The phrase was coined by the Northern Irish band Lungbutter. Little was known about the band or its members as it was thought to be so underground they were actually subterranean. The term buttercore was brought about by their extreme and mostly in-accurate blend of genre influences and the use of extreme life experiences in the creative song writing process. Some fine examples of this are Lungbutter songs 'Roundabout in 3rd Gear', 'The Evil One', the gound breaking 'Spyde On My Shoe' and timeless classic 'The Breakfast Ensemble'.

Buttercore is primarily a sub-genre of many metal genres, but also takes into account the fact that they are inaccurately portrayed due to the lack of musical talent.