent album. One other factor I look at is ability to perform live. Even though I don't like Machine Head's vocals, the band gains points for me because Flynn can at least reproduce live.
Sure, metalcore bands sound similar to one another for the most part, but that makes sense. They are part of a subgenre after all. There are always ones that stand out and sound better though, which is why I think it is unfortunate that the metalcore label causes them to be overlooked. A band like BTBAM stands no chance at being acknowledged by elitists who don't give them a proper listen due to the metalcore label (although to me they are sounding closer and closer to mathcore).
As for the topic of old school versus new school, I think that people tend to let pre-conceived notions get in the way. My barber and I talk about music a lot when I go to see him (for reference: he is in his 40's, enjoys old death metal and thrash the best, his favorite band is Sepultura, he has a master's degree in classical guitar, one of his friends is a member of Zero Boys--a pioneer of hardcore punk with a large underground following). You would think that someone with his background would prefer old school metal, but actually he doesn't. He absolutely detests grindcore for instance, saying half of grindcore fans like grindcore so that they can say that they like grindcore. But he also enjoys black metal. And the real shocker--he enjoys newer acts, even citing *gulp* Static-X and Disturbed as some of his favorites. His son enjoys a band called Necrophagist (not to be confused with Necrophagia). In case you didn't already know, a necrophagist is someone who eats corpses. While my barber said he loved the intricate guitar, he could not put any effort into listening to them because of the type of lyrics they have.
Basically, the point of all this is that everyone has their own preferences that determine their favorite music. From the month or two that I have been a part of this forum, I have noticed a lot of unnecessary negativity towards newer acts and genres. Some people even claim to "know" that certain music is bad, while in truth, music is about as subjective as a favorite color. While certain aspects can be measured, such as technicality, it all comes down to preference.

The problem is, that a lot of the older generation of music listeners often fail to accept newer bands, as being as good as the older stuff they grew up with and just end up making negative comparisons. They`re kind of stuck in their ways as it were. The other side of the coin, is that younger listeners often have no appreciation of what went on before and lack a real music history.

This is true. I'm not setting out to change people's minds, I just hope to end any further petty arguments against metalcore being legitimate and the like (at least on this thread). Probably a wasted effort, but I have nothing better to do at the moment.

The whole idea of a music forum, is to open peoples minds and broaden their horizons...........so keep on going:thumb: