Hardcore History - 10 of the Most Brutal Early Gabber Tracks

or: "Hidden History - Early Gabber Brutality"

when looking at music history and researching sounds from the past, it is often overlooked that styles, sub-styles, and sub-sub-styles often let to the formation of camps, sonic cults, and social circles, that were divided, or even hostile to each others.
Death Metal kids did not like Black Metal kids. Punks often did not like Goths, Billies, or Skins - and vice versa. Van Halen fans did not like Depeche mode.

The same was true for the Gabber genres, so when I joined the Hardcore world in the mid 90s, I associated with the emerging Speedcore, Breakcore, Experimental Hardcore scenes; and these social groups all agreed on one thing: the "Dutch Gabber" sub-scene is the enemy. It's "commercial, cheesy, pop-y, just for drug kids, they sold out, they ruin hardcore".

just like members of joy division ripped their pink floyd posters from the wall in the "24h hour party people" movie, or euronymous gets called out for having a "scorpions" LP at his record store in "lords of chaos", i tried to part ways with what i considered to be "sell-out gabber music".

Now, all this is of course a thing of the past, and i think we can enjoy one or two tracks of bouncy or happy hardcore alongside evil speedcore noise or metal influenced breakcore.

But, for me it meant that I missed out on a lot of good stuff back in the day, because i snubbed my nose at all that seemingly came from the "commercial hardcore moloch".
And I was especially surprised to discover that just 1-2 years before I and others got into the more extreme hardcore and speedcore scenes, the "dutch labels" already put out a lot of stuff that was very similar to "our" ultra-violent sound a few years later.
metal guitars, high bpm, hyper-distortion, sex, screams.... it was all there in 1994 already.
and it was quite astonishing how fast the "dutch gabber" scene could mellow and disown their own violent music history in such a short time in the 90s. it seems that until the advent of discogs, the big companies managed to "wipe out" most of the memories to this sonic adventure. (people might underestimate how hard it could be to find information about labels, releases, preceding the days ot the big online date exchange.)
of course, the gabber veterans remembered - they kept silent, though.

but now , with the early hardcore / terror revival and the abovementioned discogs diggers, this silence is broken by deafening noize, and this "secret knowledge" is spreading like wildfire again.

(in fact, i suppose there are already people that have forgotten - that this sound was once forgotten!)

And to add more fuel to this fire, here are 10 tracks to showcase this early dutch hardcore and gabber brutality.

1. Scarface - Death Is The Future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnCQBzeqVJM

2. Sauerkraut - I Don't Believe In You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LamWgf9Qns

3. Underground Nation Of Rotterdam - 666 (Damion's Edit) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npeg6fFHYoA

4. R. Wagner - Zone of Disaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKxRwNzyjDA

5. De Klootzakken - Dominee Dimitri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2POZufeJsg

6. Igor - Talking About God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osRBJstCvso

7. The Undertaker - Flatliner (Graveyard Shift) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm0oYb2G9vU

8. Sons Of Aliens - So What! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erMixj73boo

9. Krimson - Praise Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nyPmzPNinU

10. Ech Heftag! - Uit Je Dakkie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN-ul4Xi5T0

honorable mentions:

Scarface - Blow Your Head Off
Noisegate - Goddamn' Mind
he Undertaker - Flatliner (Frankfurt Affair)
Euromasters - Alles Naar De Klote (250 Bpm Mix)
Rave A Graphixx - There Is No Other
Dr. Mindfuck - Ich Bin Ein Berliner
Triplet - Move It Faster
R. Wagner - It's Drivin Me Sick
Mental Hardcore Associates - Let's Get Wappie
The Undertaker - You're Finished
Scarface - Shock Intro
Rich in Paradise - Kick out the jams
The Falcon - Tear You Apart
Speedloader - Fuckin' Speedloadertosti
el bruto - El Bruto
sauerkraut - bomb