Pleasure and Pain, Ecstasy and Melancholy, Brightness and Darkness: The Multiple Faces of Hardcore Techno

For several decades, Hardcore Techno and its sub-styles were treated like "pariah" genres by the larger Techno community; and by society as a whole.
Undoubtedly, one of the main reasons for this is that Hardcore music and producers never shied away from the darker aspects of culture, media, and society.
While Techno-Trance material, for example, is often related to having a good time, euphoria, reaching a state of serenity, Hardcore tracks sample horror movies about summoning demons that tear one's soul apart via chains and iron hooks while dressed in a type of kink gear - and possibly worse things.

Yet, maybe it's the Techno and Acid House heritage, but Hardcore *does* have the euphoria, the bliss, the happiness, the moksha of Rave, Trance, House and Goa, too.
So it's best of both worlds, and some subs of Hardcore learn more towards the former, or more towards the latter territory.

Recently, a friend noted that there are quite a few tracks, especially among the Oldschool regiment, that combined both "dark and light tropes" inside one track; and, more than that, they merge, weave, blend, and twist these things together.

So, we have a three-fold presence here:

1. Positive, "light" topics
2. Tropes that 'the normal people' consider to be sick and twisted
3. A combination, a fusion, a synthesis of both.

And this is extremely remarkable; because if you are a bit into philosophical and "intellectual" musings, you would know this is essentially the "holy grail" of philosophy. at least the Hegel-approved formula of "theses and anti-thesis fuses into synthesis" should be well known, right?

So, we could step out of the light into the dark now, and ponder on this medial enigma... but we hold still for a moment, and push that towards a future date. Because right here, right now, we will look at a few releases that exemplify this "good and evil, positive and negative" intersection.

1. RMB - Heaven And Hell EP

It is a well-suited starting point, because you have it right there, in the title: heaven and hell.
This is a very polar release: sweet and chilling "Trance" sounds on one side, gruesome "Terror" on the flip side.

2. RMB - River's Edge

Let's stay with RMB. The "This World Is Yours" album exemplifies the above idea in a perfect way. Starting with softest, soothing, saccharine Ambient-Trance-Rave sounds, it packs up a lot of darkness and pain on the way, until it ends in terrifying gabber beats accompanied by the sounds of warfare machinery and shrill shrieks.
Its track "River's Edge" is almost a recursive miniature version of the album as a whole. Minutes of ambient sounds that slowly fade into hard rave.
To this day, I haven't heard another tune that does a fusion like this.

3. The Horrorist - It Goes like this

A "spoken word" techno-electro track telling the story of an everyday person whose life get's turned around when he discovers a world of lust, drugs, and nihilism.
It's almost like a "twisted moksha" where you realize everything is fine, because pleasure and pain, happiness and misery are all part of the same coin.
Let's look at the lyrics:

"I felt nothing, but I felt fine. I'm alive and I'm passing the time."

4. Reign - Light & Dark

It's in the title again! But more than that, the vocals state:

"Life is the result of the struggle between dynamic opposites.
Form and chaos, substance and oblivion, light and dark.
And all the infinite variations of Yin and Yang
When the pendulum swings in favor of one
It will eventually swing in favor of its opposite

Thus the balance of the universe is maintained."

So instead of a typical battle "light vs dark", the importance of balance and equilibrium is stressed, with no side being allowed to win against the other.

5. Masters of Rave - Pump It!

This is an almost "blasphemous" release, as it begins with a rendition of genesis in the Christian bible;
But it get's turned around and instead talks about the creation of rave.
Finally, fiery sounds and beats come in, and merge with sleazy and libidinal lyrics; until a heavenly choir joins in.
So this is a tracks where "high" and "low" concepts are really interwoven with each other.

6. Zekt - Explorers

“Explorers in the further regions of experience.
Demons to some, angels to others.”

We hear you, Zekt!

7. Taciturne - Der Toten / Mourning

Der Toten and Mourning are quite similar: both involve epic, orchestral and / or chanting soundtracks, pierce them with slow, super-hard drums; and stay minimal and hypnotic like that, only interrupted by very few other sounds.
But while the melody in the former is hell-raising, in the latter it is sacred, innocent and pure... or is it the other way round?
More tracks that have light and dark elements by Taciturne are, for example, Haematopan and Phenprocoumon.

Further Examples:

8. Freez-E-Style - Enter The Gates Of Darkness (Stay Strong, Raise The Flag And Spread The Spheres Of Light)
9. Symbiosis Of Sounds - Tales Of Creation And Destruction
10. George Vagas Meets Mike D - Hyperdome (Heavens Version)

Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter #11 - Hardcore Techno as a community of rejects

[A personal account]

Today I want to talk about what Hardcore Techno means to me, from the bottom of my heart. Not just the music - the movement, the scene, everything.

Part 1 - The world we live in

So, let's begin. The thing is, in our oh-so civilized world, there is a certain impression that is spread around. Which is that we would live in a society that cares about the well-being of its members. That 'basic humans needs' are taken care of. Unlike that "bad, evil" world "outside the west", where people could die of starvation, or civil war rages, or they rot in prisons.

And this is just not true. Maybe it's true for the majority of people. Maybe it's true for some people. Maybe it's even true for no-one. But I know one thing. For a lot of people, in "well-civilized" Europe, Northern America, Australia, elsewhere, "life" is a daily fight for survival. They don't know if they are still alive next week. They don't know how to get by. They stared into the abyss all their life. And no-one takes care of them. No-one even cares. And that's how society is. That's the world we live in.

And, most harrowingly, this is highly effecting children and childhood in general.
Kids might be subjected to bullying in schools; and i don't mean taunting or name-calling, I mean being confronted with bullies that have knifes, guns, or other weapons and that might snuff them out within a few seconds. having to face them each day at school, and not knowing if they are still alive in the evening.
Or they have physically abusive parents, drug, alcohol addicts, a father (or mother) that might bludgeon them to death in an angry fit one day.
They might have teachers that harm them. They might be in institutions and facilities that are a danger to them. They might be homeless.

There are countless other examples of very bad situations that you can find yourself in when you are young.
And in these cases, *no one* will come to help you or rescue you. Society does not care. You are on your own - and you are left for dead.

Yes, maybe, someone somewhere got helped by "understanding adults", just like in these cheesy silly movies.
But the reality in most cases is that society spits on you and hopes that you die and fade away quickly.

Part 2 - The underground family

And this is where Hardcore Techno came in; not just Hardcore Techno, of course.
These "dead end kids" eventually formed youth cultures; rock'n'roll in the 50s, rock in the 60s, rap, punk, metal, mods, northern soul... and then Hardcore and Gabber, too. These youth sub-cultures led to communities of rejects. If no one else cares.... at least *we* do care about our own kind, right?

One of the most marvelous things about being in the HC scene was meeting other people who went through the same shit - or even worse stuff - as me, connected by the common interest in this very unique form of music, and then trying to help and support each other.
Even simply knowing that you are not the only one who was treated like a stain of excrement by everyone else in life can already be a quite helpful event.

That's the spirit of Hardcore for me, and the feelings and experiences of violence, trauma, rage, hatred, rejection, can be heard in the vocals and lyrics of the original Gabber tracks and the sentiments of their sounds.

Part 3 - Hope for the future

i hope that the new generation that enters the hardcore movement in the future will gain the same beneficial reactions - and that all of us will still be bound by a sense of unity.

and maybe, maybe, some time in the future, even the people of the "civilized western world" will start to care for other humans, too, instead of putting innocent lives in danger.

For other editions of the Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter, check here:
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/p/the-mental-hardcore-health-newsletter.html

From Industrial Goths to Doomcore Techno: Tracing a Dark Bloodline

I always like to say that Doomcore actually predates the advent of Hardcore, even that of Techno. A tongue-in-cheek statement, of course, but with more than one grain of truth.

The reality is that the types of synths, sounds, melodies, chords, arpeggios that are used in Doomcore tracks had been around in the 80s already.
Electronic music and electronic experiments where vast in that decade; and while you had euphoric poppy Cindy Laupers and Limahls on one side, darkness ruled in the valleys that led into the underground.
There were "scenes" such as post-punk, goths, industrial, ebm, minimal-wave that often bled into each (yeah and a lot of these "terms" came only in major use after the 80s had long ended). It is astonishing to me how similar some of these synth-tracks were to what we call Doomcore now. All they would have needed was a straight 909 and some percussion.

Was this a case of "parallel evolution" (if somewhat time-shifted) or is this really the root and origin of Doomcore?

Well, there are at least a lot of artists that claim this earlier sound as a source of inspiration - including The Horrorist, Marc Acardipane, Current 909 (many non-doom producers as well - such as The Speed Freak, Xol Dog 400, Taciturne)... so there definitely is a thread there... a dark and blood-stained thread.

But regardless. The "Electronic Doom Music" of the 80s is able to stand on its own as well, with its powerful, punishing beats and haunting, tenebrous sentiments.

So let's look at 10 tracks from this occulted realm now:

#1. Anne Clark - Contact

#2. Nightmoves - Transdance (Uk Club Mix)

#3. The Actor - Le Champ D'Honneur

#4. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - I Betray My Friends

#5. John Foxx - The Garden

#6. Nocturnal Emissions - In Our Time

#7. The Cure - One Hundred Years (Studio Demo)

#8. New Order - Doubts Even Here

#9. Oppenheimer Analysis - Scorpions

#10. The Vyllies - Whispers In The Shadow

The 1000 Deaths of Taciturne

Would you die for Hardcore? Well, Taciturne did - not really, of course.
In what he later described as a "necessary task" he did a ritual which involved floating in a bathtub of "blood". The associated photograph and narrative were so "convincing" to some that they really started to believe he had "pulled the plug"!
This one episode out of many in his life as an artist should make quite clear that Taciturne is/was no ordinary producer at all.

Entering the Hardcore world as shy teenager like most of us, he quickly trail-blazed and out-gunned the underground scene, playing in front of tens of thousand people in de-ranged airport hangars and having the most expensive hardcore techno collector record at one point ("6 Fragmente in der Chronologie des Wahnsinns").
"He took it all too far (but, boy, could he play guitar)" (like David Bowie might have said), then came the fall, and his life "ended", like that of many great musicians, in a bath tub.

There was a long silence that lasted over a decade. His path crossed the Hardcore realms a few times since then. Not least because of the fact that he made hundreds (or thousands?) of tracks in the 90s, of which only the tiniest fracture got released - so we have (finally!) seen some unearthing of this material recently.

But now... let's look directly at 10 of his compositions!

Der Toten
his big gig gabber hit! featured on all the huge compilations and festivals in the 90s, and ripped-off several times by other artists.



Mourning
sacred chanting meets "devilish" bassdrums... a dangerous and nasty mixture!

Moonbreaker
james bond is a good sampling source, ain't that the truth? this time getting messed up with proto-breakcore beats.

Praxis Dr. Fischer
was all the rage for the speedcore heads.

Boys Don't Cry (Revisited)
yes yes even hardened noizecore producers weep to robert smith.

They Appear
proto-doomcore appears on this track.

Infrustrial
experimental beats, sounds, noise!

Nix Mellow
"not" mellow indeed... early speedcore lunacy.

Corrupting Morality
the sound station and gear seem to be corrupted too, in this fast-tempo hardcore track.

Module Of The Damned
interesting amiga experiments!

11 AM
11 am is usually the time a producing session ends, so we fade out with these soothing ambient-electronic sounds.

Also check this interview:

https://www.paynomindtous.it/hardcoretales-taciturne/

and this story:

"Taciturne; Another Clue" - https://www.discogs.com/group/thread/697296?message_id=6965370#6965370

And his Bandcamp presence:

https://taciturne.bandcamp.com/

The 1000 Faces of Biochip C. (aka The Speedfreak, aka Martin Damm...)

There are few artist as legendary as Biochip C... aka The Speedfreak... aka Martin Damm... aka The Shapeshifer... aka Phase IV...

Well, you are beginning to get the point here, right? He is truly a man of 1000 faces - and aliases

Definitely in the Top 5 of "most Techno releases ever", on all formats, a plenitude of labels, - and an almost endless variation of styles.

Most hard-heads know him for his Gabber / Hardcore / Speedcore stuff, maybe even the "more cheesy" side of it... but beyond that, he produced in virtually all styles of electronic music: Acid, Ambient, Breaks, EBM, Electro, Eurodance, House, Industrial - you name it, and he has done it.

Thus, we will be looking at 10 very varied tracks from his sonic works - to show the vast spectrum of his creations!

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1. Biochip C. - Steal It And Deal (Dmx Krew Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1oaUos-_Rk

kool electro.

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2. "O" – Das Spiel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Pw8NMI9g4
bdsm-ebm-techno.

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3. The Speed Freak - Fight! (El Hombre Maquina) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkl0S5q6HFo
high energy gabber.

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4. Biochip C. - Strange Invaders (Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCzNJUPXtuo
sour cyber-techno.

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5. Cyberchrist - Belief https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOtQCL3fV0o
noisy industrial.

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6. Steel - Steel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsTc0I3_lsU&t=503
Industrial Dance Beat.

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7. DJ X-Play - Dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RmXtDplZCc
cheesefest dance tune.

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8. Search & Destroy - Def Jam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGklGh-NFpA
hyper-pop-sample-hardcore.

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9. Napalm 9 - Shit01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kru-dUqQaI
guitar speedcore madness.

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10. DJ Fistf*ck - Make Me Vomit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMwpcWyZ0DI
extreme metal hits hardcore techno.

Vicious Responses on a Somatic level: A look at 11 tracks by the Welsh brothers, and their new EP on Aneurysm Recordings

There is a new Somatic Responses EP on Aneurysm Recordings - it's about time to look back at the very "Hardcore" past of the Healy brothers, and their new 12" on this special Italian label.

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Track #1: Somatic Hardbeats

by all I know, this was the very first life sign by the Somatic Responses. Released on the infamous capitol noize compilation, alongside such acts like Spiral Tribe, Alec Empire or Marc Acardipane.

There was nothing like this, anywhere in the world, when it was released. Cold Future-Core, technical, cerebral, and harder than the rest of the competition.

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#2. Electrical Fault

Did you know this was supposed to be released on Fischkopf Records? But there was a change of management, and Paul & Jan took this release, and also the 2nd Christoph de Babalon EP (which became one half of the "we declare war" split 12") and released it on their label instead.
Whoever did bassdrums that hard back then, or even now?
A track to get killed for!

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#3. Sound of Disturbance

already elements of departure here. no longer pure cybernetic noise, but a very dream like acid melody is included. a track that makes you feel like major tom was high on DMT (instead of smack).

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#4. Axon

you know this one from the biomechanik compilation, right?
words fail me to describe it. this is not some gabber-shit, this is highly complicated "math-core". truly smart, truly brilliant
i will see you at Axxon N.

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#5. Cyclotron

one of the hardest and most noisy tracks in any genre, ever. no wonder it was released on the "terror troops" ep.
this samples the part in videodrome where dr. oblivion tells max that he is going to slip from reality into a life of total hallucination.
and, yes, this track will verily have the same effect on you. all hail the new flesh!

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#6. Drome

somatic responses truly began to change their sound here.
like a wild bastard of electro, but much harder, the sounds evoke labyrinthine and non-Euclidean images before the mental eye (well, to me, at least!).

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#7. Freezing Point

released on the legendary "passages" ep, on ufo recordings. and this could really be the soundtrack to an ufo sighting, landing, or abduction. driven by an arpeggio that sounds like it contains physically impossible tone intervals, the drums hammer the message straight in your brain. only to fade out into sounds that make you feel as if the ghost of captain nemo is circumnavigating the globe in a haunted nautilus.
a true "rite of passages" in sound and mind!

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#8. Umbrella

The opening synths of Umbrella… I never heard something like this before. It changed my outlook at music forever. I know another artist who also listened to this track described the sound by Somatics as “feeling as if you walk through a dystopic world of burned out industrial building and cyborg wars”. Couldn’t agree more.

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#9. Wherever

of all the tracks of the "classic" era somatic responses releases, this is a favorite to many.
no longer "techno" or "gabber" or anything, more like a surreal cinematic soundtrack underscored by drums and distortion.
well done, SR!

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#10. Metalert

be alert, because this track has one of the best and most interesting melodies in electronic music (how did they manage to compose this?).
and a rusty, screeching breakbeat tears down the rest of the architecture.

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#11. Oldrosv

yes, that's part of somatic responses sound, too - serene, selenic, dreamy ambient + electro / "idm" beats.
calm and soothing, no attack by the troops of terror this time!

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this little overview essentially captured the early, hard, noisy releases by the somatic responses. the material they released in the decades that followed was not less interesting, but too vast for the scope of this feature. we will take a look at this one-of-a-kind music at another point in the future.

the new release on aneurysm is partly a return to this experimental "hardcore heritage", but also contains many new elements, designs, methods (of mutulation! [sic] ) .
and, yes, in my opinion the sound is even more vicious!

Release info:

Somatic Responses
Abred Hanesydool E.P.
Aneurysm 05

Listening suggestion: Old Evil (Part1) 04:06

Pre-order + Pre-views:

https://aneurysmrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/somatic-responses-abred-hanesyddol-e-p

The forgotten Hardcore (video) History of the 90s German Mayday Rave Parties

If you're a follower of Hardcore Techno, you've likely stumbled upon some videos taken from the German Mayday Raves by now.
At least the PCP@Mayday video should be a given, then there's Laurent Hô, Dano, RMB...

So, in case you were not "there and alive, in that corner of time and the world", let us throw some light on this rave-y hardcore phenomenon.

1. What was Mayday?

In the 90s, Mayday was the biggest Rave in Germany - and likely all over the world, too.
It was a huge party set in a vast indoor area (actually an exhibition hall) in the middle of germany, ran for several days, and had several "stages / floors" each time.
Some raves were set in berlin, too, but that concept was dropped then.
The first mayday took place in 1991.

2. Why was Hardcore and Gabber being played at Mayday?

Because, from the beginning of the 90s to the mid of the decade, the various Techno "styles" were not split. People would listen to, and party to several styles, and Raves did host a variety of music, too.
So it was normal that Trance, Techno, Acid, Gabber and "Terror" DJs played at the same floor - or that DJs simply dropped all of this in one set.
As Hardcore was a natural part of the Techno and Rave scene, it obviously had to be at Mayday, too.

There is also the misconception that in the 90s, "Hardcore" was only played at some dedicated parties and festivals, mostly set in the Netherlands.
Bullshit! Hardcore was played all over the world, at 100s of places and destinations. But, as mentioned above, it did not had to be a special "Hardcore" party, DJs dropped Gabber beats all the time on the dancefloor.

But, above that, at one point Mayday seemed to be catalyst for the Hardcore scene too. Hardcore and Gabber were seen as the hottest and newest trends for the Techno crowd ca. 1992-93, and Mayday tried to jump onto the wagon and push this even more.

3. Why are there so many videos of these parties?

"Viva" was a music television channel that was set up to kill MTV's market share in Germany. One of the concepts was to focus on "new youth trends" as the execs thought the "old dinosaur" MTV would be too lazy to pick up on these, and be vulnerable to losses in that regard.
So right from the start Viva clung to the Rave, Techno, Dance scene (which was the biggest youth movement in Germany in the 90s - much bigger than Nirvana, Oasis or Blur etc.). Tracks like Technohead - I wanna be a hippy, RMB - Redemption, or DJ Hooligan - Rave Nation were on heavy rotation on Viva and could be seen throughout the day.
Viva also decided to do broadcasts of the Mayday raves, lasting something like 5 hours into the night.

This means these videos were recorded by a professional, dedicated sound and video team for a TV broadcast, and have thus superior quality to almost any other recordings from the 90s.
Fans than just recorded the TV signal onto their VHS tapes.

4. Are there other recordings than the videos?

Yes, there were also a lot of audio recordings of Mayday sets, and some where even much more Hardcore!

5. What are some notable Mayday recordings?

Videos:

#1. PCP - Live @ Mayday "Judgement Day" - 30.04.1993

I mean, yeah, here comes the big one, right?
If you have not seen this video, what do you know about Hardcore, really?

#2. Laurent Hô @ Mayday The Raving Society 26.11.1994

His set is definitely not some Mellow, Trance type music. It's true underground Gabber and "Terror", from the likes of Industrial Strength, DJ Fistf*uck, C-Tank...

#3. RMB Live @ Mayday The Raving Society 26.11.1994 

Starting rave-y and rough, then getting real Hardcore towards the end!

#4. Marusha @ Mayday The Raving Society 

Dropping stuff like "3 Steps Ahead - Hardcore".

#5. Moby @ Mayday Reformation 30.04.1995 

Woah, man! Moby ends this set with 1000 BPM.

Audio:

#6. Gizmo Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia 30-04-1994 

Getting really, really rough here, with tracks like "We who are oppressed" or "riot in ny".

Iridium DJ · Gizmo Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia, Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Germany 30-04-1994

#7 Ravers Nature Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia, 30-04-1994 

the MC asks "Do you want some happy hardcore?" well, that's not quite the sound here, but it's hard, hard rave beats.

Iridium DJ · Ravers Nature Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia, Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Germany 30-04-1994

#8. Laurent Hô -Mayday - The Raving Society - 1994

Again, but this time the full set! (the tv crew did cut out some of the best parts).

magpie303 · Laurent Ho -Mayday - The Raving Society-1994

#9. Hardsequencer Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia 30-04-1994

"I'm talking about God, the Devil, Hell, Heaven." you know the score!

Iridium DJ · Hardsequencer Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia, Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Germany 30-04-1994

#10. Ilsa Gold Live @ Mayday, Rave Olympia 30-04-1994 

this.is.just.insane! rumor is that ilsa gold played on an ice machine instead of a synthesizer while doing this set in front of frantic ravers.

with this, I leave you into the night.
And when you get lost and are in need.... just remember... mayday... mayday... mayday....

The Magician's Legacy: Unveiling the Mystical Archetype in Hardcore Music

The magician... An omnipresent yet elusive figure. Today, we will analyze this particular character, or archetype, in the context of Hardcore Techno, aiming to explore the unique forms and meanings it takes within these worlds of sonic extremism.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a magician is someone “...who practices magic, sometimes considered the same as a sorcerer or witch (...). The name derives from the magus, an ancient Persian priest, and the cognate maghdim, a Chaldean term meaning wisdom and philosophy”. While Wikipedia describes Magic as “...an ancient practice rooted in rituals, spiritual divinations, and/or cultural lineage—with an intention to invoke, manipulate, or otherwise manifest supernatural forces, beings, or entities in the natural world.”

The figure of the magician has manifested in many forms in modern music. To cite an iconic example, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 1956 song "I Put a Spell On You" was one of the first tracks to directly and explicitly use the figure of the magician, leading to boycotts by radio stations and record stores due to its references to voodoo and black magic. His stage performance left no doubt about the dark nature of the song and the central, macabre role that the magician figure plays in this work.

Screamin Jay Hawkins - I put a spell on you

Moving into more recent popular music, examples abound. Both in Heavy Metal and Pop music, there are numerous references to magicians or stage performances that evoke this figure. Tracks like “The Wizard” by Black Sabbath, “Stargazer” by Rainbow, and “Mr. Crowley” by Ozzy Osbourne are classics that kick off an endless stream of metal songs related to magic and the occult.

OZZY OSBOURNE - "Mr. Crowley" 1981 (Live Video)

On the pop side, we have tracks like “Rasputin” by Boney M. or “Abracadabra” by Steve Miller Band, which approach magic or the legendary figure of the mystic Rasputin in a more playful way. Here, magic is presented more metaphorically, used to embellish the more mundane topics typically addressed by popular music.

Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra (Official Music Video)

So, when does the figure of the magician begin to appear in electronic music? From the references to the macabre and the occult in industrial and darkwave music, we can trace roots in this topic. The band Psychic TV, historically connected both to Throbbing Gristle and the emerging Acid House scene, has several tracks that reference the occult and magic, offering good examples of the electronic music trend to swiftly move away from the pristine and idealized hypermodern imagery proposed by Kraftwerk, into more arcane realms.

Hex Sex

In this 1980s context, where both Synthpop and more extreme forms of electronic music like EBM embraced darker and more nocturnal aesthetics, New Beat emerged—a genre commonly recognized as the direct ancestor of Hardcore Techno in the late '80s.

It’s within this style that we begin to see early signs of the magician figure in Hardcore, which would project into the future. An iconic example is the stage performance of the classic track “Hysteria” by the New Beat group Amnesia. In this performance, the frontman appears dressed as a magician, wearing a top hat, white gloves, and a colorful outfit. Here, we see the magician as a showman, distinct from the figure of a "real" magician—fiction is implied. This aligns with the more festive spirit of New Beat, which was more functional, geared towards clubs and raves, where the magician acts as the master of ceremonies in a grand spectacle filled with strange sounds, pyrotechnics, and psychedelia.

Amnesia - Hysteria - 1988 - [7" Mix] - (Original Music Video) - Belgian New Beat/Acid

As Simon Reynolds points out in his classic tome on Rave culture, Hardcore electronic music in its broadest sense presents clear parallels between its sonic formulas and magical formulas:

“The parallels between sampladelia and magic have not been lost on its exponents. With his contraptions and arcane, self-invented terminology, the hardcore producer lies somewhere between the mad scientist and the sorcerer with his potions, alembics and spells. (…) The DJ too is often regarded as a shaman or dark magus.”

While Reynolds refers to this in the context of the production techniques and mystique of artists like Goldie during the transition period between Breakbeat Hardcore and Jungle, known as Darkcore or Darkside Hardcore, what he points out is applicable to the entirety of these electronic music styles and beyond. In fact, there are many other instances within Hardcore that highlight this association.

Another interesting case can be seen in classics from the so-called "Belgian Techno" or "Techno-Rave" during its peak between 1991 and 1992. For example, the artwork for the classic track "Le Seigneur de Tenebres" features a magician in the sense of a true sorcerer, dressed in an outfit reminiscent of a druid with a long white beard and flowing hair, akin to Merlin working with dark powers. A black-caped wizard can also be seen in the music video for the same track.

Pleasure Game - Le Seigneur Des Ténèbres (Official Video)

A similar figure, also in the vein of Merlin, is observed in the track “Heute Nacht Ist Myrdin's Nacht” by Myrdin from 1991. Here, we see a sorcerer with a more caricatured appearance, yet still interacting with chaotic forces, symbolized by arrows in the shape of saw blades pointing in various directions, akin to the traditional symbol of chaos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRrUaXTRhpw

Within the same Techno-Rave style currents at the dawn of Hardcore, we have the iconic band Messiah with their classic;music video for the track “Temple of Dreams.” The video features three characters: a magician, a singer in a metallic dress, and a dark hooded figure with a gas mask. The magician transports us to a hidden dimension where everything moves, colors constantly shift, and strange shapes swirl around, while the intensity of the music fills the space. The video evokes the Rave experience, where ravers of the time entered a parallel world to escape the constraints of a static reality.

This trinity of mysterious entities give the impression of strange messengers delivering a wicked experience to the audience, brought from another dimension—reminiscent of the Cenobites in the Hellraiser franchise, which has been very influential in Hardcore Techno culture since its inception. The Messiah makes the audience eyewitnesses of whatever this strange crew has to offer. The magician here is also the white rabbit, a messenger and deliverer of this new world after we, as Alice, have fallen into the rabbit hole.

Messiah - Temple Of Dreams (Official Video)

As Hardcore evolved into its more definitive form, the figure of the magician has appeared in countless artist names, tracks, and release artwork. For now, let’s focus on one of its most iconic symbols: the classic Wizard logo from Thunderdome. Considering everything reviewed so far, we can see that it is more than just an idea from ID&T; it is the result of a long development within music in general and particularly within the immediate predecessors of Gabber, such as New Beat and Rave.

However, this Wizard figure still has its particularities. It aligns more clearly with the image of a real sorcerer rather than a show magician, resembling the druidic form seen in the artwork of Pleasure Game. Both arms raised also seem to respond to the classic figure of the magician in tarot. While in the latter, one arm is raised to the sky and the other extends towards the earth, expressing the motto “as above, so below” and symbolizing the channeling of otherworldly energies into the mundane, the Thunderdome Wizard raises both arms, demonstrating strength and a greater focus on channeling otherworldly energies, as well as the escapism from the mundane seen in more Rave-oriented genres like old-school Gabber.

A quote from the 1992 film "The Lawnmower Man" summarizes quite well how Hardcore has adopted and adapted the figure of the magician:

"Nothing we've been doing is new. We haven't been tapping into new areas of the brain - we've just been awakening the ancient. This technology is simply a mirror of the powers that wizards and alchemists possessed centuries ago. The human race has lost that knowledge and now *We* are reclaiming it."

In fact, this quote appears in the track “New Areas Of The Brain - The Middle Chill” by TCM, in the mix “House Party 10 (The Hardcore Mix)” released by Arcade:

House party 10: The hardcore mix (full)

Thus, we see how, on many levels, the figure of the magician is not something new in music, nor in Hardcore. It is a universal archetype that constantly emerges, and it has been present in Hardcore since its early days in the genres that began to lay its foundations. It has solidified as an icon that, while not always as evident as in other musical genres, is very relevant for understanding the mystical potential of Hardcore.

You might also be interested to read this Exclusive Feature: The Occult Underground Beneath the Hardcore Techno Scene Exposed

Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter #10 - Dealing With Social Isolation

Welcome to a new edition of the Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter.

Dealing with social isolation

One of the most common issues related to "mental health" within the Hardcore Techno scene is social isolation.

This goes from "living a somewhat functional life without friends and acquaintances" (this is already bad enough) to total isolation: having severe social anxiety, not being able to leave the house / flat, and literally not seeing or talking to a human soul for ages (and this is even much worse).

Another aspect is being "isolated in crowds". A person might have "friends", people they know at work, family members, might even attend big parties and events - yet experience an overwhelming feeling of alienation, of not being connected to others.
The feeling that others do not really relate to, or understand, your own thoughts, feelings, aspirations.
Even though you might have "friends", you are not "really" able to talk to them about the things you really need - on the inside, you keep being the "odd one out".

Or someone is well-connected and has many contacts online, on the internet, but zero friends in the real world.

This does not only effect fans and supporters of the Hardcore Techno movement, but often even its prime movers and shakers.
Well-known DJs, producer, promoters...

Why do you think so many famous artists "disappeared" from the scene?
A lot of them went into "hiding", moved to a more remote place, and are living like social hermits now... and that's really sad.

But this already indicates that there should be *no shame* to it. It can happen to everyone. Even to successful, creative, highly-admired people...
It's not your fault if you have no friends.

And if you want to heal and get out of this situation, this is probably the first and best thing you can do:
Realize that *you are not alone in your isolation".
That's quite paradox. But social isolation, even in its most severe variants, is a very common thing these days that is troubling millions of people.


What else can you do to overcome this situation?

2. Open up about it! Talk to others, and talk about it, online, or in real life.
In my experience, the response can be more positive and helpful than you would have expected.

3. Don't suffer in silence.
Beyond talking about isolation, express your emotions, even the most negative ones.

Trying to hide and swallow sadness, melancholy, anxiety, and depression is always a bad idea. You can verbally communicate them, or put them into art, poetry, activity...
And things related to Hardcore Techno music can be especially "therapeutic" here...

4. Don't blame yourself
It is, in all likeliness, not your fault if you have no friends.
We live in a very superficial and shallow society, where social ties get severed more and more.
Minds are set to money and media, and if you desire more meaningful inclinations - you get pushed away and kicked out.
But even beyond "contemporary capitalism" - if you are a unique, wonderful, one of a kind human being, it will always be difficult to connect to a crowd.

5. Enough is enough

Social isolation is amongst the worst form of torture. It can cause other types of mental trouble, and really drive you off the rails.
You need the social contacts. So it's important that you take action and honestly make the decision to change this fate.
Get out of your cage - or go insane.

6. Go into crowds

Well, I mentioned that it can be difficult and painful to connect to others. Still, there might be local groups, activities, events, you can go to.
This is a bit of a two sided thing. You might go there, not being able to connect, and feel like a freak again.
Or it could be nicer than you think.

7. Get off the internet

That should be a given, right? Being online all day and sitting in front of your devices is one of the major causes of real-world isolation.
Switch things off more often, and go outside.

8.
And beyond that...?
The above is all just a start.
More things definitely need to be done.
Trying to overcome isolation can be a really difficult, complicated, strainful task. It's hard and painful work.

As there are powerful social, cultural, and political causes of isolation, it might indeed be the case that this can only be truly overcome by social, cultural, and political activism and campaigns.


One thing should be clear: the problem of isolation can only be solved on a collective level.

But, in any way. You need to action, and you need to keep going.

You can access other issues of the Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter here:

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/p/the-mental-hardcore-health-newsletter.html

The Spirit of Hardcore - Dealing With Both The Positive And Negative Aspects Of This World

The Spirit of Hardcore

Hardcore always stood for a certain thing to me. It's hard to put it in words - it's more something that needs to be felt, that needs to be experienced.

And, in my opinion, it's something that makes Hardcore Techno truly unique, one of a kind, immortal.

The Mover - Signals of Hope

It's a genre that often deals with themes and tropes of a darker kind; violence, aggression, war, death, insanity.
But, unlike genres such as Metal or Industrial, there is no glorification of these things. Metal often "plays" with concepts like 'killers are cool' or 'i want to hail satan and commit evil things'... there is nothing like this in Hardcore - at least not at its center. (In other words, when HC tracks do deal with content like that, it's clear that it's not on a serious, literal level...)

Eradicator - Destroy It Yourself

In my opinion, the Hardcore Techno attitude is more like:
We live in a world where a lot of evil exists, where a lot of messed up things take place. But we need to confront this. We must not cover this up, delude ourselves with happy illusions. And, if we face reality as it is - we will be able to make a stand, and then we will be able to change things.

The Horrorist - It Goes Like This

Also on a personal level. It's for people who went through a lot of pain, who experienced horrible stuff. But who neither have the inclination to give in and "stop struggling", nor the intent to shut it all away and hide it; keeping a smiling face while they rot away on the inside.
No, it's for fighters who face these things head on, even embracing their own feelings of weakness.

The Scotchman - Mayhem

Hardcore Techno has a singular stance on the darker aspects of live, society, and the world as a whole.

And that's what makes it so remarkable.

Critical Mass - Believe in the Future (DJ Weirdo & DJ Sim Future Mix)

Producer's Diary - Creating a Hardcore Techno Album to be Released on a Label (Nocturnal Missions)

People! We've been told you are especially interested in a certain topic:

The production of Hardcore tracks and sounds.
So we were decidedly happy when Low Entropy sent over a Producer's Diary, kept for a brand new album.

My Producer's Diary - Creating a Hardcore Techno Album

Hello,
In light of my latest release - the "Nocturnal Missions" album on Gabbaret Records - I decided to keep a producer's diary about it.
In it, you will find details, information, and video logs, about the production process.

"Nocturnal Missions" is an album in the Hardcore Techno genre; not "mainstream" Hardcore, mind you, but more on the underground, oldschool, down dark and dirty side of things, bordering into such sub-genres as Doomcore, Acidcore or even Speedcore.

You can listen to the completed album here:

BTW: The entire album was created in Jeskola Buzz Tracker!

But anyway, here we go.

---

First Entry
Live producing an Acid Techno track in Buzz Tracker

Over the years, I've often been asked: how do you produce tracks? how do you record them, how do you do sequencing? can you share some hints / tricks / suggestions / techniques?
I've often shied away from answering these questions - guess I'm a shy person at heart, after all :-)
But anyway, here it is: my recording technique.
This is how I do 99.999% of the tracks I produce.
Generate multi channeled loop of around 30 seconds.
Hit record and play that loop.
Then switch channels on and off, and manipulate things a bit, while the loop is playing.
And the track is finished!
Voila.
Hope you enjoy this little video!

This track here is a new edit of "Really Into The Space Stuff", which was released on Zuur and Arcane of Core in different versions.
So this little recording technique above can even get you on a vinyl release.
Just so you know!

Note: seems that the screen recorder didn't capture the boxes where the live fiddling of knobs is going on. Means you're missing half the fun here. It also makes it look easier than it actually is. But yeah, can't help it.

---

Second Entry
Live producing an Acidcore track in Buzz Tracker

This track here is a new edit of "I took the entire arm off".
It is an Acidcore track at heart, but also has elements of Doom and Techno.
Once again, improvisation, modulation, and transmutation is the productive key here.

---

Entry #3
Live producing an Epic Doomcore Techno track in Buzz Tracker

This video shows me live producing the track "Dream your Destiny (Nothing is Impossible mix)" in my DAW which is called buzz tracker for my album "Nocturnal Missions" on Gabbaret Records.
Unlike the first 2 entrys of my producer's diary, this track is on the darker, harder, and more violent side - an "epic" doomcore track.
Gloomy basslines, synths, vocals and drums dominate it.

---

Entry #4
Live producing a Trancecore / Ravecore Track in Buzz Tracker

This time it's a "Ravecore" track - oldschool trance synths, acid lines, frantic percussion, and of course, very hard bassdrums.
It packs over 8 minute of sounds with plenty of different phases and sub-parts.

---

Entry #5
Live producing a Dark Speedcore Track in Buzz Tracker

This one shows me live producing the track "Heaven Sent (Top edit)" in my DAW.

It's an Oldschool Speedcore track, built around a dark / melancholic melody part.
Lots of noise, distortion, speed changes!

As for the "production technique" itself, its actually quite like the first four - hitting "record", switching channels on and off, and twisting virtual knobs.

---

Entry 6:
Hamburg Hardcore Anthem (Godfather Death Revisit edit) - 03:48



A new edit of this classic anthem.
The bass packs more punch, effects, sweeps and noises have been added - and most importantly it's more than 25% faster, pushing the track way into terror territory.

---

Entry 7:
Your Suffering (Tweaked edit) - 05:04



This track was part of my "90s Gabber Revival" release... as the name suggests, I added some new tweaks and edits to it.

---

Entry 8:
Fuck the Government (Short Size edit) - 03:09

Yes, we hate the government, right?
At the core, this track is another "live improvisation" by me. But a hyper-speed, super-distorted one.

---

Ninth Entry:
Just Noone (Slow 2 Speed mix) - 04:08

Slowcore turns into Speedcore in just a few minutes. "Transformation through filters" is a core concept here.
You can actually hear my voice in this track! Hope it's not too squeaky... hehe.

---

Tenth (and final) entry:
200 BPM Drum Only DJ Tool - 09:09

9:09 is s good timecode for a track like that, right?
In a production nutshell: modulation on a drum loop.

And with this track, the album and my diary ends. Hope you had a good time, and maybe you could learn something.


Btw: "Nocturnal Missions" can mean various things: Military operations, nightly parties... but the title of the album is also tied to this producer's diary: Because I decided to keep this diary, I saw it as a kind of "mission" to work on the tracks and write new diary entries at night.

Exclusive Feature: The Occult Underground Beneath the Hardcore Techno Scene Exposed

Dear readers of The Hardcore Overdogs,
one of our anonymous contacts sent us the following, very personal account... and it is a quite mind-changing story.

I was a DJ and producer in the Hardcore Techno scene... well connected, doing lots of gigs, doing lots of productions...

After gigs, or when you meet other artists at their homes, it's common to sit down and talk a while... about "everything and the world" really, culture, politics, movies, books... at first, these conversations stayed quite "normal"... well, they were always kind of far-out, zany, crazy... cult movie theories, left-field political concepts, surreal stream-of-consciousness debates where everything seemed to melt together... but, okay, that was that...

but then, I noticed that people started to bring out more and more ideas related to... the occult, esoteric... astral travelling, mind projection... girls that had become good friends, and that I thought I knew inside out, suddenly disclosed they were witches, often even claiming a lineage of witchy heritage ("oh this is all very normal for me, my grandparents had already been practicing witchcraft"). guys had similar things to tell...
so yeah, there was definitely an interest in the occult, in the forbidden, and in spirituality.

I came from a pretty rational, level-headed, skeptical, secular background... so my first reaction was like: "hell, i did not know you were all crazy in your heads".
but... somehow, somewhere, some way... i became interested and intrigued by it, too.
I wanted to dive deeper. I started to connect to these ideas - and these people.

I learned that producers would do all kinds of spiritual work on their tracks. channeling, hexes, conjuring.
a guy told me that he likes to "draw a 666" in the sound editor to enhance the sound. "which sonic frequencies activate which chakra" was always a big debate. or how to "channel the energies of dawn" into a track. "which zodiac sign is suitable for which sound?". and let's not even talk about the "s*x magick" that was used during production, alright?

And these were not some crazed lunatic wannabe producers on the fringe of the scene. some of them were well-known, world-famous artists whose tracks were on releases that sold over 100.000 units - or more!

i began to open up, too, and more or less "openly" talk about these topics to others in the "scene", no matter if I thought they might be into this, or not.
And it turned out, the majority of people *is* into it!
Almost everyone I talked to showed an interest in dark and light magic, was a practitioner of it, or claimed they "used it" to "influence" their own music production.

I'd say, at least on the artist / DJ / promoter level, i.e. those that are not just "mere fans" of the scene, 90% of the people I talked to admitted they were involved in the occult, one way or the other.

I did not encounter any powerful lodges or "secret circles" - everything stayed on the individual level, or in "informal groups". Yet folks were connected, too, of course - maybe the image of a spiderweb is correct here. Invisible threads running through the underground of the scene...

Why did all this "stay hidden" for so long?
Well, it is not hidden - it's an "open" secret.
There is still a stigma attached to being deeply into the spiritual of any shade... so the people involved might not post openly about it on social media or otherwise "shout it out into the world"... it's more something that people will talk about in private messages, online groups, or when they meet eye to eye.

But there is this huge occult current underneath the "visible" Hardcore scene, and it also has a massive impact on how this music is created and which direction it will take in the future.

You may not believe this story. but it is the truth.

And with these last words, we close this account.

Sincerely,
The Hardcore Overdogs

When did Hardcore truly begin? In the 90s? The 80s? Or even much earlier?

When did Hardcore Techno really begin? What was the first Hardcore track, and who put it out?
That's a question that has captivated the minds of many people, and a true sonic hunt has been unleashed, with folks deep digging through thousands of EBM, New Beat, Detroit and Acid House records to find that one true primal "Hardcore" sound.

This is all very interesting - and has led to interesting results.
Yet this hunt is afflicted by a certain disregard.
Because we must look at a few important aspects.

Listening Suggestion #1. Vice Versa - Artists At War (1980)

can we say early-speedcore?

1. There is a difference between the sounds on your puny little speakers in your home - and a real sound system in a club, discotheque, or a squat. There is a *huge* difference, in fact.
Anyone who ever experienced an onslaught of truly ear-rending loudspeakers in a tiny squat basement knows what I mean.

These audio systems are bona fide sound transformers. A drum that sounds weak, average, maybe even tinny can become the hardest form of terror on a good set of PA speakers.
And this also goes vice versa.
A drum that sounds menacing "at home" often is whack in a real club setting.

#2. Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Niños Del Parque (Live) (1981)

reverberated kicks

Because of this, there has always been a limit on how, and on how much you can distort a bassdrum if it should still kick hard when played at an event (if it shouldn't - then feel free to crank all levers to 12).
For example, most of the contemporary (2024) overly-distorted "Industrial Hardcore" crap sounds like feces on the dancefloor.

And the consequence is that for the modern ear, a lot of late 80s / 90s producers seemed to be kinda cautious with the use of distortion and hardness in their tracks. But that's an illusion. It only happens if you listen at home.
On a loud rig, 1988-1992 acid / rave / techno is the hardest thing ever.

#3. Liquid Sky Club Ccene (1982)

the bass hits quite hard for the first seconds, right?

This means if you're for looking pre-90s hardcore sounds, you need to take this into consideration. You must not pay attention to how it sounds on your headphones and your speakers, but on how it sounded in an underground club.

Because that's how the majority of people experienced it "back in the day".

#4. Ultravox - Fear In The Western World (Live) (1978)

a quite noisy venture.

Part 2

The above went for recorded music.
But in the 20th century, most artists and bands did not focus on recorded music. They focused on playing live. They were bands playing the local clubs in hopes of making it big, and even most bigger bands put their main energy into touring, touring, touring.
The occasional ep or album release was then an artifact, a bonus or compromise.

This is one of the reasons that records in these decades often sounded vastly different from the band's or artist's live performances.
Even when it came to punk, metal, industrial - the LP was often more sterile, and the live performance was a thousand times more dirty, dire and distorted.

#5. Fad Gadget - Ricky's Hand (Live) (1981)

post-punk borders on proto-hardcore here.

Synthesis

Combining these two pieces of information, we arrive at the following results:

There were a lot of vinyl releases in the 80s that sounded truly "Hardcore" on a PA, with Gabber kicks and all - which miraculously disappear if you listen to cheap youtube rips of the "same" track through your tiny laptop speakers 40 years later...

In the punk, industrial, new wave, no wave scenes, lots of bands had gabber, acidcore, speedcore-like sounds - but "only" in their live performances.

#6. Suicide - Frankie Teardrop (Live) (1978)

electronic sounds at several 100 bpm.

And, if you dig hard enough, you will surely find bands in the 60s that already played "hardcore" for the same reason.

It's not just that "Hardcore never dies" - Hardcore also "always existed".

#7. Decoder Squat Party (1984)

Distorted dance partys in the 80s...or in the future?

Throughout this text there were some sonic examples to illustrate these ideas.
Not all of these are "technoid" tracks - but apt illustrations of noise and aggression.

Note that these are rips, somewhat bad recordings, and "youtube quality" again. Especially the bass and sub-frequencies often have been poorly recorded and preserved. The impact, the powerful reverberation, the sheer energy of the sound was only experienced by those that were physically there - and you can't go back in time now.
But you can use your imagination and creativity to get a glimpse of the relentless brutality of some of these songs, sounds and tracks.

#8. Dead Tech - Catalavox (1984)

Reminds me of the Fischkopf or Anticore style...

#9. M.E.V. - Spacecraft (1967)

The 60s already had been very noisy.

#10. Vice Versa - Stilyagi (Live) (1980)

Bangin' the drums.