Hardcore History: Was 'Mescalinum United - We Have Arrived' really the first Hardcore track? Let us take a look!

First, let us make something clear. This is a very subjective look; other people may have different opinions, and we don't claim to own the one and only truth here. Now that this has been said, let us go on.

Lately, there have been challenges to the claim that 'We Have Arrived' by Mescalinum United is 'really' the first Hardcore track ever. People point to other earlier tracks that already have quite distorted bass drums or otherwise heavy sounds.

Are these challenges legit? Perhaps 'We Have Arrived' is not the first Hardcore track at all?

Let us take a look at this. First, the dry facts. 'We Have Arrived' has a distorted, 'Gabber' type bass drum, howling synths/sirens, overly distorted percussion, frantic sounds, and noises. It's undoubtedly a Hardcore track. But was it the first one?

I would say: yes. For the following reason:

People point to other tracks that were earlier and already had 'heavy' sounds in one way or another. But I think this is missing the point by far because people focus too much on what are more or less just 'production' details.

Yes, there were tracks with heavy bass drums before 'We Have Arrived.' Also, shortly afterwards, there were tracks with truly distorted 909s and such. But I think 'We Have Arrived' stood out, literally for years after its release.

Let us look at two aspects of this: First, what was later called 'Techno' was referred to as 'House' in the Netherlands. It was to the point that 'Gabberhouse' became established as a term similar to Hardcore Techno. I believe this goes beyond semantics. Techno, as a whole, evolved from House, and the Gabberhouse sound was still tied to the House sound.
What was House? It was a genre that evolved from Disco in the 80s (or late 70s). It represented people coming together in a venue or club, getting drunk or high, dancing, enjoying life, having fun, and celebrating with positive moods and vibes. It was a lot like Disco, but more intense. The early Gabberhouse tracks followed in that direction. They were fun party music for a real intense celebration, just more extreme than the usual House fare.

A lot of early 'hard' tracks were actually kind of novelty tracks, even somewhat silly and cheesy at times. This doesn't diminish their value because they were intended as party music and worked in that way.

No disrespect meant at all (because I love the following track), but I would say that even 'Alles naar de klote' was still such an 'extreme party' track. It certainly isn't a dark, somber, or introspective track, right?

On the other hand, 'We Have Arrived' was different. It had a distinct attitude. In my opinion, this new attitude, mood, feel, philosophy, and ideology marked the true advent of Hardcore Techno. Describing precisely what was expressed by this attitude, concept, or theme is hard, maybe even impossible. But it was undoubtedly a very dark thing. A dark mood. Brutal. Nihilistic. Without mercy. Without remorse. Rebellious.

And that was something truly new, something no other Techno, House, or EBM track had at that time. Early Gabberhouse had that sense of 'Hey, we are here to celebrate and have a good time, and now we take it to the extreme.' There was nothing like that in Mescalinum United's track. 'We Have Arrived' doesn't evoke a sense of 'good vibration' and a happy celebration. It's a sonic attack that kicks you directly in the teeth—and in your mind.

When other early Gabber producers were interviewed, they said: 'we're doing music because we want to have a party, we want to have fun'.
When Marc Acardipane was interviewed he said (paraphrased): 'we're doing music to prepare people for the coming times, because times will get tough'. [Source]

Certainly, dark dance or rhythmic music existed before in genres such as EBM, Industrial, and No Wave. However, it was not Hardcore.

Now, some may argue that this is an interesting interpretation and analysis (or perhaps an uninteresting one), but also a bit of nit-picking and overthinking. "It's akin to the topic of discussing which member of the Beatles had which role in a particular song. While it may captivate music historians and trainspotters, the average person listening to a Beatles song on the radio couldn't care less."

However, I don't view it that way. It's not purely a matter of theoretical value. I believe 'We Have Arrived' had tangible, practical consequences and results for the ongoing development of Hardcore.

This 'dark, nihilist, remorseless' attitude, or rather, this 'Hardcore' attitude, fundamentally transformed the emerging scene and continues to shape it to this day.

Because after the initial wave of Gabberhouse tracks, we started to see the emergence of darker and more somber Hardcore tracks (beyond PCP and its associated labels). Hardcore and Gabber, as a whole, took a darker turn.
While some parts of the scene in the mid-90s veered toward what some might call 'commercial radio bullshit,' with its overly happy and cheesy sounds, twisted and disturbing genres like Speedcore, Acidcore, Industrial Hardcore, Doomcore, or even Breakcore emerged. In my opinion, these genres were spawned from the seed planted by Mescalinum United's track, albeit with many steps in between. Yet, they are still connected to this very root.

Without 'We Have Arrived,' we might have a world with Gabberhouse but without Hardcore Techno. This pivotal development, along with the subsequent branching out into various styles and subgenres (such as Doomcore, Slowcore, etc.), continues to evolve and will persist into the future.

'We Have Arrived' was the first bona fide Hardcore Techno track, period. Its significance goes beyond just its drums, noise, or distortion. Most importantly, it defined the attitude and state of mind that we now associate with 'Hardcore Techno.'

What is your opinion on this topic? Do you know more "Early Hardcore" tracks? Let us know!