Witchcraft Techno Circle releases Hardcore and Techno EP bundled with liminal spellbook!

The "Witchcraft Techno Circle" just has a new album out, and it comes with a kind of ebook.
But let's hear it in the words by the Circle themselves:

"A while ago, or maybe aeons ego, we received and perceived the call of Hecate. We are too humble as servants to our Goddess of the Crossroads to claim that we can validate and specify what her exact messages and wishes are.

But our magical intuition made us feel and whisper the following:

As we are musicians and songwrights, Our Deity of the Liminal suggests us to enchant our art and music with magic of the benevolent kind.

In order to help, heal and benefit troubled, lost, and hurting souls.
And this help might indeed involve a release and freeing of painful, infernal energies, or a short visit to darkened realms.

And this is mirrored in our compositions, which, too, involved light, darkness, pain, pleasure.

Unlike other spiritual music, that only involves light and kind emotions.

We hope that listening, dancing, and meditating to this music has a helping and healing effect.

Yet we want to add more chapters to our spiritual efforts, that go beyond music.
Thus, included with this release are 14 short texts. These texts deal with magic and spiritual topics.

Maybe most importantly, there are texts that explain how to create magical art and magic music oneself.
There are also texts about spells, about personal experiences. And about Hecate of course.

We hope that all of this may be useful, and helpful!"

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/flames-of-hecate

History of Hardcore Techno: Looking at Agent Orange Records (The son of Napalm).

Martin Damm aka The Speed Freak is probably the only producer in the world who made tons of 250+ bpm nasty speedcore-gabba tracks in the underground scenes. And still owns a few music industry certified "golden record" awards. For his enormous amounts of sales for the dance productions he did "on the side".

By the mid 90s, his own label was called Shockwave Records. Which, again, sold pretty good, as a lot of that stuff ended up on compilation CDs that were sold... everywhere!
This was already nasty hardcore techno, but a bit more accessible... and for the even more extreme stuff, that sometimes went above 280 bpm, and surely was devoid of melodies or singing, there was the sublabel, Napalm Records.
"Strictly Limited to 500 copies", according to the vinyl print.

The only "problem" was that both labels had mostly productions by Martin Damm and his crew themselves. They were prolific producers!

And for this reason, another sublabel was forged - "the son of napalm", also called Agent Orange.
Word was that only producers-who-were-not-them were allowed to release on here, but that rule was not always strictly enforced.

And now... let's look at 6 releases in this very piece of Hardcore history.

Somatic Responses - Agent Orange 2

The Somatic Responses were one of the most unique acts in the 90s world of electronica, and, even for them, this is a very distinct release.
As you know, Somatix started with a more "straight" Hardcore / Techno sound, and then turned into that weird ambient / idm thing with "disjunct" beats, as they like to say.
And this 2-tracker sits right square there. It aint broken idm yet, but it is not quite "hardcore tech" anymore. It has the best of both worlds, so to say.

B2 on here is actually one of my all time favorite tracks ever. The bassy sawtooth-lead-synth really brings it home for me. The "melody" reminds me of video game music, jean michel jarre, german 50s radio "tonstudios"... all rolled into one!

Doc Gringo - Agent Orange 3

Gringo aka Roger Cobernuss is a bit like the secret weapon or hidden dog of shockwave (and mono tone earlier on).
There's the "gringo theme" on here, and this track blows all the gabber competition of its time out of the water. It just slams with its kicks and noise!
but behold... the b-side is an early speedcore track, and this is, once again, harder than the rest!

Biochip C. - Agent Orange 5

The track to go on here is "black sunday". It transitions from one genre to another. I think speed freak / biochip c is one of the only producers who can pull off such a trick.
There's industrial / techno, then it breaks down into noise, there is a breakbeat part... and it erupts into some type of low frequency gabba rhythm.
oh and the trade mark martin damm fm synthesis sounds ring on.

Seveso - Agent Orange 1

The very first Agent Orange.
ABC-Alarm is a German term for an "air raid" type of large scale civil defense warning siren about nuclear (atomic), biological, and chemical attacks or catastrophes.
And the eponymous track is one of the hardest and most abrasive speedcore tracks of the entire 90s decade. I think this is done by abusing a lot of analog gear, and then cranking the levers up to 13 while jamming on the setup.
And the b-side is a sweetheart as well.

Listening Suggestion:

Lasse Steen - Agent Orange 7

Just like Somatic Responses had one of their best eps on this label, so did lasse steen.
And I am talking about the track "Phreak Show" which breaks down into a kind of descending synth line melodie which is... well it sounds as if the score to frankenstein - the movie was conducted by mc escher. if you catch my drift.

Storytime: I played my first gig at the Techno Viking Parade (over 25 years ago)

Hey Hey,
You Dogs!
Here is a piece by one of our authors, Low Entropy.
About a gig and event that happened in their music past.

Recently I saw an image that was a throwback to one of the most popular memes ever: the very famous "Techno Viking" video. I hadn't thought about that for a long time, but it made me instantly nostalgic.
Because the same party that the Techno Viking video was shot at, was also the place where I performed my first electronic live performance ever.

But let's roll right back first. Of course this party was not really called "the Techno Viking Parade". It was called the ****parade (the first word is a profanity). This party existed because... well do you remember the Loveparade in Berlin? Biggest Techno party ever. 2-3 million ravers each year. Endless partying.
The loveparades began in the early 90s, but as the years went on, "commercialization" set in or, like people would say today, "ensh*ttification". It was no longer a parade that was set up by the freaks and ravers themselves, where everyone was welcome. "Pay to play" became an issue. Business interests, and even political parties tried to grab a share of the cake.

A lot of the OG Techno and Rave guys were no longer "welcome" at the Loveparade. So, they set up their own parade, that happened at the same time as the Loveparade. First called the Hateparade, then it was called the ****parade (because the slogan was "**** the loveparade!".

Everyone who was not "mainstream techno" was welcome there, so gabbers, punks, skinheads, freaks, squatters, goth, old hippies... well, everyone! started to flock there. Literally from all over the world. I met people from Japan there, Peru, Canada... you got it.

I of course needed to be there too and I knew I needed to play my music there! When I was 15 year old, I had begun producing weird experimental noise music... gabba, and harder techno stuff. On strange MS-DOS based "tracker" programs (before I switched to windows 98).

Now I was 19, I just had my first record out (500 copies on 12" vinyl... quite meagre, eh? but you gotta take what you can take) and heading to berlin.

my first gig was actually supposed to happen 2 nights before, during the extended "****parade" weekend. I guess it involved 12-13 separate parties... at least!

but the promoter overbooked the venue! so my gig fell flat.
my gig at the ****parade nearly fell flat, too. Our float was boxed in by two other floats, and I had technical problems setting up my equipment, which involved me playing my tracks from CD-R and shouting into a mic (quite meagre, eh? but you gotta do what you can do).

Thankfully, a few DJs from the Spiral Tribe helped out and played their vinyl sets first, so I had my gig re-scheduled to a later hour, which also meant more people had arrived at our parade, which started to get super crowded.

Now let's get back to Techno Viking. To be honest, I never assumed the video would blow up that much!

The whole meme / viral video thing was still in its infancy, so how could I have known. The "all your base are belong to us" craze already felt surprising in those years.
Plus, Techno Viking was far from the only "surreal" and strange occurrence at these parades.
I remember when I went to the first parade, in 1997, the first sight I saw was a nude woman, completely covered in golden bodypaint, dancing on a float to dub/techno/reggae. And there was some "against commercial love" related sign fixed to the float.
Or nerds from tokyo, dressed in full "candy goth raver" style. They filmed everything and everyone, I wonder what happened to that video.
I also have vague memories of some old, ragged man, standing in the middle of the parade, long beard, and slowly waving a huge wooden staff around. Street magician, i suppose.

So yeah, the parades were a festival of freaks, freaks like me and you and everyone who liked weird stuff.

Which might explain why the "techno viking" incident happened in the first place.
I actually - scrutinizingly - watched the techno viking vid over and over again, to check if my own music / performance is audible in the video (blame my ego). But no, i cant hear anything of it.

There is also a short vid that is running for just a few seconds, which shows me playing at the parade. But in that video, Techno Viking is not visible. Ah well.

My own gig was a lot of fun, though.
And it's nice to think back to that party now and then, or these days in berlin. and to the techno viking meme, of course.

And all this happened, on almost exactly the same date, as i am writing this text.

Note: No AI was used when writing this text.

News Flash: The return of the Shock Wave

Shock Wave Recordings was one of the biggest Hardcore Techno labels of the 90s in Germany, and one of the biggest in general. One of the few labels that managed to break through the dominance of the "bouncy hardcore" sound that was coming out of labels like ID&T at that time.

The label had its own sound more or less. Other Gabber labels at that date were quite close to Dance music, Happy Hardcore, and all Jazz.
Shockwave was into horror / trash movie samples, lots of hip hop and rapping vocals, acid, noize, death metal guitars, and really, really fast BPMs.

But always served with the tongue in cheek.
So if you happened to be into Morbid Angel and Sepultura, the Evil Dead and Re-Animator movies, or were into Manga, Akira, Ghost in the shell *and* happened to be into Techno at the same time - this was the perfect label.

So it's quite nice to see a return of the legends.
The first release is already out (see tracklist below).
More info, and more releases to come!



Various Artists - The Saga Continues (SH-3434)

1. The Speed Freak - Hit You Like A Shockwave 03:58
2. Chryzis - One Step Further 05:00
3. Stormtrooper - Psycho-Pets 05:08

https://refusion.bandcamp.com/album/the-saga-continues-sh-3434

https://www.discogs.com/label/1383-Shockwave-Recordings

The Gabber Elders Obscure Summer Mixmarathon - Time and Date

We announced the Gabber Elders Obscure Summer Mixmarathon a while ago - now can give you time & date, too!

Read our earlier announcement here

And here are the goods:

Tune in at HCBX

11.7.2026
5:00 PM CET - 9:30 BST (London Time)
18:00 - 22:30 CEST (German Time)
12:00 PM - 4:30 EDT (New York Time
3:00 - 7:30 JST (Tokyo Time) (on 12.7.2026)

Order of time:

Low Entropy 5:00 - 6:20 PM CET
Techno 2 Extreme Hardcore

1. Kuadra - La Onda
2. Roughage - Internecine Noiz (Lenny Dee Remix)
3. No Mans Land - Termination ZX
4. Trashman - Cosmotrash (remix)
5. The Undertaker - Flatliner (Graveyard Shift)
6. Source Code - I'm Not A Number (Human Resource Remix)
7. The Speed Freak - We Shoot To Kill
8. Dr. Mueller - Nipples and Bass
9. Pascal - the future is ours
10. Gangsta Trax - Goodfellas
11. Phrenetic System - Fantasy
12. Wavelan - Over Phase
13. B.C. KID - Wild And Wonderful
14. Titanium Steel Screws - Dance The Night Away
15. Terror Arnold - Gabba Mission
16. Wasteland - First Time On This Planet
17. DJ Repete - Softy's Suck My
18. pHönk! - Angry
19. Temper Tantrum - Africa 4010
20. Lenny Dee - Hammer Head
21. Titanium Steel - Next
22. Source Code - I'm Not A Number (Ace The Space Remix)
23. Temper Tantrum - Industrial Strength
24. Delta 9 - Phreaked
25. Temper Tantrum - The Underground
26. Delta 9 - The Hate Tank (Buck Wild Remix)

Nikaj 6:20 PM - 7:25 CET
Oldschool and Gabber

27. Dj Rob-Caveman-Rave34.
28. *Technohead-Accelerator#4-Mok028.
29. *Scarface-Shock Intro-BR370.
30. *Evil Maniax-The Creators Of Hardcore(Rotterdam Mix)-Rot034.
31. *X Crash-Go Brooklyn-DDR008.
32. *Satanic Madness-Reality-JD1002.
33. *MPo-Untitled-SR001.
34. *Sauerkraut-They are back,Let me hear it again.
35. EAR2000653.
36. *Noisee Boys-Kokaine-HSR003.
37. *Nuts-Freedom-5th Gear3928-2
38. *Buzz Fuzz-Freedom.DTP.
39. *The Carpenter-Zaguhh
40. -Hardstuff0009.
41. *Krimson-Praise Jesus 2000651.
42. *The Jokers-Mietje-JD001.
43. *D.A.C-House Of Hell(Nightmare mix)-ENP002.
44. *Cycloton-Liquid Bass-RB1214.
45. *The Houseviking-Power Resistance(remix)015
46. *Demolition Team-Bust Da Bee-DSR7 101.
47. *Cellblock X-House Of Spoo-Lab028.
48. *Dj Houseviking-Power Resistance-HSR-002.
49. *R.Wagner-Beyond The Ultimate-Dom Rec 001.
50. *Johnny Violent-Happy Birthday-Mosh153.
51. *Hooihouse-Poen Aan De Eure-Mok2.

DJ Asylum 7:25 PM - 8:28 CET
Hardcore and Terror

52. Traffik - Bit Stream (190)
53. DJ Producer - Signal Confirmed (195)
54. Total Output - I'm Going To Eat My 303 (200)
55. David Lagon - Ho My Bitch (200)
56. Sarin Assault vs Al Core - Tralcore (200)
57. Somatic Responses - Old Evil (Part 1) (200)
58. LSA - Meltdown (200)
59. Ingler - Kohl (201)
60. Diplomat & Trouble - Praise The Acid (201)
61. Habitual Offenders - Cabbage (204)
62. Effecthunter - Freedom (205)
63. DJ Freak vs The Porridge Gun - Natural Born Killa (218)
64. Pressurehead - London (220)
65. Shrui-khan - Borderline (220)
66. Disciples Of Belial - Holosphere (222)
67. Hammer Damage - No More (224)
68. Biscanna - Splitting Atoms (226)
69. Pardonax - Parting Ways (230)

GabberGirl 8:28 PM - 9:30 CET
Speedcore!!

70. The Destroyer- My Brain is Sick Remix [Head Fuck Records- HDF008(D-Boy Black Label/So Real)] 2000
71. Cenobit- Beef Syndrome (STRIKE 024) 1999
72. DJ Tron- Doom (Deathcore Mix) [Head Fuck Records- HDF005(D-Boy Black Label/So Real)] 1998
73. Bruchkopf- Speedcore [Brain Distortion 01(United Speedcore Nation)] 1998
74. Berzerker- Inhale [WIDERSTAND 09] 2000
75. DJ Tron- Cannibal DJ [Blood n’ Guts Records- BNG002] 1997
76. Thanos- Death Penalty [Sacred Underground Productions 01- SUP01] 1999
77. Tyrant!- Frustrations [Skumkore Muzik 01/Apocalypse Recordings- APOC001] 2000
78. Terror Junkie- Die Bestrafung [BD01 (USN)] 1998
79. Christ of Noise & David Lagon- Loud Bastard MED (Provision Records 03)1997
80. Armaguet Nad- Apocalyptic Dream [Dead End Records- DER 05] 1997
81. Memetic- Track 2, Side A [Bloody Fist 020- Fist-20] 1999
82. Menace- Elements [STRIKE 026] 1999
83. Tense & Nevermind- Hate Cops [APOC001] 2000
84. Siege- Driven [STRIKE 026] 1999
85. Bruchkopf- Amokk [BD01 (USN)] 1998
86. The Destroyer- Mass of Shit Remix [HDF008 (D-Boy Black Label)] 2000
87. Bombardier- Chamber [Hangars Liquides 09- HL 009] 1998
88. Thanos- In Your Face [SUP 01] 1999

The History of Hardcore Techno: Looking back at Strike Records from Leipzig, Germany

Steffen Kuschel kept 66.6% of the underground hardcore techno scene afloat and alive in the 90s, and the years after. He ran sound base music, out of leipzig, germany. Was host to a network of labels, sub- and side-labels. And distributed half the scene, from bloody fist artists in australia to the other side of the globe.

the main, "own" label of sound base was strike records. i'd say it was one of the pillars of the "german" variant of gabber. fast tracker type music, lots of metal guitars, lots of swear words. less melody and harmony in vocals, unlike the kissing cousins from the netherlands.

so... let us take a look at 7 outstanding records of strike records! (i refrained from saying "the 7 most striking..." ha!)

Various Artists - Straight Out Of Newcastle (Strike 008)
https://www.discogs.com/release/47687-Various-Straight-Out-Of-Newcastle

Oddly enough, most of these tracks are outstanding pieces, even when compared to the rest of their output.
Like Grim Reaper, Shitbeater, or No Significance, which are amongst the hardest and wildest by the respective artist. Quite the feat for a compilation release.
But I guess my own favorite is "no sex", which is an oddly "calm" breakbeat track by Nasenbluten (well, it's not the breakcore you would expect with bloody fist) which fades into super melancholic pcp-like sounds.

AXL - Hardcore (Strike 006)
https://www.discogs.com/release/120982-AXL-Hardcore

i always had a thing for these tracks. it's not ultra hard or brutal or anything.
but it has these weird, amiga type pads throughout the tracks. almost like ambient trance gabba!

Various Artists - Strike Records Vs. Bloody Fist (Strike 015)
https://www.discogs.com/release/56796-Various-Strike-Records-Vs-Bloody-Fist

clash of the 16 bit core titans!
fav by far is "patchcore" by sandkorn for me.
not because the other tracks are bad. but because this track has some super insane sounds that i never heard elsewhere.

Nasenbluten - Cheapcore EP (Strike 020)
https://www.discogs.com/release/90154-Nasenbluten-Cheapcore-EP

my 2 cents: not as good as not as good as 100% no soul guaranteed.
no wait, let me reverse this opinion: there are some brilliant tracks on this one, like the early breakcore track "check the sound".

S37 - En Ordentlig Omgang Røvsutning. Uden Ost - Tak! (Strike 019)

https://www.discogs.com/release/52558-S37-En-Ordentlig-Omgang-R%C3%B8vsutning-Uden-Ost-Tak

Together with folk like Noize Creator, S37 was one of the german artists that stripped the gabba sound to its bare necessities. No need for a groove, melodies or happy singing. Drums, screams, death metal samples, go!
After the stuff he did on Juncalor and Brutal Chud, this is the one where that concept is fleshed out the most.

Rage Reset - Sydney Core EP (Strike 012)
https://www.discogs.com/release/121029-Rage-Reset-Sydney-Core-EP

good quality gabba as usual with rage reset.
"Fortex" has been played at quite some parties and DJ mixes.
"subconscious" is my pick, though. almost completely minimal, some horror flick strings, plus a nasty reverberated kickdrum. but that is enough. the track rocks.

S*icide Squad And Max Death (Strike 018)
https://www.discogs.com/release/3702300-Suicide-Squad-And-Max-Death-Untitled

666 might be the number of the beast, but 13 is the number of death... am i right?
maybe it's only logical that max death is on here then.
S*icide Squad was one of the projects by simon underground, as you probably know. and they are still one of my fav "amiga style" hc projects (even though, i guess, strictly technically speaking, this was not done purely on amiga).
and the "death side"... this is strike records at it's best. take no quarters. just brutal, brutal hardcore.
"go insane!"

The Hardcore Techno Overdogs Anthem VI - Ritual of Rave

The Hardcore Overdogs return, with a brand new anthem for their magazine.

And the last one was quite furious and fast, am i right?
the next one is almost the total opposite, a real slowcore banger, with very low bass frequencies.
99 bpm, to be exact.
can you still dig it?

it's almost goth / ambient / industrial sounding.... but the rave vitamins are plainly audible, too!
a true, dark, heavy ritual for all raving aspirants...

just like you would expect from the overdogs.
and 1 faster remix and 2 different tracks are included as well.

Info and Tracklisting:

The Hardcore Overdogs - Anthem VI - Ritual of Rave

1. Ritual of Rave (One 2 Three) 03:51
2. Low Entropy - Festival Riot 02:35
3. Ritual of Rave (Good Dog - Part 1) 08:45
4. Ritual of Rave (Good Dog - Part 2) 07:51
5. Meta-Morph - Musical Stairs (Ambient) 03:45
6. Ritual of Rave (Bad Dog - Part 1) 04:07
7. Ritual of Rave (Bad Dog - Part 2) 03:51
8. Ritual of Rave (Bad Dog - Part 3) 07:15

Omnicore Records 79
Doomcore Records 234
Slowcore Records 68

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/anthem-vi-ritual-of-rave

The Gabber Elders Obscure Summer Mixmarathon - Save The Date - 11.7.2026

The sun is turning round and round each yeah, just like a record, baby, just like a record.
And when, finally, the sun is at its highest of the year, you know it's time for a new edition of The Gabber Elder's mixmarathon!
and this is what we are gonna do. we're gonna have a party. we're gonna have another mixmarathon.
for last year's summer mixmarathon, the theme was: all styles of the 90s, or 90s styled hardcore. beginning with slowcore and doomcore, then acidcore and gabber, and ending with the most frantic terror and speedcore.
now this year the apple did not fall that far off the tree. there is still a mix of styles, and a build up in energy...
yet there is also a special twist: the gabber elders only play rare and obscure records.
the stuff you never heard about! (hopefully)

so that the rare / underdog tracks of the 90s see the light of day for once, too.

like last time, there will be a special video / visual show that accompanies the music.
the whole thing is hosted on youtube, will be broadcasted live, and will run for several hours. so be there, or be square (wave).

Update: Time and Tracklist

The Gabber Elders are:

Low Entropy (Hamburg, Germany. Age: 147 Years old)
GabberGirl (Minnesota, USA. Age: 83 Years old)
N.i.k.a.j. (The Netherlands) Age 158 Years
DJ Asylum (Bathgate, Scotland, Age 126)

The mixmarathon is presented by:
The Gabber Elders https://thegabberelders.com/
HCBX https://www.youtube.com/@hcbx666
The Hardcore Overdogs magazine https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/
Pure and Obscure records https://nikajs.bandcamp.com/

16 bit were enough: when Commodore Amiga computers ruled the Techno and Hardcore dancefloors around Europe

everyone knows the commodore 64, or c64, or "bread box", of course.

the single most sold unit in computer history, to this day.
the "sequel" computer by the commodore company might be lesser known, sadly.
the commodore amiga is a bit of a glitch in the timeline of computers.
when it was engineered in the 80s, it was way ahead of its competition.
4096 colors at once, build-in parallax scrolling, a GUI that looked (and worked) better than microsoft windows, multimedia abilities...

Hardsequencer - Magic Flight

A techno-trance tune created on an amiga by German producer Hardsequencer

it seemed to be off for a good start, and even managed to wow a few bona fide stars, like andy warhol, debbie harry (blondie), timothy leary...
but in its homeland, usa, the computer remained obscure. a lot of people blame the (mis) management at commodore, a company that seemingly was in perpetual decay even back then. rumor is that one of the engineers even left a message of "we build it - they f**ed it up" somewhere in the circuits of the first amiga models.

Christoph De Babalon - Babylon 90210

Scary jungle by Christiph de Babalon

while it did not get much traction in america, it became a big, big hit in europe, particularly in countries like uk, germany, france...
most people now remember the amiga for the games that were made for it, or were ported and re-designed for it. because a lot of now-classic games either saw their debut on their amiga, or did shine the brightest on that system. lemmings, the early lucas art adventures, populous, rick dangerous, the turricans...

Taciturne - Mourning

Taciturne's "ambient gabber" track

and that was it. slam the kid on the coffin now, kid!

but hey! not so fast. did we not mention multimedia capabilities?
and indeed, the amiga had a huge and lasting influence that went way beyond playing video games at home with your friends.
it was a major player in creating and shaping the various rave, techno, hardcore scenes that swept over europe in the early-too-late 90s...

Cybermouse - My Dorectives 

Dark techno On hamburg cult label fischkopf

the c64 was legendary because unlike other system of its time, the company did not pack a generic "beeper" type sound chip into its system. they designed the SID chip, which a lot of people consider to be a real synthesizer.
the commodore company kind of repeated this trick with the amiga. they did not give it another soundchip that generated simple sine, saw, square waves... instead they designed a real, miniature "sampler" chip for the amiga. this sound chip was called Paula, after one of the girlfriends of the engineers.
just like a real sampler, it could trigger and play pre-recorded sound snippets and samples at various speeds and pitches, and do a few basic effects on that.
it was limited to 4 channels, but clever composers could bypass that restriction easily (for example, if you sampled one drum loop, with 7 different types of percussion, it would still take up only one channel).
bitrate was often not so good either, even though a friend of mine insists that the "lofi" sound quality of most amiga tunes were not the result of tech restrictions, but the lazyness of the composers.

Static Tremor - Resistance 

The Heutling brothers were known to produce high quality amiga hardcore.

despite these visible (or audible) flaws, the amiga had many pros and advantages as a sound machine:
it was very cheap, at least compared to high standard, "industry" equipment
you had more memory and therefore you could use much longer samples and sounds, compared to "real" samplers in the same price range. this means you could have long string sounds, vocal passages, etc.
it was inside a computer! coders could create programs for it, that used the chip / sampler in any way they wanted.
no need to hassle with getting a sequencer for your hardware sampler, setting up midi, wires, fx, gear (which would have been super expensive as well).
it was all inside one box, back in the mid 80s already.

Neophyte - Execute (Live at Thunderdome) 

Oldschool amiga hardcore

the amiga did not make it in pop, or any genre like that. but the techno and rave producers started to flock to that computer.
maybe because the early techno scene attracted a lot of "outsider" artists with zero budget and industry connection, so an affordable computer-sampler system with "overpowered" abilities had quite the appeal.
the first wave of producers that used the amiga in a massive way were the acid house crazed ravers in the UK scene. a lot of classic breakbeat, and later, jungle tunes were made on the amiga.
amigas were used in "mainland europe" too, though, and there are some classic techno and trance tracks made on an amiga.
to this day, not all producers gave full disclosure of their amiga use. the amiga still had the ring of being "lofi" to it, so artists that wanted to be seen as more credible might not have admitted of using one.
that means there are probably still a lot of records out there that there were made on amiga, but without anyone knowing that this was actually the case.

Amiga Shock Force - Shoot em Breax 

Metal-jungle by the shock force

amiga music did shine it's brightest light in the "dangerous" hardcore techno and gabber-house underground.
there were countless of hardcore classics that were produced on an amiga. there were whole hardcore groups that exclusively used an amiga for their music, like nasenbluten or the amiga shock force (nomen est omen, eh?). there were labels, like bloody fist records from australia, that to 90% released amiga produced hardcore music.

Nasenbluten - Machete 

One of the amiga-gabber classics

other labels, especially in the netherlands and germany, used some more or less clever tricks to mask (and hide) the lofi sound of the amiga: by wholesale slamming reverb and EQ boosts on the entire track!

and this was not a niche thing! DJs played amiga music next to "regular" tracks in their sets, and sometimes amiga produced music even made it to the national charts.

Hardsequencer - Broadcast (live at mayday)

More rave madness by hardsequencer (the first 5 minutes)

i find it funny that some remember the amiga as the machine where they played cutesy pixel platformers in their cozy bedrooms, while on that same night, 20,000 crazed ravers went wild to amiga-produced hardcore tracks on a gabber festival 100s of kilometres away.

it's hard to speculate, but I could imagine that, at least in the beginning, 5-10% of hardcore records were actually produced on an amiga.
these amiga tracks and bands then influenced other producers, and they then influenced even more producers...
so the amiga had a huge impact in that scene.

Ec8or - I Dont wanna be a part of this (live in japan)

"Digital hardcore" made on amiga

And here is a playlist featuring classic amiga hardcore and techno tracks:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUdJgXot-vsc

Taciturne: The Story Becomes

Maybe, or likely, you will know the producer Taciturne from the track "Der Toten" which is one of the few true hardcore classics, amongst the ranks of other tracks like poltergeist, six million ways to die, rotterdam subway...

He is a mysterious figure in music, and there a kind of mystery surrounding him that ran for over a decade.
There were rumors about his death, in the early years of the millennium... but noone really knew what happened, there was a lot of speculation, research, strange things happened...

Now we are looking back at a piece of information that was released 11 years ago already. As you can see, it's a disclosure of more things that happened...

But we can't say that it made the whole issue less opaque and confusing...

Yet, eventually it led to the release of the Taciturne archives.

Which includes a lot of excellent hardcore material, that likely would have become classics had they been released in the 90s already.

Plus marvelous music in many other genres!

https://taciturne.bandcamp.com/

And here is the text:

on the scene of Leontin Voigt Abilgaard's - to some knowns as Taciturne - way too-early-su*cide, one question remained: where were the olekrapp archives?

investigators could not find them even though they thoroughly checked everything on the event's scene.

rumors about 2 or 3 men entering his place shortly before this tragic happening spread fast. but, no matter how much energy was used for this investigation, the olekrapp archives remained not to be found. rumor was that even private and government agencies used some spare time to set some light into this; for whatever reason. but again, no result.

this all changed in late 2014. a corpse in a junkyard in tokyo was found. this person looked like a mix between a rocker, a punk and a high tech engineer. some claimed it was Flavio Flavione, the professional agency killer. other's said it was Ivor Wadrolavski, a promising scientist, that was shunned by a post-soviet goverment, and indulged in private studies from then on, whose objective remained unknown.

but what made this case even more special, was that a plastic bag of chrome cassettes was found in his possession. when an ancient tape recorder was finally found in tokyo, the content of the cassettes was transferred to modern computer systems. the officials, the scientists could not believe what they saw! it was the ole krapp archives.

for over a year, it was carefully avoided to leak any bit of these news and events to the outside press, and was just passed on by government and shadow-government officials alike. yet, for whatever cause, the repercussions soon set in. a fire bombing was attempted on the secret laboratory where the olekrapp cassettes were stored. scientists involved in this case were found hanging dead from monuments in tokyo. poisoned flowers were sent to the policeman that discovered the body first.

who was behind this? why were the olekrapp archives considered so special? what mystery did they hide, in their encrypted ways; a scientific breakthrough? a transdimensional message? a dark secret at the bottom of western civilization? who was involved in this; secret police, special agents, crime organisations, elite computertech groups?

another lead that was followed was the case of Yiyamoto Moto, the infamous japanese prodigy, who is supposed to have been a key factor in exchanging the mona lisa with a fake one inside the louvre; by being the painter, who painted the imitation, when being eight years old! could he also be responsible for forging the ole krapp archives on an emulated amiga? this, too, is not sure.

so, indeed not much is known - yet. but what is known, is that after these attempts at the destructions of the original tapes, the special agency saw only one solution; to make all the content available on the internet for a while.

The History of Gabber House: A look back at Brrr Records

In the Hardcore Techno Overdogs magazine we usually focus on the underdogs... well, maybe that term is not entirely correct. Let's say we focus on the under-appreciated labels, that still duly deserve their spotlight.
Because of this, we neglected the "motherland of gabber" a bit so far - The Netherlands.
After all, every boy and his dog was raving to the wicked hardcore beats of gabber madness in the 90s - right?
So gabber from holland is hardly hardcore of "underdog" quality... and everyone already knows it, right?

well, while that was true for the 90s, it might not be so true anymore. We maybe could define a kind of "temporal overdog". Stuff that indeed everyone knew in the 90s, but in today's media culture, is shadowed and under-appreciated because everyone else focuses on the "big" labels mostly.

So let us look at the various interesting dutch gabber label from the 90s.

And this time, we want to tell you about 7 very interesting releases on the label Brrr Records.

Scarface - Blow Your Head Off (BR-260)

I remember late 90s terror-speedcore heads looked a bit down on the older gabber scene, because it felt too cheesy and mellow in comparison.
well, not this record, for sure. this is very very extreme.
like some deranged mental killer got behind the 909.

also watch out for the cool trance-ambient strings in one of the tracks!

D & F - Buzz Click (B-170)

A novelty gabber record with strange / mental samples and voices. A bit like the trashmen cover records, that sample the "the bird is the word" tune.
The Hard Buzz mix is my favorite, because, yeah, the bass on there is really ultra hardcore.

DJ Alex - Say What ? (BR - 480)

I guess some people might know "In Control" from DJ Dano's Cyberdrome mix.
I think this release has a kind of "belgian" sound to it, think Bonzai and all that stuff... very good, deep bass, reverb, hoover-heavy, like music made for rave arenas.
One of the upper releases on Brrr records.

Speedloader - Guilty As Hell (BR - 440)

"Kick Some Ass" is one of my favorite Ravecore / Trancecore tracks.
Sweet "german style" hardtrance with angelic choirs and a cutie melody (i guess taken from an annie lennox song?) and then - woo! - the gabba noise commando kicks down the door.

Scarface - Let The Dope Get In Your Soul (BR-370)

Very interesting EP for Brrr Records. This is definitely more Hard Trance / Techno than Gabba mania.
The eponymous is almost like eurodance, actually. If it were more polished, and with a nice flickering music video, I could imagine it being music television in the 90s.
And I always have a sweet tooth for releases that "cross the line", and the line is trance to gabba in this case.
and there is one total gabber track included too: the "shock intro".

D & F - Hard Attack (BR-300)

I always loved hard attack because of the rap sample, and its use.
It's not some overly hectic or aggressive sample this time. It's very monotonous, robotic, fitting very well to a techno track.

Scarface - E.P. - Death Is The Future (BR-310)

"Death is the future" might be the hardest "classic" gabber track ever.
Hands down.
What I like about Brrr is that some of their releases incorporate rave / trance or "german hardtrance" sounds, without sounding too cheesy. The intro "F**king A**hole" fits the bill imho.
There is another (good) chucky sample track, apparently this movie was super popular amongst gabba producers.
And the "funny" You Stink track, which is a bit slower.

Review: Noize Creator - Still Out Of Order (Brutal Chud Recordings)

Stefan Senf aka Noize Creator made some of the most bone-crushing hardcore and gabber tracks in the 90s.

Then he more or less silently disappeared from the scene (despite his name).
So it's nice to see some of his early vinyls and tracks get a much needed re-press. and / or they get put on bandcamp.
There is also an item on bandcamp that was not available in the 90s, or at least not easily available.
a kind of demo cassette with tracks that found their way onto vinyl... and, this is what is most interesting to me:
some unreleased tracks, too!
with track titles like "riot" or "disciples of hell", i guess you know what to expect here already, and let me tell you, this is exactly what you are gonna get!

https://noizecreator.bandcamp.com/album/still-out-of-order-cassette-tape

Review: Mouse EP (Anticore Records 01)

ladies and gentlemen,

there is no other.
no other release like this.
it's almost schizophrenic in sound.
half of these tracks have minute-long ambient intros. that could be released as stand-alone dark ambient or drone tracks.
and the other half is industrial hardcore and speedcore slaughter.
but mouse blends these two polarities so seamlessly... it's really something different.
a 13 out of 10 points release.

https://www.discogs.com/release/214272-Mouse-EP

New radical and electronic music

I'm a 90s kid, and yeah, we had some fun. Especially related to music. Grindcore, Death Metal, Gabber, Hard Acid, Rave... music that really knocked you out and went from 0 to 60 in 3.5.
The decades that followed were a bit more boring. Or maybe, not boring. There was cool stuff, indie rock, pop, dance pop.
But everything felt less extreme and... hardcore.
Of course the above mentioned scenes still existed, too, in the underground.
But they kept repeating themselves, loop after loop after loop...

So I am very happy to see (or hear) that there are now lots and lots and lots of new artists and bands, that are really tough, extreme, wild, anarchist again...

Things obviously happen on many fronts. First, a lot look back at the 90s, take some stuff from there, and try to continue the thread.
New talented hardcore bands, new punk rockers, and so on...
Then there are new "genres" that get really tough now...
And, most importantly, a lot of people combine the old with the new, old rage with new anger... and throw many genres into one pot.
So there musicians with metal guitars and rave beats and hardcore screaming... or rap artists that break down into gabber and death metal... or jungle punks.
And the common dominator (sic) seem to be the very loud and harsh screams by the vocalist.

Oh and these bands often do not shy away from political and cultural statements, too.
Which is another breath of fresh air after a decade of "unpolitical" music.

So, I wanna recommend 17 artists or bands that are worth checking out. (Yeah, I know not all of them are brand new. But all of them recently released hot new stuff.)

(and one more time: these are songs from lots and lots of different genres).

1. Eville - Ballistic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NBLkvUTAvk (Metal / Jungle)
2. Hands Off Gretel - Territorial P*ssings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3qYl-6SYU8 (Metal / Punk)
3. IceLipzz - Be My Dog https://gabberindustriesberlin.bandcamp.com/track/be-my-dog (Gabba / Punk)
4. Partyof2 - Punk B!tch (Live From London) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjkwj7Qzla4 (Rap / Aggressive)
5. Slash Need - The Money Will Roll Right In https://slashneed.bandcamp.com/track/the-money-will-roll-right-in (EBM / Metal)
6. XOXO - Punisher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBUYRq26GA (Metal)
7. Astrid Gnosis Titan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_HN9S6ILR4 (NuGabber)
8. Stoneburner - Catch and Kill https://stoneburnerofficial.bandcamp.com/track/catch-and-kill (Metal / Industrial)
9. Mimi Barks - Power durch Verrat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5bp6RjEbLE (Doom Trap)
10. Tsytska — Menstruation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4DRGGN_KNU (Female Black Metal)
11. Ramel x Jeune Lord - Etat De Droit https://newfleshrecords.bandcamp.com/track/etat-de-droit-2am-mix-free-download-rods02 (Techno / Rap)
12. Slaughterhouse - Sick and Tired https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcs_a2CdIlI (Punk / Alternative)
13. Poppy - Dying To Forget https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoedCng--Rs (Aggressive Metal / Pop)
14. Zheani - Designer Sadness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X961ka0k1a0 (Metal / Trap)
15. Bound By Endogamy - Killed By Shame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDNqWlQIIDI (Acid / EBM)
16. Ege - I Love Stealing From Woolies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZsdP2trO0 (Hyper Pop / Rave)
17. Vial - Scorpio Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHAhA7LOeqE (Death Punk)

And here is a mix set that combines this new radical music with the older hard electronic stuff from the 90s.

Review: Tony Kashmere & Free Spirit : "Amalgamate" [Counterflux Series 05] - Part 2

Review by Wouter Schotte aka .less. / pointlesspoint
Amateur dj & musician
https://hearthis.at/pointlesspoint/
https://soundcloud.com/pointlesspointlesspoint
Admin at GabbaTracklistWorld
https://www.gabbatracklistworld.com/

Rémi Andrade aka Free Spirit, netlabel Chase Records founder, teams up with Tony Katana (Tommy Bonnevialle) under his Tony Kashmere alias to bring us the fifth chapter in his 'Counterflux' series: mixes spanning different electronic music genres, being it hard(core) techno, acid, gabber, ambient, drum 'n bass, and more, spanning 3 decennia.
Every episode gets distributed online, fully tracklisted on GabbaTracklistWorld.com (link 1) and send to friends and fanboys/girls. The man chooses to not put the releases on Discogs, unfortunately.
For the fifth episode we've got 2 dj's who practice deeper crate digging, so we're in for a journey.

Artwork

According to Rémi, the artwork is a scene from Cronenberg's movie 'Scanners', since he associates this movie with acid music. The Scan X track in this mix would fit perfectly with the movie's atmosphere. The title comes from 'Biocarbon Amalgamate' company in the movie and its logo, visible as a watermark on the artwork

Format

80 minutes CD-R. Distributed online as mp3 and wave file.

Review

In contrast to Tony's mix, Rémi's set opens with breakbeat rave madness from a Martin Damm's alias. I've heard Phase IV tracks used effectively in a mix by Zyper C... and i also appreciate it here. I always love it when breakbeat or broken stuff gets mixed with straight 4/4. I can assure you that the moment Taciturne's track kicks in, your hardcore head will get necked!
Dashcraft's track is a kick + percussion filler techno track (you need them too), after which banging industrial acidcore from Lasse Steen underlined by La Peste's sped up IDM fuckery creeps in like the deadly fog over the bay in John Carpenter's classic horror story.

Thrilling atmospheres are reminiscent of his very very awesome third mix in the series (check link 2),
namely:
– broken beats morphing into straight 4/4, see the previous paragraphe.
– ambient intermission: the beatless synth part halfway Scan X's track from 1993 predicts a dark future, from which a new act starts from the ground up: Katharsis' 'Urolith' lets a simple kick progressesing into a nifty techno track.

Quite surprising is how a hardhouse/hardtrance/goa crossover track from Ninu & Wasi 'The Executioner' [Distorsion Times 003] "2021" ends up in this mix. Rave alert!
Koenig Cylinders track '99.9', albeit well knowjn, almost feels like a filler track, compared to the beast that follows... . Kicking relentless industrial techno from the Healy brothers and Caustic Vision. Metallic sounds getting used as hammers forming stabbed patterns. Banger!

The ending i am somehow less fond of. The Enticer's broken fierce melody and distorted beats halt the last bars of the previous punishing techno, after which a noisy Burning Lazy Persons track on the Trash Massacre vinyl compilation that supported the eponymous 2025 event, closes off.

Free Spirit offers us a showcase of the variety of hard(core) techno. Building up, keeping interest, solid overall. Tracks spanning decennia move us back and forth in the spectrum. One small remark would be that the recording could have been mastered a bit to make it a bit louder.L
Pay attention to how tight this mix is, how it flows... tracks spanning decennia. Listen closer... now this is how you do it, you vinyl junkies!

Link1:

Counterflux series tracklists:
https://www.gabbatracklistworld.com/index.php?explore=search&search=counterflux&searchType=all
https://www.mixcloud.com/ChaseRecords
Online listening
https://hearthis.at/counterflux-series/

Link 2
Counterflux 03
https://www.mixcloud.com/ChaseRecords/free-spirit-shaking-the-concrete-counterflux-series-03/

Contact:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BJs4uaL5j

Tutorial: How to run a DIY Techno Label - Chapter 1: From demo 2 release

The Hardcore Overdogs presents a special guest feature by Doomcore Records

Hello Sinners,
As you (might) know I run a DIY label (Doomcore Records and its subs).
I wrote a lot about it in the past, also about some releases, the artists...
I often get questions by fans or people who want to start a project or label themselves.
"How do I set up a label?" "How do I promote my music?" "Should I put butter or jelly on my toast?"

So, in response to this, I decided to give a few rare sneaks peaks... into the inner workings and mojo of a DIY underground label.
I plan to write a few tutorials and doing some visual visualizer vids, too.
Here is the first one in this series. A (very) short video.
It shows the path of a gloomy industrial doomcore techno release, from start to finish.

Tutorial:
How to run a DIY Techno Label

Chapter 1: From demo 2 release

Step 1: an artist sends me a demo by mail
Step 2: i check the tracks
Step 3: i acknowledge the artwork
Step 4: i mail them back
Step 5: i write a promo blurb
Step 6: i upload the tracks
Step 7: i release them
Step 8: release is out
Step 9: success

You can check the video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/izl50EzADko

The History of Gabber House: A look back at Rave Records from The Hague

In the Hardcore Techno Overdogs magazine we usually focus on the underdogs... well, maybe that term is not entirely correct. Let's say we focus on the under-appreciated labels, that still duly deserve their spotlight.
Because of this, we neglected the "motherland of gabber" a bit so far - The Netherlands.
After all, every boy and his dog was raving to the wicked hardcore beats of gabber madness in the 90s - right?
So gabber from holland is hardly hardcore of "underdog" quality... and everyone already knows it, right?

well, while that was true for the 90s, it might not be so true anymore. We maybe could define a kind of "temporal overdog". Stuff that indeed everyone knew in the 90s, but in today's media culture, is shadowed and under-appreciated because everyone else focuses on the "big" labels mostly.

So let us look at the various interesting dutch gabber label from the 90s.

And this time, we want to tell you about 7 very interesting releases on the label Rave Records from ’s-Gravenhage (aka The Hague).

T.O.P.D.R.O.P. - Achtung! (RAVE 13th)

"hey meine gabber freunde". who doesn't know "achtung!"? and in case you really do not know it...
this track takes the early hardcore classic "b.o.t.t.r.o.p" by dj hooligan (see the similarity in name? a clever trick!), well at least it's acid sample, speeds it up and boom boom adds more gabba basses to it.
a track that either smashes or clears the dancefloor, depending on whether the crowd is hard enuff.

Noisegate - Goddamn' Mind (RAVE 028) 

"goddamn mind" is one of these releases that goes from 0 to 60 in 3.5. the track starts, boom! the bass hits and there is slaughter.
take no prisoners!
other tracks are cool as well.
generally, this is one of the "gabber" releases that do not focus so much on melodies or nice harmonies, but are just lovely NOIZE.

Square Dimensione - A Brand New Dance (RAVE 35th) 

You might know this one from a mayday rave recording, or other sets...
Almost trancy intro, beats come in, then some cool rapping, everything get's harder... word!
A track on the b-side, "brand new bassdrums", in an early pill-driver style bass-drum only track.
One of the more complex simple gabber tracks (hah!)

DJ Isaac - Bad Dreams (RAVE 45TH) 

"Bad Dreams" later became a Thunderdome classic. But this early draft on here is even bigger, bolder, rougher and tougher!

Various - The Erotic Kingdom E.P. (Rave 8th) 

One of the more sleazy hardcore / techno releases.
The main track is some house / funk affair, that also feels like early rave-hardcore, if you catch my drift.
Most interesting to me is the "happy hardcore" edit, because this is neither the breakbeat happy hardcore that was typical for 92, nor the "happy gabber" of 1996.
It's legit oldschool gabber, with some mellow / happy sounds, and that combination is very rare, my friends!

Ech Heftag! - Uit Je Dakkie (RAVE 18TH) 

Has this ep been pre-mastered to a cassette tape? There is definitely something odd (i.e. lo-fi) about the levels and sound...
Either way, it kicks more hard this way, I suppose.
Brutalist Hardcore for 1993.

The Falcon - Tear You Apart (RAVE 23) 

Do you remember when gabber (or "rave") labels released acidcore EPs too?
Like this one. Very cool.
There is some weird rhythm stuff going on, as it feels like some elements run at different or "broken" speed (somehow).
and that bass is extra large.

Hellcreator - From The Past (Self-Released)

Going by the title, this is a collection of past tracks by Hellcreator.

In case you don't know Hellcreator, he was one of the earliest producers in the Early Hardcore revival. New producers, that is - as opposed to those who do it since the 90s.
But it was never just "early", but also close to terror / speedcore.
And one thing that always stood was his prominent use of rave-y / trance melodies, almost like krautrock or shoegaze even.
So there is the opposition of calm, soothing, "cheerful" melodies - and all the terror beats.
And I really like that!

https://hellcreator.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-past

The original Gabber creators: looking back at 11 tracks by the Euromasters and friends

I guess everyone who is into Gabber heard the name Euromasters being mentioned, one time or another.
After all, a lot of people consider them to be the creators of the first true Gabber track ever - Alles naar de klote. That's the origin of Gabber right there.
That track really rocked the scene, was also widely known beyond the Hardcore moshpits. I remember a few german music mags crowning the track as one of the best releases of that year.

And it even lent its name to a wicked dutch movie ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117142/ ) - about rave, crime, and gabber house, of course.

What might be lesser known is that they also were involved in lots of other cool tracks and releases. They also did side projects or solo stuff.

And that is what we are looking at, here. 

1. Rotterdam, Ech Wel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzXiht93wT0

"Amsterdam waar leech dat dan" is probably the other well-known tracks by Euromasters. This b-side to the record release sounds actually quite similar... but i prefer this one even one notch more!

2. Alles Naar De Klote (250 Bpm Remix By Dimitri) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2ebqVYoKY

hey, dimitri! this is the tracks we've been talking about... but it is even harder & faster :-)

3. He scheids! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE0gNBjjaoI

a dutch guy once told me this one is about soccer, and rivalry between teams (of other nations?)
regardless of the message, this is one of the most bad ass rough gabba tracks ever!

4. Oprottûh (Hooligans Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhrtV-WnWpE

as far as i know, euromasters established the "loud scream, bass drum, go!" formula long before other labels did... this track is a good example of that!

5. Noiken In Die Koiken (German Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlxmFhukr4k

the title is about a profane act in the kitchen.. weird?
love the bass vibrations here.

6. Everybody Clap Your Hands (Original Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP1GYcG4kpc

notable for being one of the few gabber tracks that does not really follow a "four to the floor" beat.

7. De Klootzakken - Dominee Dimitri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T3dxhQ3S-I

this is madness! some of the most insane psycho hardcore sounds ever.

8. Hooihouse - Pien An De Eure (Kuilgras Hop) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgJxr7nlIqw

solo project by teun hooihouse. a early "speed up" track. heavy and fast.

9. Ziekehouse (Semtex Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Hr5fXq--o

a later solo project. it seems the samples, and therefore most of the track, is made up by the sound of fire crackers!

10. Sonic Warrior - Supersonic Guerilla https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gOTf37U10g

teun hoihouse used an aka to create the intro to the terrordrome iv compilation.
it's much more than an intro, it's a complete tracks, yet a very unusual track, because at the same time...it's still an intro!

11. A Message from Hell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UCSPIUHlJE

sounds like this one was sent from hell, indeed! even though it has that funny sample by british punk band the "toy dolls".

The History of Gabber House: A look back at Hard Stuff Records

In the Hardcore Techno Overdogs magazine we usually focus on the underdogs... well, maybe that term is not entirely correct. Let's say we focus on the under-appreciated labels, that still duly deserve their spotlight.
Because of this, we neglected the "motherland of gabber" a bit so far - The Netherlands.
After all, every boy and his dog was raving to the wicked hardcore beats of gabber madness in the 90s - right?
So gabber from holland is hardly hardcore of "underdog" quality... and everyone already knows it, right?

well, while that was true for the 90s, it might not be so true anymore. We maybe could define a kind of "temporal overdog". Stuff that indeed everyone knew in the 90s, but in today's media culture, is shadowed and under-appreciated because everyone else focuses on the "big" labels mostly.

So let us look at the various interesting dutch gabber label from the 90s.

And this time, we want to tell you about 7 very interesting releases on the label Hard Stuff Records.

Mental Hardcore Associates - Let's Get Wappie (Hard Stuff 021)

Gizmo played this at the mayday rave, hey hey! 50,000+ ravers getting wild to this track.
There are also two other mixes that do not feel too different to the original.
It's an interesting mix of very, very hard "dutch oldschool" with hoovers and all, and "guitar terrorcore" like the americans did.

Thomas E - Datastorm EP (Hard Stuff 14)

Thomas Elers is a bit like the forgotten man of acidcore. also from denmark, like zekt or choose.
He did some wicked acid/techno on german labels like labworks.
But also did some gabba-acidcore, like on this release.
And this one is very, very crazy. Just as over the top as the best stuff by e-de cologne or bse dj team.

Wasteland - Ibiza (Hard Stuff 12)

Ibiza is an interesting tune, as it sounds one half hardcore, one half hardtrance, and one half arcade video game music (yes, three halves).
There is also a "boom boom remix" that make me feel as if the venga boys went gabba (even though the melody is completely different).
Yet the killer tune on here is "First Time On This Planet". Gabba with one of the fastest use of a T99 like sound I ever heard. I guess the sampler had a meltdown towards the end.

Brainblower - Mental Hangover (Hard Stuff 10)

a good release to show how varied gabber house and hardcore techno were in the "beginning".
a1 is a very fast oldschool tune with the typical "rave" stabs.
the next track on the other hand is almost slow, with an industrial sounding drum and an interesting groove.
plus there is lots of acid to be found here, and other madness.

Cellblock X - Secrets Of Nutrition E.P. (Hard Stuff 11)

A project by Thomas Elers that is closer to pure "acid" techno. but very hard acid. and, unlike batteries, a few gabber-speedcore sounds are included as well!

Charley Lownoise & Mental Theo - The Bird

Have you heard about the bird? Yup, the trash men's 60s garage song was already a well known cult classic long before an american cartoon series adopted it in their episodes.

this time, our favorite birdsong get's the gabber treatment, and it get's it good.
at a time when charly & theo were still very wild & hardcore, before their european chart success.

there is also a kool acidcore test as the b side.

Illegal Alien - Frankfurt vs. Den Haag (Hard Stuff 016)

’s-Gravenhage (or "The Hague" for english people) is such an idyllic european megalopolis, placed neatly near the ocean at this side of the atlantic... and they got a hot gabber scene too.
the track here is actually by gabber legend "3 steps ahead" using one of his akas.
hardcore drum... check... repetitive "hoover" melody... check.... hyptnotic acid lines... check!
there are also three alternative mixes to the original track on the record.

What other dutch labels are underrated in your opinion? let us know!

Review: Tony Kashmere & Free Spirit : "Amalgamate" [Counterflux Series 05] - Part 1

Review by Wouter Schotte aka .less. / pointlesspoint
Amateur dj & musician
https://hearthis.at/pointlesspoint/
https://soundcloud.com/pointlesspointlesspoint
Admin at GabbaTracklistWorld
https://www.gabbatracklistworld.com/

Free Spirit (Rémi Andrade) and Tony Katana (Tommy Bonnevialle, here disguised as 'Tony Kashmere', a moniker for 'softer' material) collaborate in the fifth chapter of the 'Counterflux' series, a series of CD mixes born from the mind and spinning hands of Free Spirit, bedroom dj and former Chase Records owner. Each installment highlights multiple aspects of hardcore techno, acid techno, and many other styles in electronic music. The sets are offered online for download (Facebook/mediafire/...); in addition, 13 cd copies with artwork are always sent to fans and friends. The length of the two sets, along the lines of mixtapes, had to fit on a single CD, a long-play CD.

Tony Katana belongs to a group of versatile French dj's who spin the better 90's underground hardcore techno, gabber, and speedcore, blending them with contemporary releases. He regularly shares live mixes via Facebook (under Tony Katana) and YouTube. Other notable French names include DJ Fusion, Mascore, Martyr, DJ Ash, and more.

Some of Katana's mixes are among the best in the contemporary underground hardcore techno and gabber revival. Well-known and lesser-known 90s tracks are mixed with, among others, newer industrial Italian releases in a tight, rhythmically thumping style, making combos of different elements of tracks, sometimes touching on the psychedelic style of SpeedyQ's and Tec-9, with occasional long transitions. John Dark and SpeedyQ's are, for the record, amongst his major influences for Djing for the explorative & adventurous nature of their output. All of this contrasts quite sharply with a good portion of Dutch Dj's. "Early rave" (a marketing gimmick!) is not included here.

A mix clocking in at +200 bpm, 'Décharge cabalistique' (see link below), is, in my opinion, a very good example. Only after listening to a few mixes did I realize the man has an extensive background in classical music (see his piano renditions of metal albums in the link), and that skill and sensitivity are reflected in both the almost harmonically rhythmic mixing, as well as the harmonically logical and equally surprising contrasts in melody and harmony. In this Counterflux Part, Katana tries to emulate Free Spirit's style (digging deep in genres, mixing long transitions, technoid elements, …).

I listened to this Counterflux mix first in part, once in its entirety, and finally with the video.
I did the latter to better understand the mixing work. Initially, I was a bit lost in how Katana reinvented himself. After the fragile intro by Ulver, somewhat IDM-like, not completely my thing, the mix picks up with more experimental, technoid tracks by Liza N Eliaz and Lorentz Attractor, bathed in pads, creative 303 lines, and reverbs that create and build atmosphere. These tracks also appear in the excellent mix 'Matt Fraktal – Fraktal + Timeless'; could this have been a source of inspiration, i asked myself? Tony answered affirmative.
The first culmination is a long transition from Lorenz Attractor's 'Complexity Crisis' into 'Industrial TR' by Vdd Energise (sample: 'ecstasy!!'), with the hats pattern(s) as common ground. overall The menacing atmosphere that had been building finally explodes accompagnied by a our beloved marching 'hardcore' bassline. Wonderful! Then Katana shifts back a gear, the atmosphere builds again with techno, acid techno by Propionic and Koenig Cylinders flowing nicely with harmonic key into Headshop's 'Universe' from the PCP stable; a track that falls somewhere in between hardcore, acid, hardtrance, unique in itself. I remember discovering tracks like these when digging further into hardcore techno after the popular gabber period... . Luckily we don't feel that old yet, and people spin it in 2025!
Katana masters the art of casting tracks, giving them a role in the story; here the for me unknown 'Filmcore' by Simstim. Equally clever is the use of lesser-known, more of 2 strong filler techno tracks by FFM and Marc Acardipane (, followed by the strange melody of Zekt – Fixed, after which follows a more obscure proto goatrance track and one Marc Acardipane track. FFM's track is mixed very well and for a long time. Seeing it mixed live gives me a better understanding and respect for the calm and apparent simplicity with which track after track are seamlessly woven. The techno track by Matrix Project on AREA51 appeals to me less because I simply don't like this kind of monotonous techno too much. The introduction of this track and the fantastic track by Mechanism (with a slightly lower gain?) sounds a bit rushed. I learned it sounds that way because it was brought in the first break.

Whereas a previous mix featured a modernist piece as the intro, the minimalist classical electronics of Matmos now provide the outro. Original! Listen carefully to the complexity of the resulting harmony.

In my opinion, the mix could have been longer, which makes it seem like there was a bit of a rush to deliver the last three tracks (which perhaps couldn't have been mixed any other way).

The good reasons to listen to Katana's mixes are also present here: distinctive track selections, transitions, rhythmic layering, atmosphere, harmony and melody, and contrast. Could you guys give the file a bit more gain on your next CD? Fantastic!

Considering that Katana is constantly exploring new areas of the electronic music spectrum, a black metal-tinged speedcore set mixed with Persian classical music could be on the menu next, or am I being too hasty? Stay tuned!

Glaze your ears.

Wouter.

LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Katana/pfbid0vD3Bgoyq51kjt3k1UccUUgyc5P46CsjsJWiKnxfwXBdJ7LFVmXXo1mZniVj6DV41l/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tonyktn

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-820786501

Audio samples:

Tony Katana – Décharge Cabalistic

https://www.gabbatracklistworld.com/index.php?explore=view&trackid=6206
https://www.facebook.com/100078252973008/videos/395023396957969/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDltmwGBCs

Matt Fraktal – Fraktal + Timeless
https://www.gabbatracklistworld.com/index.php?explore=view&trackid=4679