The band, The Number 12 Looks Like You, played at The Westcott Theater on Feb. 23 to a crowd of about 50 people. Considering the size of the 700-capacity venue, the turnout was noticeably underwhelming. This did not stop The Number 12 from ripping through a set of their distinct brand of ‘mathcore,’ a subset of hardcore that is exploding in popularity across the country.

‘(It was like) being a part of a show rather than watching one,’ said Mary Kate Gannon, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences who attended the show. ‘The Number 12 played a kind of controlled chaos that is really underappreciated on campus.’

For reasons unknown, the Syracuse University community seems not to know – or not to appreciate – the frenetic, high-energy, ever-evolving mathcore genre. It’s a name that tends to raise eyebrows among novice music fans, both at SU and elsewhere.

But, mathcore is hardly new. It can be traced back to the release of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s first full-length album released in 1999, ‘Calculating Infinity.’ Praised for its extreme technicality and sheer aggression, the album started an all-out hardcore movement. The name ‘mathcore’ derives from ‘Calculating Infinity’s’ technical intricacy – fans were led to believe that Dillinger based its music on some sort of mathematical formula.

Soon after, bands such as Botch, Converge, Coalesce and Cave In were lumped into this category. These acts possessed similar mentalities toward writing music with no boundaries, which consequently rubbed off on younger musicians.

What followed seemed like an epidemic: new bands such as Daughters, Psyopus and Into The Moat emerged and were immediately grouped into the ‘mathcore’ genus. Although these acts came from different backgrounds and possessed completely separate visions for their music, their shared use of blast-beat drumming, discordant riffing and extremely abrasive vocals became key elements of the style.

For those who aren’t as musically savvy, the tumultuous nature of the music was so confusing that it became like a puzzle. It forced fans to concentrate on each tiny segment, often requiring dozens of listens before any sort of mental recall occurred. Although there are those that view such mind-boggling music as ‘harsh noise’ or ‘mechanical,’ diehard fans revere its unpredictability as organic.

The sonic dissonance could explain why mathcore fans are so few at SU. Matt Dunn, the owner of Syracuse Shows and a local show promoter, said that many students don’t take the initiative to try out new music, especially music like mathcore.

‘(More people should) go to shows that have bands they don’t know and educate themselves on new material,’ he said.

Until then, mathcore continues to fly over the heads of most music fans in the Syracuse area. It’s clear that there is a certain niche audience for bands such as The Number Twelve Looks Like You; while it may not be that large at SU, it continues to grow exponentially in other areas of the country.

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Published on April 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm