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)