Metalcore Reddit Users Name Bands That Got Bigger Than Expected

Metalcore fans on Reddit had a discussion about which bands got much bigger than they expected them to.

On the Metalcore Reddit page, someone asked in a post, “What band 10 years ago would have never have expected to be as big as they are now?” They cited Motionless in White as an example, describing them as a “best of the rest type of band with an aesthetic” that got very popular very quickly.

Motionless in White’s first album Creatures came out in October of 2010. By their third record Reincarnate, which came out just four years later, they cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, which isn’t necessarily easy for heavier bands. Their latest release, 2022’s Scoring the End of the World, peaked at No. 12.

Keep reading to see some of the other bands mentioned throughout the Reddit discussion, and what people had to say about each of them.

Make Them Suffer

One person mentioned Australia’s Make Them Suffer, noting that the band initially played small shows in Perth on a weekly basis before becoming popular. Make Them Suffer released four albums between 2012 and 2020.

Below are some of the replies from other fans of Make Them Suffer.

• God I hope we get more from them soon. ‘Ghost of Me’ and ‘Doomswitch’ are fucking GNARLY and I want a full CD of it. ‘How to Survive a Funeral’ came out in 2020. Granted they, I believe, had the next CD (With Booka) damn near finished before she ended up getting the boot. So I get it. It would be hard to make a whole other CD after just scrapping one.

• And it’s been gooooood to see

The first comment referenced keyboardist Booka Nile, who parted ways with the band in early 2022 after sexual assault allegations surfaced against her. However, “Ghost of Me,” the song mentioned above, came out in May of 2023.

Make Them Suffer, ‘Ghost of Me’

Ice Nine Kills

The comment that received the most upvotes named a couple of different bands, including Ice Nine Kills.

Some of the responses are listed below.

• I put $500 in a long while ago to have a INK song named after me. I’ve not been super into the perpetual horror themes they’ve gone with but they still go hard.

A couple of fans pointed out that the fan who wrote that comment could be the Steven Long who inspired the 2014 track “So Long Steven Long.”

• I remember wanting a new INK album so badly after ‘Safe Is Just a Shadow’ and it took nearly four years for the ‘Predator Becomes the Prey’ to come out. Then they just hit their stride and grew so big. I’m glad they stuck with it.

• Me neither. I’ve been listening to INK since 2016 in 6th grade. Almost a decade and I’ve seen them go from basements to arenas. Sadly I still haven’t seen them. Had tix for last year but last minute someone didn’t wanna go and I didn’t have a ride. Uber fucking depressing.

Ice Nine Kills, ‘So Long Steven Long’

I Prevail

Another comment with a lot of upvotes mentioned I Prevail, writing, “I don’t think many people thought they would’ve made it past the Taylor Swift cover.”

I Prevail covered the pop star’s hit “Blank Space” in 2014, about a year after they formed. Three albums later, and another huge star — country singer Carrie Underwood — is a self-professed Stan of them, particularly their 2022 album True Power.

Check out what some other people had to say about I Prevail in the Reddit thread.

READ MORE: Metalhead Goes on Date With a Swiftie + It All Goes Wrong

• So many bands out there that go viral from covers end up falling right back into obscurity. I Prevail used it as a platform to spread the rest of their original work, which was already quality stuff.

• Honestly from the moment I heard that cover and listened to ‘Heart vs. Mind’ I knew they were gonna be big. They reminded me just enough of Linkin Park to where I could just tell they had something in them that was gonna make it. I hadn’t counted on the GRAMMY nomination or their latest album’s real pivot towards nu metal, but it wasn’t unwelcome.

• Yea definitely these dudes. Found em when their EP released. Saw them play like 5 songs to open for Crown The Empire and Hollywood Undead. It was my first heavy show of any kind and I went just to see them. Now they’re bigger than both bands.

I Prevail, ‘Blank Space’ (Taylor Swift Cover)

Some Other Bands Mentioned

Other bands mentioned throughout the discussion were, of course, Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Currents, Lorna Shore, Architects, Electric Callboy, Bring Me the Horizon and ERRA, among others.

See the full conversation here.