not really offended if that post is seriously posted because "emo" stands for emotional, or it's a joke.. Him - one of the bands posted above isn't really considered emo either if you go by people that take a lot of pride in "emo scene". if you view the reddit "what is emo" is taken pretty seriously by some people.
rites of spring is the name of the first emo band. that happened in the mid 80's. they really only have a couple parts in their music that is melodic, and even those parts aren't as melodic as normal emo. they are more of a punk band, and as opposed to melodic style notes it's more rock and roll, i'm not sure of the exact scales, but the sound is similar to like rock a billy or blues tones imo, which aren't very melodic. it's not a very melodic rock sound... as time went on emo got super melodic. rites of spring supposedly never seriously took on the term emo i've heard, and that it was just a joke review term in under ground magazines...
through the 90's emo evolved as melodic hardcore/punk music, and eventually for a lot of people the definition turned into the sound of the compilation series on the deep elm record label "the emo diaries." the best one is "emo diaries volume 3" imo. i've heard people on reddit agree.... while the more melodic and pop oriented emo sound was going on, there was a brand of harder and more underground music brewing that people considered emo. they would use melodic chords like some metal and have a lot of screaming as opposed to the more emotional singing in the more pop punk sounding type emo.
you can see on reddit emo forums today the divide between people that think the more hardcore stuff is defined as emo v.s. the pop stuff. the hardcore stuff a lot of people will call "Screamo" or "emo violence". there are some people that even divide those two terms. they are the same thing to some people.... emo has even taken on a super pop sound like johnny guilbert... nobody really knows what emo is at this point.
here's what emo was to me:
here's what emo is to some people:
here's what emo is to some kids born in 2000's:
personally the second example of emo i posted orchid is even more hardcore than what would be consider "Screamo" which i think is an acceptable term for the sound with screaming, but orchid goes so hardcore that i don't really even see it being emo related. yes a lot of octave chords used in both musically, but i don't see it being related at all.. this music is all heavily related through an under ground music scene where most of the people took pride in being vegan. emo to a lot of people is like a political thing involved with not hurting the environment and what not. that definitely seems to be something that brought the scene together besides the sound of the music. a lot of these different sounding bands used to play the same type VFW halls and people's basements and what not.
i think the vibe of this songs vocals sound way different than what orchid is doing... i'm pretty sure i did this same post in the screamo thread on blue light music discussion, or it might even be in this thread in the string of pages.. i really don't know, but i feel like emo is a culture where a lot of people will run into some one that's into it, and there are really all different sounds the person might like:
orchid sounds like violent to me... this sounds likes someone being tortured. lol.. i had to pick a song for the most tortured song, i'd probably pick this... i think a lot of kids on reddit aren't even going to be able to tell how i'm hearing something different in a band like orchid v.s. this below clip:
i hear a lot of power in the band orchid. i feel like the above clip sounds like some one giving up and asking why they are in so much pain. orchid seems to give pain... just what i hear... hears another "Screamo" album that i think sounds righteous and not really violent, like it sounds like standing up for something. i'm not sure it's really hatred, and it's more a confusion type sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt6I04x7ces&t=7s
a lot of what combines the different types of emo, you can see is stupid home made beatle esque hair cuts if you watch these bands videos.
i also think gin blossoms and goo goo dolls have a lot to do with the pop emo sound that i said were documented as the "emo diaries" compilations.. bush also sounds a ton like emo... "be quiet and drive" and some other deftones songs, a ton of emo sound... not necessarily because of the music styling, i feel like the cure has a lot to do with emo... just viewing songs with the same vibe as emo, but not really the same music structure, something like mr. crowley by ozzy is kind of emo to me in some ways. it's emotional, makes me feel strong, and strikes curiosity.
