Over the past few years, Lily Wilson has experienced a series of challenges, including the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden passing of her father. In the face of these difficulties, she discovered an unexpected source of comfort: metalcore music, a genre that blends heavy metal with hardcore punk.
As a teenager, Wilson was drawn to the “hardcore screamo” scene before eventually moving towards more subdued musical styles. However, since the onset of the pandemic, she has spent a significant amount of time listening to Australian metalcore bands such as Polaris and Windwaker, as well as international heavy metal acts like Spiritbox and Bad Omens.
“I find it therapeutic,” says Wilson, who is 30 and works as an IT product and development manager. “You feel the music in your chest, and it’s a bit aggro, but not in a bad way. It can be nice to listen to something that’s angry and feel that sense of release.
“Sometimes the lyrics are about burning it all down, but often they’re about overcoming challenges and moving forward, or dealing with grief and a world that’s falling apart.”
Wilson admits she was anxious before our interview, so she played some metalcore to calm herself down.
“Then you take your headphones off, you’ve experienced the contrast between loud and quiet – and you’ve got peace,” she says.
According to data from Spotify, Wilson’s experience is not uncommon. Between 2020 and 2025, the number of metal songs streamed on the platform more than doubled, while punk and rock each saw an increase of 80 per cent. The growth in these heavier genres has outpaced pop (up 61 per cent) and hip-hop (up 31 per cent). In fact, the number of playlists containing metalcore tracks soared by 234 per cent.
Joe Khan, Spotify’s senior editor in Australia and New Zealand, believes economic and political conditions are driving this trend.
“It’s about release and catharsis, and finding outlets for these immense pressures … no other genres satisfy these primal human needs in the same way,” Khan says.
“The vital energy they contain, paired with the very real communities that exist within these scenes, are hugely appealing. As people navigate post-pandemic realities, cost-of-living pressures and geopolitical tensions, rock, punk and metal are cutting through again in a big way because they mirror those emotions.”
This trend is not surprising to Anna Ryan, vocalist of the acclaimed Australian band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, whose music combines rock, punk, and grunge.
“For me, punk and rock feels like it has a lot more grit and substance to it,” Ryan says. “It does feel like therapy to just dance it out or get really into it if you’re on a walk or a run.”
On Friday, the band kicked off their Australian tour in Adelaide. Later this year, they will travel to Europe and North America, where they will perform some shows with US rock band Jimmy Eat World.
Ryan recalls listening to Jimmy Eat World’s hit song, The Middle — a track about social unease, alienation, and self-acceptance — in primary school.
“I remember belting it out [and feeling that it reflected] the problems I had as a 10-year-old,” Ryan says, laughing. “But it really connected with me then, and it still does.”
Of course, harder styles of music have long been the subject of moral panics. In the 1970s and ’80s, some American conservatives linked heavy metal to the worship of Satan, while others worried that punk would turn their children into drug-addled layabouts.
For Dr Kelly Gough, president of the Australian Psychological Society, this misses the point.
“Punk came out of a desire to resist the machine and push back against authority,” he says.
“We’re now in an era where a lot of people believe that authority should not be trusted and we can’t rely on governments or big industry to look out for our best interests. You can see where punk would fit in among younger people who feel disenfranchised and disconnected from any levers of power.”
Gough said that many studies show music can reduce physiological and psychological stress, although this depends upon personal taste. When different styles of music are played to a broadly representative group, most will feel uplifted by pop, calmed by classical and unsettled or angered by heavy metal.
“But for fans of heavy metal, it’s the complete opposite,” he says.
“There are some studies that say if you’re already in a bad mood, you’re more likely to feel energised or engaged when listening to heavy metal.”
Gough, who was born in 1971, often turns to the music that was popular on Triple J in the 1990s, when rock and grunge were prominent.
“There are sociological theories too,” he says, “like the 27-year cycle that suggests some current cultural trends reflect what was cool 27 years ago, which you can also see in the resurgence of late ’90s fashion.”
Or as Khan puts it: “Rock is alive and kicking. People have been saying that rock is dead for a long time now, but if the data is anything to go by, it’s just warming up.”
