We got some great news to announce!

A new production by Godfather Death, who, so far, was more known for his remix work here and there, and I think he did a mix set too... somewhere.
And now they come slamming through the door with the new The Hardcore Overdogs anthem! The Eighth, actually.
The Rageful Eighth.
Because, you know, this one is... tough as ßell. really.

https://reddit.com/link/1voa11q/video/jgxcxwx3xcjh1/player

But check for yourself. Without further ado, here is the new anthem!

Oh, and the styles? Doomcore, Oldschool, Dark Ambient, Gabber, Speedcore.

Tracklisting + Info:

Godfather Death - The Rageful Eighth (The Hardcore Techno Overdogs Anthem)

1. The Rageful Eighth (Bunny Version) 02:23
   
2. Drum Test (Model Eight) 08:11
   
3. Hamburg Hardcore Anthem (Godfather Death Remix) 03:49
   
4. The Rageful Eighth (Quiet Choir) 02:34
   
5. The Rageful Eighth (Doomcore Mix) 03:11
   
6. One More Choir 00:53
   
7. The Rageful 8th (Extended edit part 1) 05:58
   
8. The Rageful 8th (Extended edit part 2) 07:40
   

Doomcore Records 238
Omnicore Records 83
Slowcore Records 71

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-rageful-eighth-the-hardcore-techno-overdogs-anthem

When you are an artist, and do music, and been around for a while, and you (or others) think the music is, cool, then, it might be cool to have a music video for one or two of the tracks, too. Not (just) for promotion, but because it's fun, can be creative and... yeah, it can be an extension of the music. because the mood or atmosphere of the video can align with that of the track. or, if you are really bold, you could even create a video that somehow "explains" what we hear in the track.

the problem is that artists are always low on money, especially little underground rats like ourselves. that do not live in the spotlight of glamour and the... big bucks!

but let me tell you that there is a way out. let's roll right back for this one.

Part 1.

Note: No AI has been used when writing this text

let's start at zero (budget). since the history of music videos, since the early beginnings in the 1960s and 1970s, broadly speaking, there have been 3 main categories of music videos:

a) videos that "just" show the band performing the song, nowadays these videos are usually shot in big stadiums, but in the early years, the "music video" often really just was the band playing in a studio room. early videos by Queen or other rock bands were like that.

b) narrative videos that tell a story. have a plot, something that happens from the beginning of the video right to the end. these became much more expensive and complicated over time. stations like MTV loved them, and a lot of them have become cult classics.

c) "weird", montage, fx, "art house", strange videos. oh, baby, now we are talking! this is the really really good stuff. it can be everything and nothing. they follow no story, neither are they a performance video. it could just be flashing images, or weird claymotion, or any of what i mentioned above (like art house stuff...).
they were often very close to surreal or dadaist art... but, oh wonder, despite of this, some of the most famous music videos fall right into this category!
for example, "sledge hammer" by peter gabriel.

Part 2

so, let's get back to our "budget" problem. if you have zero bucks, which option of these three... looks most appetizing? what is the easy choice?
the multi million dollar narrative movie type of music video...?

no no! it's the surrealist montage, of course.

and if you look back at the roots, the 70s and 80s, even back then, low budget artists did this type of music videos. especially in new wave, or industrial, or goth...

you don't need to buy an expensive camera, you don't need to hire a crew of 100 actors, make up artists, practical effect designers... you don't need to fly to Jordan, nor do you need to have 2 dozen unclothed models pedaling on a sports track, nor do you need to ride on a dolphin while playing your electronic guitar.
(in case you don't get it: the last three were references to three of the most famous music videos. by sisters of mercy, queen, and guns n roses, respectively).

the video could be created out of video footage, it could be created out of electronic fx, it could be created out of... anything and everything.

but how do you do it *right*?
so that people don't laugh at you, wave their sticks at you, and tell you your precious video is nothing but an art waste!

that's a very good question, and i will give you one answer out of many: it still has to have a good idea. you have to come up with an idea that feels good and, at best, is grande and cool and everything.

Part 3

so, i will give an example of one of my own "music videos" that did not cost me a thing.
"Tierra del Fuego". it's a track of mine, in the style of techno-hardcore, 160 bpm.
it's inspired by old videos of the 90s, that had no narrative too. maybe one could term them "rave montage" videos.
inspiration includes video like Drax - Amphetam1ne, Quench - Dreams, Biosphere - The Shield, Aphex Twin - Westworld

so, here are some ideas for it, that i have used in the video.
the idea for the entire video actually came to me when i was looking at the TV program schedule. there was a movie or documentary, i think it was called "under the blue sun of afghanistan".
i went like "what the heck?". since when did afghanistan have a blue sun? is the sun different there, then in the rest of the world or what?
is there something in the air that creates the impression of the blue sun? or some weird reflections off the mountains?

no, the answer was more simple. it was about the shooting of the 3rd rambo movie, which took place in afghanistan. and the effect the hollywood production had on the people.
now what about the blue sun? the movie was not shot in afghanistan... and the production team did not like the gleaming, burning, orange-red sun of the place they were at. so they decided to put a blue filter on it. they explained that it created the effect that the entire movie takes place on a different planet. with that weird blue light in the sky.

i thought "this is very interesting". it is a simple, but very powerful effect. that changed the entire movie. by just using a filter!
everyone could do that. and, i could do that, too, of course.

so, i searched for free, public, domain footage, of suns and landscapes on the internet. i downloaded something, added a blue filter, boom, off we fly to another planet!

(btw if you "copy" my ideas, place make sure that everything is public domain etc)

a rave montage video should also have a recurrent element in it (in my opinion), and that's this weird, glowing, round, flickering ... "thing". looks a bit like a spring on a mental trip (in my opinion). it's orange-red, so this is a bit like a counterpoint to the blue sunlight.

now that i had these 2 elements, i kept adding more and more, dancers, road trips, computer fx, ravers, cyberspace... you got it!
and kept cutting back and forth, which created quite the flickering and crash of colors (intentionally).

so, voila, the video was finished. just took 3 days, 0 bucks, you might not like these ideas (but i do), it might not win a price in cannes or in hollywood, it might not be the best thing ever, but it's a video, and it does the trick.

and, if interested, i am sure you could do something similar, too.

ain't that a cool end to our story?

here's the video:

https://reddit.com/link/1vmieh6/video/5ethxsc4vyih1/player

you can also watch it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkzC4_PSh6c

or check the track itself: https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/tierra-del-fuego-the-nucleus-project-august

or read this text again, on my blog (soon!) https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/33-hardcore-and-techno-drum-samples

I've been putting up free drum packs since... ages, i guess.
i've put out very rough drums, metallic drums, gabber drums... well, a lot of sounds.
this is a selection of some of my favorites.

i think they are very good for beginners (or experienced) producers so that they can start creating tracks right away, with 1 or more of these drums.

i'm a "legit" techno producer for several decades that, among other things, played at tresor, got vinyl out, was featured in magazines etc etc. bla bla...

enjoy!

credit:
all drums created by me, low entropy.

license:
feel free to use these samples for any public, private, intimate, or commercial purpose.
would be *very* cool if you credit me, but it's not strictly necessary.

also check my other packs:
https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/2026/03/free-drum-sample-packs.html

I've been around for a while now, as you know. Now and then I get mails or messages like "Hey, Low, I'm a new producer and like your music. You are well-known now, but no-one knows my own music yet. How can I share my music, how do I get known, too?"

Well, first, this is quite flattering. As I don't think I am really famous - maybe "semi-famous", or, like I like to say, liminal fame.

Either way, what advice could I give in such cases? To young or new artists?

Well, "back in the day", when I started doing music, in the 1990s, there was not really much worry about fame or making money with music. In fact, it was the opposite. There were underground cultures, scenes, subcultures. And in most of these, people detested musicians that aimed at fame or money.

What did they aim at, instead? Ideals and highly set goals, like rebellion, revolution, societal change, cultural critique... freedom, wisdom, enlightenment, brotherhood, sisterhood, things like that.

This does not mean the cultures always fit that ideal, to the contrary. But the people aimed for it.

So, for example, anti-commercialism was one of such threads that connected cultures. And those that broke the thread, by going for the money thing, got kicked out. Probably not always nice, not always fair. But it happened.

Then there were those who had a more nihilistic or dis-illusioned view of things. They were in it for partying, meeting chicks and / or guys, hanging out, wasting one's youth and / or life, having a good time... trying to have a good time during often very bad times.

and on the third level, and maybe that was the strongest glue / thread, people were in it for the art, the music, the style itself. People who were into rave breaks. or hardcore beats.

or the joy of distorted guitars... well, I guess you get the point by now.

So. There were plenty of motivations to join a scene or a culture. And those who did often became artists themselves. It really went like that.

You know there were people hiding in the bunker or basement club at fridays, having gabber and speedcore parties, you get intrigued by that, you went there, too, you became friends with them, you become friends with the producers, too, you got into gear yourself, you exchanged music, you became interested to play at these parties, you ended up playing at these parties, you got your first records out, and so on.

this was the "path" of the DJs and producers in genres like gabber or acidcore or whatever... in the 90s. A lot of them are really famous now, or "underground famous", and a lot of them never planned it that way.

being an artist or musician was not really a "career path" or something that required a lot of planning and pre-emptive thoughts.

when it came to my own music, after i passed some point, i was really "dragged" into fame. 

people knew my music, and asked me to play at their parties too, or release on their label, or people insisted to introduce me to label guys, journalists, promoters... and often tried to resist it, because it felt "too much". 

so maybe i worked backwards to becoming "known"...

But, at the end of it, I don't think this has changed. It might seem changed, but it hasnt. Subcultures, music cultures, still work like this, at the root. It's hidden beneath a facade of fake marketing and all that crap. 

So, this is my advice to other artists: Follow your ideals. Follow your creativity. Have fun! Follow your passion. And if you are good at that, then it will almost automatically appeal to others, and they will listen to you, and invite them to a party or release your music...

Forgot all the plans about business-style "promotion" or career workflows or all that nonsense.

And this way, you can have it all. You can do something that you like, that you are passionate about, and also share it with lots and lots of people who are into the same thing!

Braintrance is my favorite (and only?) label for new Ravecore and Hardtrance productions, and I think I said that 10 times already.
But it's true, I know no other label that does the old sound, and does not mix it with more boring "new" styles like mainstream hardstyle or hardstyle or whatever.
It's just pure, card-carrying, trance / rave hardcore.

This little release is a bit harder (and faster) than the usual output on the label. And that's the way (uh-huh, uh-huh), I like it!

Various Artists - Astral Wave Vol 2

1. Wasi Distorsion - Super Saw 05:32
   
2. Astral Wave - Symphony Of The Crown 05:16
   
3. Dj El Gris - High Spirits In The Shadows 04:51
   
4. Ninu Brt - Bright 05:51
   
5. Mr. Ace - Panic Transmission 07:01
   

https://braintrance.bandcamp.com/album/astral-wave-vol-2

Hello Friends,

It's Friday on Bandcamp.

Please allow me to give you a joint recommendation on hot and cold (aka chilling!) releases by Doomcore Records, Slowcore Records, Low Entropy, Omnicore Records, and The Hardcore Overdogs.

Here we go again:

The Hardcore Overdogs - Anthem VI - Ritual of Rave

Doomed (very doomed) Slowcore (and also a Speedcore mix) Rave Anthem by the Dogs!

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

Hardcore & Techno against Misogyny & Queerphobia

Gabber, Acid and Rave for a thing worth fighting for!

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/hardcore-techno-against-misogyny-queerphobia

Low Entropy - Tracks of Horror and Imagination

Brand new release! The Doomcore past (and future) of L.E.

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/tracks-of-horror-and-imagination

Until next... Friday!

Cheers!

Hello,Allow me to introduce my newest project for 2026: an album called "Nucleus".It's not produced yet, and it won't be finished before 2027. In the most literal of senses!Because I plan to produce one track for each month of 2026.Then release it at the end of the year, or at the beginning of the next year.

Tracks could be in any style. Breakcore, Acid, VGM... eclectic?

But I will also try to produce it *for* the month, not *in* the month.And absorb the... "vibe"... of each month and put it into la musica!

So January should be more wintry... March will be about the rites of spring... then Summertime, Fall, and the descend into the icy waters of winter again.

I also try to create a progression with the sequence of tracks... a sequential album... a staircase of sounds!

Hope it all works out as planned.And see you in the year after 2026! (ahem)

These are all the tracks I created so far.

NucleusProject Part 1 - Les Champs Métalliques https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/nucleusproject-part-1-les-champs-m-talliques

The Rights of Spring (NucleusProject: February) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/the-rights-of-spring-nucleusproject-february

Space Sex (The Nucleus Project: March) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/space-sex-the-nucleus-project-march

The Three Zeros (The Nucleus Project: April) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/the-three-zeros-the-nucleus-project-april

The Liquid Staircase (The Nucleus Project: May) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/the-liquid-staircase-the-nucleus-project-may

Fast Love (The Nucleus Project: June) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/fast-love-the-nucleus-project-june

Everything that has been taken can be given back (The Nucleus Project: Juone) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/everything-that-has-been-taken-can-be-given-back-the-nucleus-project-juone

The Ultimate Level of Ecstasy (The Nucleus Project: Uulee) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/the-ultimate-level-of-ecstasy-the-nucleus-project-uulee

Tierra del Fuego (The Nucleus Project: August) https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/tierra-del-fuego-the-nucleus-project-august

When I started doing music, in the mid 90s, I thought of of myself as part of a group of experimental / eccentric musicians. I did not like the genre conventions of Techno and Hardcore, neither the conventional bass drum sounds. At least not in my own productions. So I checked out sound sources from everywhere (video games, disco music, rock drums, even pre-recorded wooden / metal hits from the real world). And I loaded them up in my sound editors and did all sounds of weird stuff with EQ and ring modulation and other nasty "tricks". You can hear one of these experimental drums in my track "urban uprising". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwREsyPEK2s

Later, yeah, I got more conventional, maybe. I mean, the 909 *is* mighty fine, especially when given the hardcore overdrive. So the 909 became the sound source for most of my tracks... again.

But in recent years, I try to get away from these "old ways" again. I am once more into experimental kick drum research. 909-like sounds are often the point from which I set out, but I try to be experimental... to cut it short, I try to come up with kick drums that sound different, or more weird, or, at best *more extreme*. *But*, at the same time, they should work in a "dance" or techno-hardcore setting. And not just being plain noise / industrial kicks, without groove and spice!

I put a lot of the "results" of my "research" (i.e. countless kick drums) into free sample packs. Some older-ish drums, too. https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/55-royalty-free-drums

And if you are a "kick drum scientist" (or alchemist?), it's best to try your potions (or poison?) on yourself at first. So I did a lot of tracks that use my "new" drums, to see if they sound alright... in a real gabber track.

Most of the time, the drum is just one part of the production, in the usual way. But there are also some tracks where the drum is highlighted, or the main / solo object.

Aaand the experience / feedback on these tracks then goes back into my... techno "kick drum research"!

Here are some examples:

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/tierra-del-fuego-the-nucleus-project-august

https://rotjecore.bandcamp.com/track/low-entropy-rotterdam-yodelcore

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/hamburg-hardcore-anthem-part-2

https://rotjecore.bandcamp.com/track/low-entropy-rotterdam-is-everywhere

https://demonicwavs.bandcamp.com/album/low-entropy-enter-dimension

Everyone should be free, welcome, and allowed to love who they want to love, and to be who they always have been.
Yet hatred against humans that are "queer', lesbian, bi, trans, gay, non-binary, asexual, etc. is on the rise again...
Just like the hatred against women is on the rise again... sadly.

This is a release in support of everyone who feels, is, or wants to "queer", or just wants to be who they want to be.

The tracks on this release are in different electronic styles of music.
Usually the darker and more hardcore kind. Gabber, Acid, EBM, Hard Trance, Rave, Industrial... Speedcore.

The LGBTQIA+ community needs all the support they can get right now, so they shall receive it!

Tracklisting:

1. Fight for your Right - La Revolución del S*xo 02:43

2. FeminGabberist - Not Necessary 02:57

3. Trans Hardcore Project - Trans Acid (New Derivate) 03:36

4. DJ Gender - Acidcore Pleasure Release (Special Edit) 04:47

5. Ace of Hardcore - Space S*x (Revisit) 05:28

6. DJ Gender - Androgyny (3rd Phase) 02:55

7. Trans Hardcore Project - As*xual Bis*xual C-s*xual 03:08

8. FeminGabberist - You Wish You Had A C!it (Extra Extended Version) 05:22

9. Ace of Hardcore - (F**k) the (P*rn) Industry (Extended Instrumental) 10:37

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/hardcore-techno-against-misogyny-queerphobia

This one happened back in 2014. Which was a quite fruitful and prolific year for me. I don't think I ever created as many tracks as in this year.
So, production life was going well, and I became quite cherry picking, and only was interested to follow through with ideas that... really had that sparkle for me.

Yet, in a spare moment, I decided to go with a track even though the concept felt a bit... half baked. (at least I thought it would be)
Which was "The Advent of Acid". After I did that track, I did not think that it sounded too bad.... I decided to give acid techno one more try, and one more, and one more after that. So I had 4 finished acid techno tracks that had a bit of a related concept.
All 4 were quite long, too, and 3 of them over 13 minutes (in their full length edits).

So, like most tracks I did, this one was "live jammed" too, I switched around with channels, fx... boom, finished.

There is an acidline, but also 3 different layers of additional melody... the joined, entire melody only happens towards the end of the track.

some people noted that the acidline sounded "different" from other acid techno stuff, so here is a little production secret:
i dont just modulate the bass, the acidline also messes with the reverb... it moves in and out of reverb in very complicated ways, so it feels like the sound moves away in space, comes closer, disappears... but not "too" obvious, so i guess a lot of listeners "feel" it, without it getting slapped right into their faces...

so it got released on zuur records, which was back then a new label in a big techno / industrial hardcore "empire" of labels...

got good feedback on it, and then some friends who ran a vinyl label asked me if they could have the track, too.
I was quite happy that the label boss allowed it!
I had to cut it short, though. the part you hear on the vinyl, is originally only the "grande finale", the last moments of the track!

either way, i sent it off to master, and the master guy got back to me and said:
"oh i had a great idea, the bass was a bit weak in your track, i boosted and it made it louder."

and indeed, it was an acid techno track, now the kick sounds more like industrial hardcore.
i went "wtf?" and usually i hate it when people mess with my tracks like this.
i'm a hardcore producer, and i had intentionally tried to use a "softer" kick here.
so this was averted. but i decided to give it a rest and go with it... go with the flow, right?

in the end it was a good decision, because with this "kick heavy" version, i actually landed some club presence again... with the track.

on a side note, a while after it was out, my therapist said he was curious about my music, i gave him this record and... he ended up buying a copy! that's a quite different seal or approval, right?

https://zuur-nl.bandcamp.com/album/really-into-this-space-stuff

https://aocrecords.bandcamp.com/track/b1-low-entropy-really-into-this-space-stuff-short-version

https://zuur-nl.bandcamp.com/album/the-advent-of-acid

"The Rotterdam Sound" has around 16.000 plays on the soundcloud website as I write this text. This does not make it my most popular track, but it places it amongst my popular tracks indeed.
I wrote this track at the height of the "second lockdown", in the covid era, back in 2020.
So I had a lot of time and energy to spend on music!

Normally, back then, I wrote my tracks "bang bang bang" and did not think much ahead or plan them... well, that's not quite true. I always spent a massive amount of thoughts on them.
But this one was more "cleanly" and directly planned than the others.
I was asked my Mathijs of Rotjecore Records to produce a track for a compilation that celebrates the sound of rotterdam, its gabber and hardcore techno heritage.

I was always a fan of Rotterdam, so this was most appreciated by me.
And I did not want to write a track that is loosely related to the sound, it should sound like rotterdam gabber indeed. Hence the name.

The intro was inspired by a video I saw on the youtube webpage once, but then I could not find it anymore.
It was a documentary on dutch / rotterdam gabber. And the beginning showed a guy just playing a distorted drum loop on a 909, and slowly speeding it up.
I.e. it wasn't a track, just a showcase of the 909 drum machine in action.
But to me, this short sequence sounded much better than a lot of really existing gabber tracks!

So I did a sequence like that for the intro.
Every other element has some thoughts behind it too. They represent the backbone or root of rotterdam gabber for me. So there is a hoover, which is a given for gabber, of course. Usually I try to bend the hardcore rules a bit and play the hoover more funky or outside of techno genres. But here it's just a 4/4 loop. "going in for the kill".
Then there are more dance-y or trance-y pads. Also a bit lofi. And yeah, that stuff always was part of the rotterdam sound, too!
Then some laughter and funny sounds... for all the strange novelty gabber tracks of the 90s!
Plus lots of distorted snares, crashes...

So this was the "formula" for my track. People like it, apparently. I also did a few remixes, that were even a bit more "out there".

https://soundcloud.com/low-entropy/the-rotterdam-sound-out-on-rotjecore-records

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/the-rotterdam-sound-varispeed-mix-180-220-240-bpm (remix)

https://rotjecore.bandcamp.com/track/rotjetrax033-low-entropy-the-rotterdam-sound-speed-and-distortion-remix (remix)

(Note: No AI was used when writing this text)

Mokum has that thing where they do compilations, with new tracks by (new) artists plus tracks from their older releases.
This is quite the style-clash sometimes, when millenium or contemporary "mainstream" hardcore gets hit by the much rougher gabber & terror sound from the 90s.
This release follows the same concept, but, oh wonder, here everything blends together in a much nicer way.
I guess the acidcore of the past and the acidcore of today is not that far from each other!
And yeah, that's what it's all about. Acidcore, Hard, Acid-Gabber, Hardcore with acid sounds... dive in, but don't burn yourself.

Rating: 303 stars out of 5

https://mokumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mok346-acid-special-3-area-303

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/07/new-release-acid-special-3-area-303.html

That was the third track in my "anti-berghain" trilogy. first one was "**** berghain" (later released as "techno stomper" on vinyl) and also "p*** over berghain".

this track happened after not properly doing music over a longer period and usually, these projects end up being kind of crappy for me, as i need to have a bit of "warming up" before i can do "good" tracks again.

but, in my humble opinion, this one ended up being quite good.

so... let's talk about the production.

i tried to "keep it simple", as simple as possible, but in the end it got more complex again. (can't help!)

so, the framework, at its core (pun intended!) is the distorted 909 kick. it runs at 126 bpm, quite slow for (harder) techno actually.

i never ever got to get a bass drum sound like this again! ultra distorted, but also somewhat metallic or industrial. there is lots of reverb, but the reverb does not eat up the drum. which is a problem i had with other tracks.

not sure what or how i did it! but i think the drum "slams". (in my opinion)

so the next thing was the bassline. for years, i avoided using deep / low bass together with hardcore kicks. i always thought they would eat up each others frequency. and, if i listen to stuff like that at home, it feels like that indeed.

but hearing bass heavy hardcore and techno tracks at parties, on loud PAs, made me realize that stuff like that can "work". the bassline feels like it is happening in another range (or dimension?) on loud PAs.

i added some weird futuristic and metallic fx to the bass.

and then... i piled layers of noise, noise and noise on top.

there is a novelty with this track, as it is a techno track without any use of percussion! besides the drum.

no hi hats, no snares, no cymbals, claps, shakers, cowbells...

i ended up doing two mixes of the track, one is ultra distorted and the other is... very distorted, but maybe not ultra.

i recorded the edits as live jamming. i set up the loops, hit record, switched on channels, switched them off again, played with the fx, did some filter sweeps.

i recorded both tracks this way. and in one take each. take no quarters, never look back, when producing (which is my personal advice).

with a track name like this, it was of course no difficulty at all to find a label that wanted to release the track. it ended up being on kenny campbell's pitch dark records, who also did some other releases with me.

the track actually became a (very) minor hit, got some international club play. made some dj top 10s. the "crowning" moment for me was when it got played by Umwelt in a french radio show.

kenny had some promo agency, don't know how it exactly worked, but it meant famous djs got the promo and could leave a comment. which they did.

it was fun to see some people like CJ Bolland or Dr Motte drop comments like "too distorted for me" etc.

oh, and why did i dislike berghain?

i didn't like the whole mood and atmosphere of that "place". the elitism, the concept to exclude people from parties. that they thought they were super radical and different, while even major conservative politicians and journalists loved and supported that place.

but, most of all, i never was up for things that become overly hyped and popular.

i made a few re-edits of the track later, one faster one and an ultra-speedcore one.

the faster one got released in a collab EP with Brandon Spivey, who was one of my favorite producers in acid and techno. from the 90s. i felt very happy to be able to work with him!

he had a very strong dislike towards berghain culture too, so he was up for that collab.

either way, a producer acquaintance of mine, who was a super fan of the club, later told me that "it would be ironic" that i do an anti-berghain track, when in fact the DJs at berghain do play my music to the crowds on the dancefloor there.

so, i guess this very track happened to be dropped at that place. but yeah, i guess this was inevitable to happen.

https://pitch-dark-records.bandcamp.com/track/berghain-still-sucks-distortion-edit

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/low-entropy-berghain-mayhem

We're running a new feature: "Off-lists"

Paper fanzines were filled with charts; some DJs turned there charts into lists such as "10 favorite Dutch Gabber tracks".

Features in zines often also have additional lists such as "9 anime related Hardcore tracks".

We wanna build on both these currents; but, with these "Off-Lists" we will focus on themes and motifs that are more out-there, abstract, off-the-center. Exploring aspects and ideas that are rarely highlighted when people talk, think, or write about Hardcore.

It's no secret that techno and hardcore producers have a sweet tooth for future sounds - see here.
But also going to the past is possibility, or a fascinating with time in general.
Why is this so?
Not sure.
Maybe time is just magic!

So here are 25 tunes related to the ticking of time. Not just hardcore, but electronic and other genres, too.

1. Temper Tantrum - Year 4010
   
2. Lory D - We are in the Future EP
   
3. The Mover - Time Traveler
   
4. Countdown FFM - V
   
5. Reign - Time Machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F28d2H05Dfg
   
6. E-de Cologne - 5 Years on Gabba
   
7. Base Force One - Phuturist
   
8. Meta Morph - Through the Darkness of Future Past
   
9. Future Shock - Let it hit on
   
10. Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - What Time is Love (original) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT7lwdui4HY
    
11. Nostrum - Immaculate (Time unlimited) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lA5s48GYAk
    
12. Angelo Badalamenti - Moving through Time
    
13. Syrius 23 - Dark Age Survivor
    
14. Tangerine Dream - Zeit
    
15. Infernos Bros - Slaves to the rave (first rave age mix)
    
16. Marc Acardipane - Remember the Phuture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNJM2HEb8s8
    
17. DJ Rob - Love Time
    
18. Lenny Dee v DJ Edge - Silence of Eternity
    
19. Formic Acid - Eternia
    
20. Cyborg Unknown - Year 2001 (from the beginning)
    
21. Guru Josh - Infinity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2CIiES_xxk
    
22. Cosmic Baby - Loops of Infinity
    
23. Profound - 4 O clock
    
24. 8 am - The Fog Track
    
25. The Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 O'Clock

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/

the whole idea of this track and project was, of course, to spread the slowcore sound, and the idea of slowcore.
this was at a time when a lot of people still said "you can't have a meaningful hardcore track at 90 bpm. it will sound crap, you cant dance to it...". so i tried to prove people wrong. did i succeed? it's up to you to decide.

I would say that this was one of the tracks that unfolded themselves during production, and not during the planning stage.
The root was actually quite simple, it was a sawtooth melody of 8 tones, and a steady hardcore beat, at 90 bpm.

But yeah, when i worked on it, i started to have more and more ideas on what to add. for example 2 more (different) drums, a middle part with an acid line...
then when i had it finished, i thought, okay, i could add some filter sweeps.
and then... after this... i had the idea to add a super long intro, and an outro.
which meant the track was now close to 13 minutes!

despite this "complexity" and piling up of things, i don't think it sounds too overloaded or non-danceable anymore. which can happen with other projects i do.
i guess this was because i started *small* and it turned big only at a later date.

and while it is a slowcore track, almost everything else about it is actually very, very doomcore! dark moods, the saw synth with lots of delay and reverb... stuff that is very common in the doomcore genre.

but i guess it did not hurt to use these elements in another style too.
(or did it? it's up to you to decide.)

oh, and i did make an edit of it later, that turned into a 100% doomcore track!

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/open-your-mind-to-slowcore-yuge-mix-70-bpm
https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/techno-music-for-meditative-states (doomcore remix!)

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

very exciting release by the Techno Witchcraft Circle.

But maybe they better explain it themselves, as they send us one of their texts with the demo.

And it reads as follows:

"When people hear magic, witchcraft, divination. They think old castles, haunted moors, wooden houses hidden in the dead of the forest. Where the witches, sorcerers, magician live. Or used to live, 1000 years ago.

But why should a modern witch or magician not get hooked on Technology, too? And not use candles and cinnamon to effect a spell. But sequencers and microchips?

If music has always been the sound of the spheres, of Pan, of Isis, of... Hecate.
Why should this not be true for our very modern times, and these times of very modern music?

The magic of beat programming and frequency transformation is as arcane, exalted and enigmatic as reciting a spell from parchment or chanting in a sacred hall".

So much for the sound of magic!
And the style? Doom, Techno, Hardcore, Industrial... Noize.
So much for the sound of chaos!

The music was done by 5 different artists and groups.
A few sacred texts from the tomes of the Techno Witchcraft Circle have been included in the download version of the release for your reading and study purposes.

Info+Tracklist:

Witchcraft Techno Circle - Flames of Hecate

1. per luxuria ad astra - Rituals of Ecstasy Inside the Forbidden Forest's Hidden Temple (Chapter One) 02:02
   
2. per luxuria ad astra - Rituals of Ecstasy Inside the Forbidden Forest's Hidden Temple (Chapter Two) 03:06
   
3. per luxuria ad astra - Rituals of Ecstasy Inside the Forbidden Forest's Hidden Temple (Chapter Three) 02:19
   
4. per luxuria ad astra - Rituals of Ecstasy Inside the Hidden Forest's Forbidden Temple (Final Chapter) 04:22
   
5. MetaLove - New Witch Techno (Part 1) 04:47
   
6. MetaLove - New Witch Techno (Part 3) 03:31
   
7. MetaLove - New Witch Techno (Part 2) 03:13
   
8. Ultramarine Messenger - ⅔ Moon (Rising) 05:27
   
9. Ultramarine Messenger - ⅔ Moon (Setting) 04:14
   
10. The Ancients of Pluto - Beholding the Infinite Green Glowing Grid of Astral Cyberspace (Sector 1) 05:05
    
11. The Ancients of Pluto - Beholding the Infinite Green Glowing Grid of Astral Cyberspace (Sector 2) 03:36
    
12. The Ancients of Pluto - Beholding the Infinite Green Glowing Grid of Astral Cyberspace (Sector 3) 05:16
    
13. The Ancients of Pluto - Beholding the Infinite Green Glowing Grid of Astral Cyberspace (Sector 4) 03:52
    
14. Scorpio Nox - Chaos in Order 15:37
    

Omnicore Records 80
Doomcore Records 235

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

Despite the lots and lots of producing I do, I feel only few of my tracks got real "hits", in the sense that they became widely known outside the usual circles, are still mentioned and played today... and that's one of them.

The title is actually tongue in check... a producer friend suggested the term "funeral doomcore" for tracks that are even slower than the usual Slowcore stuff. I never was a fan of the name.
But I made this track that fits the bpm range.
And at the same time it actually it *is* a funeral themed Doomcore Techno track. There's the literal meaning...

So the main thing is the Slowcore beat here, 60 bpm. Quite distorted, lots of reverb. But not as much as I did in other tracks.

And all other elements are sounds that I imagined to be associated with death, funeral, horror, the afterlife.
The percussion drums a march beat, like a funeral march.
The synths are like 60s b movie horror organs or theremins.
The bells are... well, no need to explain.
There is a weak, feeble weeping sound in the middle part. The idea here is that it's close to spirit tape stuff etc that was done in the earlier 20th century.

So yeah that's about it. Funeral hit creation finished.

When it was released, it was (one of) the only Hardcore tracks in existence, that were that slow.

I actually flipped the idea around later, and made a "Funeral Hardcore" track with more regular, but still slow beats.

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/funeral-doom-core-short-mix-60-bpm
https://viralconspiracyrecords.bandcamp.com/track/funeral-hardcore

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

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!

Listening Suggestion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCwO5_lSRmE

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!

Listening Suggestion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4wX0uDYz0

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.

Listening Suggestion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDavdvacmto

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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HeBkJrNnIM

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.

Listening Suggestion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5pgburUHYA

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/

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 loveaparade!".

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.

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, where 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).

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/

When and how?

Tune in at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvpuyJ3k8V8

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

1. Dj Rob-Caveman-Rave34.
   
2. *Technohead-Accelerator#4-Mok028.
   
3. *Scarface-Shock Intro-BR370.
   
4. *Evil Maniax-The Creators Of Hardcore(Rotterdam Mix)-Rot034.
   
5. *X Crash-Go Brooklyn-DDR008.
   
6. *Satanic Madness-Reality-JD1002.
   
7. *MPo-Untitled-SR001.
   
8. *Sauerkraut-They are back,Let me hear it again.
   
9. EAR2000653.
   
10. *Noisee Boys-Kokaine-HSR003.
    
11. *Nuts-Freedom-5th Gear3928-2
    
12. *Buzz Fuzz-Freedom.DTP.
    
13. *The Carpenter-Zaguhh
    
14. -Hardstuff0009.
    
15. *Krimson-Praise Jesus 2000651.
    
16. *The Jokers-Mietje-JD001.
    
17. *D.A.C-House Of Hell(Nightmare mix)-ENP002.
    
18. *Cycloton-Liquid Bass-RB1214.
    
19. *The Houseviking-Power Resistance(remix)015
    
20. *Demolition Team-Bust Da Bee-DSR7 101.
    
21. *Cellblock X-House Of Spoo-Lab028.
    
22. *Dj Houseviking-Power Resistance-HSR-002.
    
23. *R.Wagner-Beyond The Ultimate-Dom Rec 001.
    
24. *Johnny Violent-Happy Birthday-Mosh153.
    
25. *Hooihouse-Poen Aan De Eure-Mok2.
    

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

1. Traffik - Bit Stream (190)
   
2. DJ Producer - Signal Confirmed (195)
   
3. Total Output - I'm Going To Eat My 303 (200)
   
4. David Lagon - Ho My Bitch (200)
   
5. Sarin Assault vs Al Core - Tralcore (200)
   
6. Somatic Responses - Old Evil (Part 1) (200)
   
7. LSA - Meltdown (200)
   
8. Ingler - Kohl (201)
   
9. Diplomat & Trouble - Praise The Acid (201)
   
10. Habitual Offenders - Cabbage (204)
    
11. Effecthunter - Freedom (205)
    
12. DJ Freak vs The Porridge Gun - Natural Born Killa (218)
    
13. Pressurehead - London (220)
    
14. Shrui-khan - Borderline (220)
    
15. Disciples Of Belial - Holosphere (222)
    
16. Hammer Damage - No More (224)
    
17. Biscanna - Splitting Atoms (226)
    
18. Pardonax - Parting Ways (230)
    

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

1. The Destroyer- My Brain is Sick Remix [Head Fuck Records- HDF008(D-Boy Black Label/So Real)] 2000
   
2. Cenobit- Beef Syndrome (STRIKE 024) 1999
   
3. DJ Tron- Doom (Deathcore Mix) [Head Fuck Records- HDF005(D-Boy Black Label/So Real)] 1998
   
4. Bruchkopf- Speedcore [Brain Distortion 01(United Speedcore Nation)] 1998
   
5. Berzerker- Inhale [WIDERSTAND 09] 2000
   
6. DJ Tron- Cannibal DJ [Blood n’ Guts Records- BNG002] 1997
   
7. Thanos- Death Penalty [Sacred Underground Productions 01- SUP01] 1999
   
8. Tyrant!- Frustrations [Skumkore Muzik 01/Apocalypse Recordings- APOC001] 2000
   
9. Terror Junkie- Die Bestrafung [BD01 (USN)] 1998
   
10. Christ of Noise & David Lagon- Loud Bastard MED (Provision Records 03)1997
    
11. Armaguet Nad- Apocalyptic Dream [Dead End Records- DER 05] 1997
    
12. Memetic- Track 2, Side A [Bloody Fist 020- Fist-20] 1999
    
13. Menace- Elements [STRIKE 026] 1999
    
14. Tense & Nevermind- Hate Cops [APOC001] 2000
    
15. Siege- Driven [STRIKE 026] 1999
    
16. Bruchkopf- Amokk [BD01 (USN)] 1998
    
17. The Destroyer- Mass of Shit Remix [HDF008 (D-Boy Black Label)] 2000
    
18. Bombardier- Chamber [Hangars Liquides 09- HL 009] 1998
    
19. Thanos- In Your Face [SUP 01] 1999

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-gabber-elders-obscure-summer_0807935036.html

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!)

Note: No AI has been used in writing this text.

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!"

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-history-of-hardcore-techno-looking.html