hardcore

The tradition & historical record

Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos (160 to 200 BPM or more) and a distorted sawtooth kick, the intensity of the kicks and the synthesized bass (in some subgenres), the rhythm and the atmosphere of the themes (sometimes violent), the usage of saturation and experimentation close to that of industrial dance music. It would spawn subgenres such as gabber. ¹

Hardcore is rooted in the 1970s and early 1980s industrial music, specifically the elements of hard electronic dance music. Groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK, Foetus and Einstürzende Neubauten produced music using a wide range of electronic instruments. The message diffused by industrial was then very provocative. Some of the musical sounds and experimentation of industrial have directly influenced hardcore since the beginning of the movement. ¹

In the mid-1980s, under the influence of the Belgian group Front 242, electronic body music (EBM), a new genre more accessible and more dancing inspired by industrial and new wave, appeared. This style is characterized by minimalism, cold sounds unlike disco, funk or house, with powerful beats, generally combined with aggressive vocals and an aesthetic close to industrial or punk music. Under the influence of new beat, another Belgian genre and acid house, EBM music became harder. All the elements were present for the arrival of hardcore. The beginnings of the genre are traced at the very end of the 1980s in Belgium, within the new beat scene with the titles Rock to the Beat and Saigon Nightmare by 101 (both 1988), Warbeat by Bassline Boys (1989), I Want You! by the Concrete Beat (1989), I Love You by the Acid Kids (1988), Doughnut Dollies by HNO3 (1988), Action in Paradise by Export (1988), Acid New-Beat by Tribe 22 (1988), I Sit on Acid by Lords of Acid (1988), Acid Rock by Rhythm Device (1989), Double B by Dirty Harry (1989), Also Sprach Zarathustra by Bingo! (1989), Europe by Christine D (1989), and Do That Dance by the Project (1990). In 1988, the Belgian new beat arrived in Frankfurt in West Germany. ¹

The term hardcore is not new in the music world. It was first used to designate a more radical movement within punk rock (Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains...) which, in addition to hardening the music, also attached importance to their attitude and their way of life as in the street where it was born: violent, underground, but engaged and sincere. ¹

In 1990, German producer Marc Trauner (also known as Mescalinum United) released the first hardcore techno track with "We Have Arrived". The British group Together released its track "Hardcore Uproar", also in 1990. Music journalist Simon Reynolds has written books on hardcore techno, covering bands related to the Belgium hardcore scene like Second Phase and T99 or Dutch hardcore bands such as L.A. Style and Human Resource. Many of the iconic "stabs" that would become part of hardcore were popularized by these and other Belgian techno producers during the early 1990s, like the "Mentasm" and the "Anastasia" stabs. In the early 1990s, the terms "hardcore" and "darkcore" were also used to designate some more aggressive or high tempo forms of techno, breakbeat and drum and bass which were very popular in England, and from which have emerged several famous producers like N-Joi, The Prodigy, Altern-8 and Goldie. One of the earliest uses of the word in the context of English releases/the English rave scene which gained prominence was 1990's "Hardcore Uproar" by Together. The track's title was derived from a promoter of acid house parties of the same name that hosted controversial raves in and around the town of Blackburn, and was agreed on between the members of Together and Hardcore Uproar's organisers in exchange for letting them feature a recording of the crowd at one of their nights in the track. Symbolically, according to Together member Suddi Raval, the night they attended to acquire the recording also turned out to be the final event under the Hardcore Uproar banner before its founders were forced to disband and stop the raves by the police. ¹

Under the influence of Hardstyle and industrial hardcore, a new scene was developing featuring DJ Promo and his label The Third Movement. This scene now known as mainstream hardcore emerged in the early 2000s with a modern, mature, slower, and sophisticated form. It was successful in Europe, especially in Netherlands and Italy, with producers and groups like Endymion, Kasparov, Art of Fighters, The Stunned Guys and DJ Mad Dog. Happy hardcore continues its movement underground and has evolved bringing out other related genres such as Eurobeat, UK hardcore, Freeform hardcore and Full-on Hardcore. Labels such as Enzyme Records, Crossbones and Bloc 46 have produced darkcore artists, like Ruffneck, Fifth Era and The Outside Agency. As the free party movement was successful in all the Europe, freetekno appeared. Numerous producers and labels emerged representing the hard techno and the frenchcore genres: Epileptik, Audiogenic, Les Enfants Sages, Tekita, Breakteam, Mackitek, B2K and Narkotek. ¹

The early 2010s saw the rise of hardcore internationally, with artists such as Angerfist gaining popularity quickly. The hardcore scene thrived during this period with many new producers and labels making their mark on the scene, both in Europe and the rest of the world, appearing even at North America's biggest music festival, Electric Daisy Carnival. In 2011, Angerfist entered the DJ Mag Top 100 at position No. 39. The middle of the decade saw a shift in popularity, from mainstream hardcore to faster styles such as frenchcore, uptempo hardcore and terrorcore. Although these styles existed previously already, an increase in artists and events around 2015 helped these styles develop and move to the forefront of the audience's attention. The shift from the older range of 160–180 beats per minute to 200+ changed the hardcore market, creating a demand for more energetic and intense hardcore than before. Artists like Sefa & Dr. Peacock saw a quick rise within the scene and influenced the musical direction to a louder, faster, but more melodic and euphoric style. Major artists from other genres such as Marshmello, Carnage, Porter Robinson and Headhunterz started to occasionally play faster hardcore in their sets. The end of the decade saw rapid growth of the hardcore scene in Europe. Hardcore festivals within the Netherlands saw a significant rise in attendance. 2019's edition of Thunderdome reached an attendance of almost 40,000 people and became the biggest hardcore event to ever take place. Regular large scale events hardcore started happening outside of the Netherlands in countries like Spain, Russia, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic among other European countries. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Hardcore (electronic dance music genre)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

hardcore is genre of electronic dance music, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 7 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²