Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster (160 to 200 BPM or more) and a distorted sawtooth wave kick, the intensity of the Bass drum and the synthesized bass (in some subgenres), the rhythm and the atmosphere of the themes (sometimes violent), the usage of saturation and experimentation close to that of industrial dance music. It would spawn subgenres such as gabber.
History
Early 1970s to early 1980s
1980s
The term Hardcore punk is not new in the music world. It was first used to designate a more radical movement within punk rock (Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains...) which, in addition to hardening the music, also attached importance to their attitude and their way of life as in the street where it was born: violent, underground, but engaged and sincere. The term has then been reused when hip hop emerged in the late 1980s, designating the harder part of the hip hop, with the same characteristics: a harder sound, engaged lyrics and a whole way of life dedicated to the respect of the values shown by Rapping like KRS-One or Public Enemy. The term hardcore techno has first been used by EBM groups like , Pankow,SPEX music magazine: Hardcore-Techno-Beat aus Florenz!, p.49, issue 9/89, September 1989 and Leæther Strip New Life Soundmagazine (October–November 1989). in the late 1980s, although their music had nothing to do with hardcore. 's Sucking Energy (Hard Core Mix), released in 1985, was the first track ever to use the term hardcore, within an EDM context.
1990s
In the early 1990s, the terms "hardcore" and "darkcore" were also used to designate some more aggressive or high tempo forms of techno, breakbeat and drum and bass which were very popular in England, and from which have emerged several famous producers like N-Joi, The Prodigy, Altern-8 and Goldie. One of the earliest uses of the word in the context of English releases/the English rave scene which gained prominence was 1990's "Hardcore Uproar" by Together. The track's title was derived from a promoter of acid house parties of the same name that hosted controversial raves in and around the town of Blackburn, and was agreed on between the members of Together and Hardcore Uproar's organisers in exchange for letting them feature a recording of the crowd at one of their nights in the track. Symbolically, according to Together member Suddi Raval, the night they attended to acquire the recording also turned out to be the final event under the Hardcore Uproar banner before its founders were forced to disband and stop the raves by the police. A slogan associated with these events and the anti-establishment ethos behind them, "High On Hope", was later used on a 1991 release on Blackburn-based label All Around the World, aptly under the artist name Hardcore Uproar. Later English hardcore introduced sped up hip-hop breakbeats, piano breaks, dub and low frequency basslines and cartoon-like noises, which has been retrospectively called 'old skool' hardcore (a.k.a. breakbeat hardcore) and is widely regarded as the progenitor of happy hardcore (which later lost the breakbeats) and Jungle music (which alternatively lost the techno style keyboard stabs and piano breaks).
An important event in the popularization of the genre occurred with the release of the 1990 track "We Have Arrived" by the German producer Mescalinum United, of Frankfurt. Trauner founded the label Planet Core Productions in 1989 and has produced more than 500 tracks, including 300 by himself until 1996. Another important project of Trauner was PCP, popularizing a slow, heavy, minimal and very dark form of hardcore that is now designated as "darkcore" or "doomcore".
In the United States, the New York pioneer of techno Lenny Dee launched the first dedicated hardcore record label Industrial Strength Records in 1991 that has federated a large part of the American scene, making New York one of the biggest centers of early American hardcore. Other American producers on the label included Deadly Buda and Oliver Chesler, but the label has also produced producers from other nationalities. At the same time in Rotterdam, the DJs and producers Paul Elstak and Rob Fabrie popularized a speedier style, with saturated bass-lines, quickly known as "gabber", and its more commercial and accessible form, happy hardcore.
Paul Elstak founded Rotterdam Records in 1992, which became the first hardcore label in the Netherlands. In 1992 at Utrecht, a large rave called The Final Exam led to the creation of the label ID&T. Launched in 1993, the concept of Thunderdome quickly popularized hardcore music in Europe with a catalogue of CD compilations and events, attracting thousands of young people that launched the gabber movement. Just during the single year of 1993, four compilations were released with increasing success. Many artists on the compilations have become well-known figures in the scene, notably 3 Steps Ahead, DJ Buzz Fuzz, The Dreamteam, Neophyte, Omar Santana, and Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo in the gabber/happy hardcore registry. The same year, the label Mokum Records was created by Freddy B who had success with artists and groups like Technohead Tellurian, the Speedfreak, Scott Brown, and the Belgian musician Liza N'Eliaz, pioneer of speedcore.
Around 1993, the style became clearly defined and was simply named "hardcore", as it left its influences from Detroit techno.
In England, the members of the sound system Spiral Tribe, including Stormcore, 69db, Crystal Distortion and Curley hardened their acid-breakbeat sound, becoming the pioneers of the "acidcore" and "hardtechno" genres. In 1994, they founded the label Network 23 which among others has produced Somatic Responses, Caustic Visions and Unit Moebius, establishing the musical and visual basis of the free party rave.
Hardcore/Gabber clubs in Belgium, DJ Yves was resident DJ at Club X in Wuustwezel and from the Hardcore room of the Cherry Moon in Lokeren, DJ Bass (DHT) was resident DJ of the Hardcore room of Temple Of House La Bush in Esquelmes (Pecq) and of La Florida in La Glanerie (Rumes) which is next to the Complexe Cap'tain. Thunderdome in Belgium was organized at the Sportpaleis and in clubs such as the Planet Hardcore (Club) in Dendermonde 3 April 1994, the Extreme in Affligem on 16 December 1994, the Club X in Wuustwezel on 7 June 1996 and 13 September 1996, the Cherry Moon in Lokeren on 31 October 1997.
In France, the pioneers of hardcore include Laurent Hô and Liza 'N' Eliaz. The French hardcore scene later went on to develop into frenchcore.
In the late 1990s, hardcore progressively changed as gabber waned in popularity. This left a place for other hardcore-influenced styles like mákina and hardstyle.
Labels such as Enzyme Records, Crossbones and Bloc 46 have produced darkcore artists, like Ruffneck, Fifth Era and The Outside Agency.
As the free party movement was successful in all the Europe, freetekno appeared. Numerous producers and labels emerged representing the hard techno and the frenchcore genres: Epileptik, Audiogenic, Les Enfants Sages, Tekita, Breakteam, Mackitek, B2K and Narkotek.
The middle of the decade saw a shift in popularity, from mainstream hardcore to faster styles such as frenchcore, uptempo hardcore and terrorcore. Although these styles existed previously already, an increase in artists and events around 2015 helped these styles develop and move to the forefront of the audience's attention. The shift from the older range of 160–180 beats per minute to 200+ changed the hardcore market, creating a demand for more energetic and intense hardcore than before. Artists like Sefa & Dr. Peacock saw a quick rise within the scene and influenced the musical direction to a louder, faster, but more melodic and euphoric style. Major artists from other genres such as Marshmello, Carnage, Porter Robinson and Headhunterz started to occasionally play faster hardcore in their sets.
The end of the decade saw rapid growth of the hardcore scene in Europe. Hardcore festivals within the Netherlands saw a significant rise in attendance. 2019's edition of Thunderdome reached an attendance of almost 40,000 people and became the biggest hardcore event to ever take place. Regular large scale events hardcore started happening outside of the Netherlands in countries like Spain, Russia, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic among other European countries. In America hardcore remains a relatively underground genre, but can be found in major cities being pushed by independent promoters and artists.
2000s
2010s
Hard dance
Notable related events
See also
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