Longcore

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A subgenre of hardcore punk music marked by unusually long, sprawling songs with shifting tempos and structures
2. A style of hardcore music in which bands stretch their compositions into extended, experimental pieces far longer than typical punk tracks
3. An offshoot of hardcore punk that favors lengthy, multi-part songs over the brief, fast tracks the genre is known for

Etymology: "Longcore" is a compound of "long" and "hardcore," and the second element carries most of the story. "Hardcore" was first used in the music sense in the early 1980s, when American punk bands such as Black Flag and Minor Threat played fast, aggressive music, and "hardcore" was the name that caught on for it. The word had earlier meanings: it described something uncompromising or explicit, and the same sense of unyielding intensity carried over into the music. "Long" is the ordinary English adjective meaning great in length or duration. Attached to "hardcore," it marks a later development: the fast, short-song style that defined the early scene gave way to slower, more expansive music that stretched songs out over many minutes. Longcore is therefore a descriptive label for hardcore that keeps its intensity while lengthening its form, rather than a separate genre with its own origin.