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.