I mean, yeah, there is not much crossover between styles like soulful house and terror-speedcore, or drum'n'bass and acid techno, right? Or IDM and the trance revival.
But, in the early 90s, DJs at a Techno party or rave, would start their set with house or downtempo maybe, then drop some acid and faster techno, maybe some breakbeat stuff from UK, one or two aphex twin tunes, only to end with 180+ bpm Hardcore and Gabber. Don't believe me? Check this set by DJ Marusha at the German Mayday 1994 rave, for example.
Of course, each Raver had their personal preference... some liked harder and darker some, some liked more light things... or maybe more funky tunes. Some probably detested 1-2 styles, totally.
But it was one big big youth movement in the end. We partied together, we danced together, we went into bliss, and then chilled out together. It was not like there were "trancers" on one side and "gabbers" on the other. or "housers" on one side and "acid heads". At least not yet!
And because of this, a lot of the early releases that came from the Techno movement, let's say 1988-1994 at least, were not really in one style, they had multiple styles on the vinyl. Maybe an ambient track as A1, then A2 and B1 is techno, and B2 is gabba. The same goes for artists and labels in that time.
And this means there are often releases, on labels that are more known for techno, trance, "dance", that are totally hardcore, or have 1 or 2 extreme hardcore track(s) on it, and noone would have expected that!
Something for the true diggers and train (track!) spotters.
Especially the early German scene is a true treasure trove for that.
And that's why I will now look at 11 releases... that are just like that!
Influid III - Ladyshaver Non-EP (Influence Recordings IR 023-12)
This release is quite the treat! It's on Influence Recordings, which was started by Talla 2XLC.
In the "music history" books, Talla is usually considered as one of the two original sources that came up with the term Techno. Detroit in USA on one hand, for their Underground Resistance etc type stuff. While a few years earlier, Talla invented the term Techno for dark, groovy electronic music (which at that time was still close to EBM, New Wave, etc).
Influid themselves were a duo that also released music using akas like Komakino and Final Fantasy. I think they even went into the charts with some of their hard trance stuff.
"We're Always Behind You" is a trancecore / ravecore classic. It is very, very, very good!
The flipside, "The Destroyer", might be even more interesting, though. The info says "1.2 Million BPM Mix". And thats what it is. Starts slow, then goes up to 1 million bpm and more.
It has been released in 1994 already, so i guess this one is one of the first true "ultra speedcore extratone" tracks.
Mutter, Es Geht Um Geschwindigkeit - Mutter, Es Geht Um Geschwindigkeit (IMR-Records - imr007cd)
Isn't this one of the best cover artworks for a release, ever?
I don't know a release date, but judging by the style, and as the label faltered in 1994, I guess it was somewhere in 1993-1994.
The style is very interesting, oldschool hardcore and gabber. very "german" in a sense, like c tank or mono tone a bit maybe... but also with elements of hardtrance and rave... really rough and groovy!
Distortion - Serious Things (Influence Recordings - IR 003-12)
Frantic Thigh is a contender for the first really fat gabber 909 kick in music history!
The other tracks are nice and evil techno.
God's Groove - Prayer Three / Four (Black Flame - 44110)
What an obscure and precious gem! Prayer Three reminds me of UK Trance around that year..
but the real banger is "Prayer Four". How to describe it? A bit like pailhead style EBM, ultrasonic, there's a gabber drum, basslines, metal guitars...
Almost reminds me of KLF's vision for the 'black album' (and this one is released on a label called black flame, after all).
I don't know much about this project, but this release is a killer.
Pleasure - We Are Not Saved (Labworks Germany - LAB 47)
DJ ESP makes an appearance on labworks. bad acid? no such thing, on this record. the killer track for me here is "flying open". one of the toughest techno drums ever!
Plutone - Dream Sequence (White Label - WL 107)
Whoa, mate! this is from 1992? definitely ahead of its time. noise and industrial elements, more like later speedcore or "industrial hardcore" productions. or like musique concrete, even.
still, some rave-y and trance elements make an appearance. which is a most welcome touch.
Baphomet - The Force (Trigger - TR 010)
duuude... this one is big! very big production, there is acid, lines, techno drums, choirs are singing... also has a phuture / doomcore feel, also a bit of psytrance and ebm maybe... wonderful!
makes me feel like i am listening to a techno ritual in a giant cave underneath
earth.
Son Of A Bitch - Polio 800 E.P. (Hellrazor Records - HR 001-12)
Hellrazor was started by Andy Düx, who was also involved in Overdrive Records, which already had a lot of Hardcore releases. But Hellrazor seems to be even one notch... more insane & hard.
This release is by Thomas Elers, who was a true Hardcore and Acid powerhouse in the early 90s, or maybe we can call this style "acid gabber".
The style itself reminds me a bit of e-de cologne (who actually samples some of elers tracks!), like, it's completely chaotic, and deranged sounds are flying at you from every side really.
Elers has a more analogue feel, of course.
Even for today's standards in Hardcore, Speedcore and Noize... this record is still damn tough!
Sorcerer - My Four Seasons E.P. (Hellrazor Records - HR 001-12)
if there is one artist who had a really (really!) interesting trajectory, it's oliver kirwa. He was a coder on the commodore 64 computer. he won a reader's contest for the german "happy computer" mag - he wrote the "video game of the month" for them!
he also did video game music for other games. and then he turned into a techno and gabber producer.
"sorcerer - summer" is well known from a lot of 90s gabber compilations. one of the first tracks with really really, fast speedcore beats. and generally, some of the hardest stuffs ever.
but the other tracks are gabber-great as well.
i am especially into "winter", which also has some trancecore / rave pads and sounds.
Parrot Torture - Parrot Torture E.P. (Communism Records - COM 1)
Wow! I never would have thought that Thomas P. Heckmann could get that hard.
You probably know him from trax like Drax - Amphetamine or Phosphene.
These were big trance hits of the 90s.
but this one is gabba gabba all the way. not the cheesy post-1994 hardcore, of course.
minimal, brutalist, 909 kicks, percussion, and acid!
Alien Factory - Tell Death You Don't Wanna Die! (Generator Records - GEN 9112-12)
Do you know a style called "rave techno" ? which is an umbrella for the harder edge of rave, house, dance culture from the late 80s to early 90s... before the real gabber-craze took over, basically.
and this is the hardest edge of that spectrum, in my opinion. the basses are super deep and hard, we got screams, shouts, there are metal and guitar-like noises.
but still, one could imagine a dance club in nyc or antwerp to this. it is still "groovy" and has the funk, so to say.
Alien Factory later had some huge trance hits like "destiny" or "get the future started". but this is a great early release.
Do you have any own favorites in german hardcore 1990-1994? let me know!