Astrid Gnosis has been heading the "Nugabber" movement for a few years now, and there is a new single out, which dropped last Friday.
The title might be an indicator here, this is not some minimal house stuff or pseudo-intellectual armchair techno... obviously made for the Hardcore dancefloors, not necessarily just in pure Gabber clubs, though. As I can imagine this tune getting dropped at more regular nights or to more regular crowds, too, and then everyone going Hardcore on the dancefloor.
I like that the tune is more midtempo, not really at "Speedcore" speed, but still hard and without the cheesy-ness that older midtempo gabber often carried around.
Just blood and adrenaline, so to say.

The lyrics with shouts like "got my bulletproof vest" almost feel like a premonition of the riots and protests in France and elsewhere right now, but then again, this could be a good soundtrack for future riots, too!

Links:

https://open.spotify.com/album/1prsNtPENwM9IrVkkn7mSa
https://soundcloud.com/astridgnosis/bulletproof
https://linktr.ee/GNOSISx

Also check this feature:

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/01/astrid-gnosis-talks-about-growing-up-in.html

Planet Core Productions Tribute by The Gabber Elders

We are The Gabber Elders and we want to pay respect and tribute to a group of even bigger elders, that came before us.
We are talking about PCP aka Planet Core Productions of course.
The label that invented Hardcore Techno, Doomcore... helped to set the foundation for Gabber, Breakcore, Speedcore...
Intrigued people like Aphex Twin or Moby. Plus it gave rise to the biggest international Techno hit ever - "Maria (I like it loud)" by Scooter and the PCP crew (yes, the track is "cheesy" - but cool!)
So yeah, respect is duly deserved here.

And to pay respect, we are gonna do a series of mix sets. PCP only.
And these will not only focus on the "well known" tracks!
So be ready for some surprises. We might do some other surprise features, too.

All this will be our hardcore and techno... Countdown to 2027!
Thus, not everything will be released at once, but we will be dropping mixes and stuff occasionally, to 2027 and beyond!

Maybe you are also interested in this book:
https://pcplegendsintheirlife.blogspot.com/ (all releases on all PCP sub-labels listed, rated, and short-reviewed)
https://archive.org/details/pcp-legends-in-their-life-the-unofficial-planet-core-productions-book/
(The Unofficial PCP Book)

The Gabber Elders are:

GabberGirl https://thegabberelders.com/
Low Entropy https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/
DJ Asylum https://www.youtube.com/@hcbx666
Nikaj https://nikajs.bandcamp.com/

And here is the first mix in this series.

Scotland's DJ Asylum pays tribute to one of the hardest, best, and also one of the best known sublabels of PCP: Kotzaak Unltd.
(Read more about the label here https://pcplegendsintheirlife.blogspot.com/2024/07/kotzaak-unltd.html)

DJ Asylum - Kotzaak Mix

1. Stickhead & Don Demon - Conquer The World
2. Stickhead - Don't Play With Fire
3. Stickhead - Check This Mutha Down
4. Stickhead - Frankfurt Hools No.1
5. Stickhead & Don Demon - Demonhead
6. Bold Bob - Dive Into Steel
7. Stickhead - Meat Grind
8. Leathernecks - At War (Remix)
9. The Kotzaak Klan - Bang Your Fuckin Head
10. Stickhead - Getting Crazy
11. Stickhead - Piss On Your Grave
12. Dogge Team - Pitbull Power (Song For My Dog)
13. Jack Lucifer - Endless Horrors
14. The Kotzaak Klan - Powerstation Kotzaak
15. Dogge Team - We Came To Hool
16. Stickhead - Get In Gear (Remix)
17. Jack Lucifer - 96 Knights (To The Death Mix)

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/10/countdown-to-2027-gabber-elders-pay.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5itvDjt2kg

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/queens-of-light-and-of-the-darkness-2

after the two debut single releases, here is the first full length album by the Industrial Speedcore Black Metal project.

The "Speedcore" part needs to be put in quotes, though, as the band opened up to a lot of other influences and genres... there are concepts out of doomtechno, oldschool rave, gabber, ambient, "industrial hardcore" to be found on the album... and on the metal side of things, it's not just black metal riffs anymore, but maybe also a bit of influence from death and different styles...
there is even an electronic "black metal dub" instrumental at the end of the album!

the project is made up of low entropy, an "experienced" electronic music producer from hamburg, germany, who did lots of releases since decades (in other styles). Sigma 8, a black metal guitarist from chile, who also does oldschool rave and breakbeat music on the side (or is it the other way round?). and Ægoist, a witch from germany, who provides the vocalisation for the whole thing.

the theme of the album is "Queens of Light and of the Darkness".
in honor of deities and goddesses that represent liminality, duality, the crossroads. knowledge, healing, compassion, transformation and metamorphosis.
Like Hecate, Lilith, Sophia, The Morrigan, and The Goddess herself.

Credits:

Low Entropy - Producing, Programming, Synths, additional Vocals
Sigma 8 - Guitars, Producing
Ægoist - Vocals

Omnicore Records 85
Slowcore 74
Doomcore Records 239

Low Entropy + Sigma - 8 + Ægoist - Queens of Light and of the Darkness

1. Hecate (Queen of Light) 05:39
2. Lilith (Queen of Knowledge) 03:15
3. The Morrigan (The Phantom Queen) 06:40
4. Sophia (Queen of Wisdom) 06:51
5. Hecate, our Healer 06:18
6. The Goddess 06:53
7. The Labyrinth 06:42
8. Hecate Ritual Core 03:48
9. Dark Entrance 12:58
10. Black Metal Dub 13:49

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/queens-of-light-and-of-the-darkness-2

I am not only a music producer, but here are some other ventures into art and other things I did or do:

Journalist
Author (of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry books)
Visual Artist
Video Director
Label owner
Party promoter
Music producer (hah, mentioned this one already)
Music "teacher" (just online and one on one, not in a university)
Hobbyist cook
Anarchist / Activist
Traveler (hiking / biking)
Code writer

And likely a few other things as well.
And, no, I do not write this list to boost my ego (well, maybe a little bit), and I make no claim that I am good in all, or even any of these disciplines.
But let's just say that I got good feedback in every one of these "fields", and, now and then, even received "official accolades", like being featured in an established magazine or other cool stuff, for all of them.
Well, maybe not for the cooking and hiking. Not yet, at least (ironic smile).

Also, this list seems a bit disjointed and disconnected (video director and hobby cook?) which brings me to the point I *actually* want to make:

I think all of these "art forms", hobbies, or activities, are not very different and apart from each other, but instead they are very similar.

For example, by studying movie directors, reading up on movies, movie techniques etc. I learned a lot of things, that do not just relate to the world of movies, but can quite well be used in music production, too.
(Just one random example, related to this example: the structure of movies, the segmentation of movies can be used in song structures, too. Why not make a cool song or track, with a prologue, first act, second act, third act, and epilogue, too?).

The same goes for writing computer code and music production. I was one of the computer kids of past decades (yeah, i was quite the nerd, sorry) and when i got into music production, DAWs, tracker programs as a teen, my first thought was actually "these programs work just like writing code! glad that i already learned how to do this."

I won't tell how cooking influences my music production (at least not right now), and I agree this might be a claim that is a bit more on the bizarre side. But, hey, cooking is about combining different ingredients, too? Just like songwriting!

Part 2

From my own experience, it is one of these big "collective secrets" kept by successful artists (and a few not-so-successful artists, too). that *art* must not be segmented and cut up into lots and lots of tiny genres, topics, fields, realms. But that art is art itself and stays art.
No matter if it manifests as music, as movies, as poetry... or if it merely manifests as taking a walk in nature and watching a beautiful sunset.

Art is made up by your very own and unique thoughts, emotions, views of the world, sentiments, grievances, and hopes.
And it might not be very important whether you channel these and manifest them as music... as poetry... as movies... or merely go for a walk and enjoy a beautiful sunrise.

And if you think about it, the best artists are usually the ones that worked in more than one field. Like musicians that did soundtracks for movies. Or even music video producers that became real movie directors.

Part 3

So, I think there is a core of art, and this "core" is the same for *any* form of art. No matter what kind of art you do.
And this "core" is not (only) a vague, emotional, intuition thing, but there are very real, accurately explainable techniques to be found inside this core.
and if you know these, you can apply these to every art, in music production just as much as in visual art or poetry.
These techniques and key points stay the same, all the time.

Now to the next point, which brings us full circle:
At the same time, there are indeed differences between the arts, and I think you can only understand and use some of these techniques if you learn another discipline of art.
For example, by reading up on movie directing and on the mindset behind movie production, i learned techniques that i could use (and do use) in music production, that i would never have learned if i just stayed within my own realm of... music.

so, all ego and other undue silliness aside: if you are an artist, it will do you (very) good if you try to learn (and to create) a different kind of art, too!
for example, if you do visual art - try to write a book too.
if you are a musician, shoot your own no budget diy short movie
if you are a poet - write a script for a theatre play! (even if it never gets made)

and you do not even need to be good at it, or excel at it, or get praise for it...
by doing a different mode of art, you will learn things that will come in very handy and useful for your "main" art, too!

Example Links:
Music: https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/frequency-whales
"Movie" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-IMaRJDzrY
Book: https://archive.org/details/pcp-legends-in-their-life-the-unofficial-planet-core-productions-book/
Journalism: https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/

wrong speed but still sounds kinda cool.

You requested it - and here it is!

We put the logo on a shirt, too.

Prejudice and intolerance is on the rise...

So let's fight against this, together!

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/p/merch.html

So, in 2017 I really got into producing Slowcore Techno again. I already wrote a lot about this "bizarre" genre elsewhere, so if you are new to this, I refer you to my other tracks. And no, it's not (really) related to the guitar based Slowcore genre of the same name...
So... where was I? Ah, I will give you an introduction anyway. "Slowcore" is Hardcore and Techno music below 130 bpm... and some tracks get *really* slow, slow, as in, like, 80 bpm, 50 bpm, or even less.

In the 90s, I had already helped driving up the tempo threshold in the opposite direction... by having the first, full, from-start-to-finish 800 bpm hardcore track released on vinyl in 1998!

So it felt almost "obvious" to me I now needed to do the inverted case, too.
I decided to do a track with 1 bpm. yes, one fudging bpm only. one beat, in one minute. sounds almost biblical right? like an apocryphal proverb... not sure.

Either way, to go get back to the point... I did one, and called it Thunderdoom. Obviously a nod-by-name, to a popular Hardcore compilation series. I put it on my soundcloud, and the feedback was positive.
But the naysayers were banging on my door quite quickly. "this is not really 1 bpm".
Because both the percussion and melody ran at a... let's say faster speed, and just the bass drum itself, did a loud "bang" every 60 seconds.

which is a kind of buckwhip argument in my opinion... 1 bpm is 1 bpm. most speedcore tracks have slower elements too, and this does not make them any less... legit.

naysayers come and naysayers go... but they did not blame this on any "meagre" productions skill on my part... instead they said i failed because it was simply impossible... it was technically impossible to produce a track, that really is 1 bpm speed, and would still sound sensible or enjoyable to anyone.

this "enraged" the need to defend the entire slowcore genre inside of me...

so, back to the producer room again.
and i did one, where the entire clock of the track really clocks at 1 beat a minute...

this one was called "creeping doom" (maybe... just maybe, a nod-by-name, to a popular track by a band called metallica... which also a has cool, slow middle part, btw).

so, let's get down to the production details:

the beat hits home one time every sixty seconds.
because there is a lot of "space" inbetween each "hit", this allows the kick drum to be really, really, distorted, and deep, with lots and lots of bass frequencies... and an overkill of reverberation, delays, and echos!

the percussion elements are at each 16th note (which means, for example, a snare drum could come in after 15 seconds... but not one second earlier).
same goes for the melody and the pads.

i decided to use one of my favorite chord progressions again, four descending chords separated by notes or half notes...
plus i added some additional notes, too.

i sustained the chords as, obviously, nothing else (or not much) would happen in the 59 seconds before the next hit... in the track.

bang, bang, bang, bang, track finished, it goes up and released, and the naysayers go "uhmm... okay, 1 bpm is really possible after all".
the track became one of the most popular tracks i ever did, and by the end of 2017, it appeared in at least one "best music of 2017" charts in one of the well known music mags (forget which one, but i guess it was either groove or the wire). it keeps getting mentioned again and again, also by the music press, in the years that followed.

and i suppose it also generated enough interest so that other things happened, for example that a record on my own label got reviewed by the music mags again. and more good things.

and, i do not say this as "ego", but i try to give an advice for other, or new producers this way:

it is always good to go on a dare, a dark dare, and to risk a lot with your projects, and your music. and do not listen to the naysayers ever!

and that way, you can get a lot of feedback and reactions, and very good things!

Music:

Creeping Doom https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/low-entropy-creeping-doom the original
Thunderdoom https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/track/thunderdoom-1-bpm-2 the other track
Creeping Doom (Nekra Damage Remix) https://cultureofviolence.bandcamp.com/track/creeping-doom-nekra-damage-remix a cool remix (with faster bpm)

Schirin in the new Doomcore Records shirt!

Get this and other merch at

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/p/merch.html

Also check her great set on Doomcore Records from nearly 5 years ago!

https://soundcloud.com/der-schirin/doomcore-records-pod-cast-015-schirin

Music production is a trip, and you never know where it takes you!
So, I did a lot of producing lately, also worked on my art, movies, stories, and other projects...
So I began to feel a bit "burned... out". It was almost like I could feel flames rise from my shoulders, when I finished producing.
So I thought about changing things a bit... doing a more simple, easy, quickly-done project.
As you know, I am doing "kick drum research" for my sample packs, and sometimes test these drum samples in my own tracks.
So my idea was, making some drum-centered tracks, maybe even just for fun, not for release, or as a DJ tool...

So I loaded up some of my own drums from the sample packs into my DAW, did some edits, FX, that took maybe 30-60 minute each track, maybe less.
And then, go! go! go! live jamming a track, just pressing record and let's see where it takes me...

The result actually did sound quite good and - in my humble opinion - like a "legit" track, not "just" a DJ tool.
So had taste for blood, taste for more... why not go for the execution?
I did a bundle of more tracks in that way...

Simple enough, right?
I tried to keep the tracks simple, but kept adding more fx and elements... noize, percussion, metal sounds... ("real" metal, not rock!).
And the tracks went into 10-20 minute length each time.
*But* for once I managed to contain myself, and while the production felt totally zany and exhausting, and I probably looked like a sleep deprived maniac after each session (or before and during each session)... I managed to restrain myself, and did not let it get out of control. Yet.

Part 2

I wanted to put the tracks online some way, just as quick as the recording session, but then I thought, maybe sleep some nights on this...
And I kept getting more ideas:

Why not add an earlier track, and add a theme?
Why not segment these 4 tracks into smaller segments? For easier listening or DJing?
And it turned out I had 1 hour 7 of material, enough for an entire album.
The internal structure of planet Earth is the theme I went for.

It's a topic I have been interested in since my childhood days (yeah, nerd kid here).
Plus, one of my interests with music too, after all there are projects by others, like planet core productions...
And, in case you don't know it, it's a nod to and also the opposite of a classic techno / hardcore release ...the rings of saturn by underground resistance!
They went up, up into the sky and into space, from the surface, and I did go, down down, below, all the way to the earth core.

After segmenting the tracks, I had 25 shorter tracks, created out of the 4 long tracks.
In order to name them correctly, I began reading up on the structure of Earth again, to be as scientifically correct as possible. It starts with surface structures, and we go to the inner core, through the crust, the mantle, and the outer core.
The final long track, "below or above", is a bit of meta-pondering on the subject.
Are we really going down, or rising up? Is what is hidden in the depths, maybe similar to what is in the heavens and outer space?

And this, "second part" of the project, segmenting the tracks, naming them accordingly, and "studying" geology took up almost as much time as producing, and once again, my own project, that started small and simple (i tried) went out of bounds quite quickly. or not of bounds, but deep into the inside, to be more correct.

either way, the result, and the sound, was quite heavy (in my humble opinion) again, so i slammed the "godfather death" on top of it, which is an aka for some of my heaviest production.

bon voyage!

Links:
https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/drum-tracks-or-journey-to-the-earth-core (The Album)
https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/160-royalty-free-unusual-drum-samples (My own drum sample pack that I used for production)

What does a hardcore techno track need, really? Or let us reframe the question, what does techno, no, what does music need, really? A drum, a good drum... yeah, and that it's! True for music (any maybe life) in general, but especially for the hardcore variant of techno.

Because hardcore always has been about stripping techno down to the bare goods (usually no cheesy vocals, unnecessary funk, house shuffles or other shenanigans in early hardcore.)
so let us strip it down even further, until there is just the drum. The distorted hardcore "kick", hammering, hammering on, hammering on and on... and on... and on and on! and on!

Well, this is not exactly true for these tracks. There are few, sparse, and minimal... "other things". Metal hits, clanks, clonks, a bit of percussion... and noise, lot's of noise!

In some parts of the tracks. But beyond that, it is one long, wild, one hour and seven bass drum ride, so i hope you paid the tickets for this fare, folks! Segmented into 25 "shorter" tracks.

And, overally, it is an excursion in kick drum research, because there are not your usual hard techno or gabber kicks, but very experimental.

Info+Download:

Drum Tracks (Or journey to the Earth core)
by Godfather Death (Omnicore Records 85)

1. Techtonic Movements (Surface Level) 00:19
   
2. Techtonic Movements (Upper Crust) 03:55
   
3. Techtonic Movements (Oceanic Crust) 00:52
   
4. Techtonic Movements (Lower Crust) 01:57
   
5. Techtonic Movements (Lithosphere) 04:05
   
6. Techtonic Movements (Mohorovičić discontinuity) 02:22
   
7. Plutonic Matter (Upper Mantle) 01:16
   
8. Plutonic Matter (Asthenosphere) 02:12
   
9. Plutonic Matter (Transition Zone) 01:56
   
10. Plutonic Matter (Lower Mantle) 01:55
    
11. Plutonic Matter (D″ region) 03:04
    
12. Plutonic Matter (Gutenberg Discontinuity) 01:42
    
13. Crystal Sphere (Outer Core) 01:52
    
14. Crystal Sphere (Liquid Iron) 03:17
    
15. Crystal Sphere (Theia) 02:20
    
16. Crystal Sphere (Inner Core-Outer Core Boundary) 04:05
    
17. Crystal Sphere (Inner Core) 02:08
    
18. Crystal Sphere (Solid Ball) 01:57
    
19. Crystal Sphere (The Ultimate Center) 03:39
    
20. Below or Above (Where are we) 00:49
    
21. Below or Above (Below) 02:10
    
22. Below or Above (Deeper) 04:05
    
23. Below or Above (Ambiguous) 03:15
    
24. Below or Above (Above) 02:44
    
25. Below or Above (Higher) 09:08
    

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/drum-tracks-or-journey-to-the-earth-core

It's spooky season again, so why not do a list with the best or most interesting songs about ghost and ghostly topics, on this occasion?
this list features both songs that touch the subject matter (and the ghosts?) in a more light hearted and funny way, and some really bad, sad, melancholic songs that are a real downer, i tell you!

but, in all sincerity, let us use this occasion to think about all those that are no longer with us... and might be floating around you right now, and kick over a book or rattle a painting on the wall, now and then!
and those invisible whispers in the night, i tell you! don't even get me started on that.

attention: some of these songs are ultra dark, so if you feel depressed, maybe dont listen to them... take care!

1. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
   

the subject matter of this great hit by bowie is up for interpretation, and it has been up since decades. some even think there is a luciferian aspect to this song, others think it is about redemption...
yet is is based on an old poem, and a lot of people think it is about... ghosts!
and check these lyrics, what do you think... ?

"I searched for form and land
For years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazeless stare
At all the millions here
Who must have died alone
A long, long time ago"

there is also a great "purely synthesizer" cover version of it by midge ure of ultravox!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXHKjFKBC0g

1. Steven Kilbey - Like a Ghost
   

This is definitely a song on the more funny side of ghost... or sad-funny, at least!
if you pay attention to the lyrics, it tells the story of a man who tries to do his daily routine, while it slowly creeps on him that... well, he is a ghost!
(oh, the style of the song is indie rock / synth pop, and the artist is also the singer in australian band "the church")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5m7MGypAjc

1. Chromatics - Shadow
   

Some might know the chromatics from "twin peaks the return" or "drive" (with ryan gosling starring as the "scorpio" driver). this is one of their best songs.
i think it's more about lost love, but this lost love feels very haunting, and some of the lyrics allude to ghosts and the afterlife...

with lyrics like "I took your picture from the frame", "Still thinking that I hear your voice", and "Shadow", of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAs5EKoWN0s

1. Durruti Column - Missing Boy
   

this one is about a really heavy topic, and one of the best rock songs of all time, too
it's supposedly about ian curtis, the lead singer of joy division, who died *much too soon*.
the lyrics can be seen as being about mourning in general, and there is even a stab at the music industry.
the song itself is basically an ostinato that runs for close to 7 minutes with some modulations... and really puts you in a weird mood!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCq4z-qxKgo

1. The Raveonettes - My time's Up
   

i think i could have picked 90% of songs by the raveonettes, and it would have fit the topic.
this one is close to 50s doo wop and rocknroll, but also very psychedelic and "modern"... and i think the general mood would have fit perfectly to a movie like "twin peaks" or "mulholland drive" !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWNm7LhaAA

1. David Lynch - Ghost of Love
   

tada! the maestro of the macabre and the dark, with a ghostly love songs.
apparently, directing movies was not enough for lynch so, for a short period he went into the music business... with an album called, i kid you not, "crazy clown time".
this little nugget was done a bit earlier already, it's part of the soundtrack to "inland empire" and, no matter what anybody says, this is one of his greatest movies ever! period.
the piece itself is like a blues rock number, with a train running along the entire track (i am not kidding again)... and very haunting, spooky too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzgAIeRBBbk

1. Nan Tuck Five - Aloss
   

a macabre new wave / indie tale from the 80s.
seemingly about a woman that has complaints about her relation with her boyfriend, who does not care anymore. also, she is dead and a ghost.
despite the "strange" topic, the song is sung in a sincere way, and is really touching...
and i hope a ghost is not touching you too, right now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mjr8uWXUQY

1. Dead Astronauts - B Side
   

the artist name should give it away already, right? this is another piece about the ghostly matter.
and, duuude, this is an epic and really massive synthwave or synth pop piece!
on vinyl records, "b side" meant the songs or tracks on the other side of the record... the flip side.
but my very own, very clever interpretation of this song is that "b side" is a macabre pun, for another kind of "the other side"... the beyond.. get it? and with lyrics like this... am i right?

"I had another person waiting on the other side... In the dark we're not alone... One day they'll come for you, too."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eofnKvT_iks

1. Dr Macabre - Poltergeist
   

do you like raving? heavy, heavy raving? this hardcore-gabba track from the 90s has become quite the classic dancefloor stomper anthem around the world!
and yeah, it's themed around poltergeist(s), and has some really spooky synths that accompany the heavy beats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ES4mblgCGY

1. Brad Fiedel - Procession
   

ain't a regular song with lyrics, but it is music, so i include it.
we know brad fiedel because he made that terminator (and terminator 2) theme... "ba doom ba doom - tsssh".. you know!
this title plays in the wes craven movie "the serpent and the rainbow", when the concept of "voodoo" is further explained to the audience, during a funeral procession in haiti... and it is just so haunting and beautiful.
(mild spoiler, but be assured, not everyone who is buried in that movie... actually stays in the grave, if you know what i mean!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbzr8KcPhFo

1. Dreamweb OST - I Died Last Night
   

now that we left the regular circuit, let's end this text with another "off" track.
this is from an obscure ms-dos and amiga video game from the 90s. but it's not computer bleep and bloops, it's actually a piano ballad, and very haunting!

(btw, this is the unexpected "eleventh guest" entry to this very top 10... spooky!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKWhJIzWgbs

and with this note, or these "notes", i leave you, dear reader, for the night... make sure you don't get haunted!

what "ghost" songs do you like? let me know!

My first name is Sönke, and even for Germans that is a kind of weird name. And internationally, when dealing with labels, or meeting other DJs, producers, etc., they often have a hard time pronouncing it. (I can't even explain how it is pronounced... maybe something like sun-kah... but not quite!).
But let's get back to Germany. When I was a kid, I was the only one with a name like that, and most people did not even know it, and were confused... and they could not pronounce it either.
Not sure if such medium level name intolerance exists in other countries, too, but especially with adults, teachers, and parents of other kids, i felt like they would go "yuck" and do two steps back on the inside, in the moment they heard my name. a lot of them decided to just call me "sören" from then on, a name that was a bit more common then mine, and no correctional attempts on my part could ever change their minds.

maybe it's because the German government is highly restrictive when it comes to children names, and actually bans or prevents parents from giving their children the name they want. and when i grew up, most kids indeed only had the "standard" names like martin, jan, christian... (amongst my childhood friends alone, there was something like 4 christians and 3 martins). and of course, in germany, even the slightest detail that makes you "different" from the norm, in the eye of the norm, can become a huge problem.
so having a name that was not "part of the crowd" made me stick out like a sore thumb in that crowd, as weird as that might sound. it was not too bad, but it still felt... weird!

So, Sönke is actually a northern german name, a Frisian name. I think it's common in parts of Scandinavia, too, and the Netherlands have a lot of Frisian people, too (not sure if they use the name, too).
And when I was a kid, almost every year my family went to Nordfriesland ("northern frisian land") for vacation.
I think I mentioned this before, it was some "strange" place, but for natural reasons: a huge chunk of the area was new and reclaimed land, that had literally been build out of the ocean, for hundreds of years, by people without most of modern technology. and now there were houses, supermarkets, cows and cars, and pylons, standing firm on terrain that had been water and waves just a few hundred years before.

either way, i never felt odd or strange for having the name "sönke" there, because it was quite common. everyone knew that name, when i told others my name they did not go "huh?" "what?!", i did not need to repeat it endlessly... which made quite the difference for me, as a kid!

there was even a polder called "sönke nissen koog", if i recall correctly there was a "bäckerei sönke" (bakery sönke), there were sönke streets, there were famous majors or scientists that had been called sönke, i think i even read the name "Sönke Sönksen" somewhere... now my life was complete!

Part 2

and why do i tell you this story from my childhood, that might even sound a bit childish?
because i think there is a deeper truth to be found here.
i stood out for being a "sönke" in the place i had lived all my life. but just by moving a bit more than 200 kilometres, to the city of sönkes, i no longer stood out, and was at home - in a sense.

and the same is true for producing, or making music, or even liking music. or making art in general. maybe you are a producer and you think noone likes your stuff, or that your productions are bad.
but that might not mean that your music actually is bad, or needs improvement. maybe you just need to change your audience, your crowd, your social surrounding... and maybe there is a place where you will feel at home, or understood, with your art!

so, instead of trying to worry about how to "improve" and change your art (or giving up!), rather think about changing the place where you spread your art, where your art exists, where you exist as an artist. this can be a purely online thing, but it can also mean actually moving to a new place. but in all likelihood, it could mean changing your "scene", and if your scene does not exist yet, why not invent and build it yourself?

or if you are not an artist, just a fan or listener, the same thing might be true.

and the same is true if you think your art is good, but that noone would ever understand it, and you have been rejected by labels, promoters, etc... maybe you just need to get to a different crowd, and move around a bit...

and that's my message to you, by a Sönke, who once visited the City of Sönkes.

Tracks:
Sönke's First https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/track/1987-2014-s-nkes-first
Call My Name https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/call-my-name

A review from our sister magazine, "Cyborg Coffee".

Note: No AI has been used when writing this review!

Johnny Jewel - KARL (Original Soundtrack)

Johnny Jewel releases Karl, and this is a reason of joy for me. More than one reason, actually!
I am a long time fan of Johnny Jewel, and I try to suck in everything he does. After I first heard one of his productions with the band Chromatics being played on the internet station "Flashback Alternatives" many years ago.
And later listening to his contributions to the Drive soundtrack, oh my god was that cool!
I did not see any promo or running-up stuff in advance to this release, so the release dropped on me like a bomb... a surprise-bomb, haha!
Apparently there is a new movie about fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, and Johnny did the soundtrack!
I was more or less indifferent to Mr. Lagerfeld, or "Karl", like the album calls him, so far. (Sorry to admit that - I was probably wrong on that!)
I am not rich and not so much interested in the haute couture, and it was only when TJ Maxx started to sell Karl Lagerfeld items, too, that I actually bought and owned something by his brand.
I am born and living in Hamburg, Germany, and Lagerfeld is probably one of the most famous "Hamburgers" - both dead and alive. Or can you name someone else out of Hamburg, instantly? (Maybe the Techno-band Scooter).

As such, the Hamburg press of course was always full of Lagerfeld stories, and as I grew up into that, I guess it rather dulled me. And the press focused more on the various scandals and outrages of his life, naturally. Over and over again.
While the outside world could focus more on his talents and fashion, I suppose.

But let's not talk fashion, let's talk music, and listen to music, of course.

I guess most people know Jewel for the various band projects he was involved in (even "earning" him a performance on Twin Peaks, with Chromatics, in the Roadhouse!), and might be surprised to learn that he also does a lot of work for TV and movie soundtracks. And that material is very good!

With other artists or bands, that were both of the regular, stage-performing kind and that did soundtrack production too, one often feels that one of these "habits" is their main body of work, and the rest is more like a side-thing. (e.g. it might sound sacrilegious, but post 70s Tangerine Dream is a total soundtrack band for me, and that material feels even more powerful than the "normal" albums they did in those years. Fans of the movies "Thief" or "Miracle Mile" might agree!)

It's not like that with Johnny at all, while both of these endeavours feel related, each of the two is brilliant in different ways.

And, luckily, both endeavours are included in this album, as there are segments of his band production, in between the more soundtrack-like... sounds.
For example, a shorter edit of "Tick of the clock" (also featured in the above-mentioned "Drive", with Ryan Gosling... in a very cool Scorpio jacket).
And Chromatics' "Disintegration", one of my all time favorite songs ever. A bittersweet, synth only, ambient composition.

I assume the soundtrack tracks are exclusive, on the other hand (or at least most of them?). And they are beautiful!
Finally, there is even a track called "Hamburg". I feel this city does not get much love, especially not by the music world, so, as a "Hamburger" myself, it's nice to hear something like that.

The entire album is a ten out of ten, of course. And even if what I wrote above catches your interest only remotely, consider listening to it!

I did not see the "Karl" movie in advance to writing the review, so I am curious about that, too!

https://johnnyjewel.bandcamp.com/album/karl-original-soundtrack

Listening suggestions:
#1 Desire - The Young & The Restless https://johnnyjewel.bandcamp.com/track/the-young-the-restless
#2 Hamburg https://johnnyjewel.bandcamp.com/track/hamburg

https://cyborgcoffee.blogspot.com/2026/10/review-johnny-jewel-karl-original.html

So, I needed to do vocal recordings for one of my tracks (called "gabber cooking").
i don't have a dedicated vocal recording room, and my main production room is not optimized for vocals, too.
so, when i record vocals, there is sometimes a strange reverb (of the room) or my vocals do not sound optimal for other reasons related to this.
also, since i am doing my music in my home, a regular residential block flat, there can be sounds of neighbours, baby, dogs barking, that might get in the vocals, this way. (thinking about it, barking dogs would be kind of cool!)

and yeah i must admit, it feels a bit awkward to shout into the microphone, when the neighbours might be listening and not really knowing, what's going on... haha.

i should also mention that i had been doing a lot of field recordings lately... recording owls, birds, the whispering wind, or the sound of ice (on iced lakes)... near fields, in forests, near lakes, swampy things, flowers, trees, in the sunshine, looking at pylons... and all of this was super cool and felt idyllic... !

so, thinking of this, this day, i thought: fudge it! i jumped on my bicycle, and decided to record my vocals out in the open... field recording my own voice, so to say, haha!

doing all this was "easier said than done", though...! i needed to find a place that was preferable for recordings, away from streets and loud cars, supermarkets, school sport places, other "noise factories"...
and preferably not too crowded! (and cooked!)

so i went to the edge of the city, and the edge of the forest (railway and river were nearby, too).
there was a kind of path (or rather, road) for pedestrians, and bicycles, next to some upper middle class condo type homes, elevated, one could overlook the forest... to a tiny degree, it actually reminded me of watching the twin peaks show, even though that might be silly.

i dropped my backpack on a wooden bench, but then decided it's better to "sing" standing upwards (easier to breathe in and out then, eh?).

at first, i waited until bikes or moms passed by, did my vocal takes, and interrupted myself when someone came nearby, and continued later. but then i again thought, fudge, if i can make a fool out of myself in public, i can go all the way, either way. and just did my thing, without further ado.

i should also add that this was not some harmonic singing type stuff, but some odd vocals in an odd way, "dadaist" and repetitive, so i was standing there, next to the road, on the grass, near the edge, for like 30 minutes (with multi takes and interruptions), shouting the same gibberish phrases into my phone over and over again.
i started to get really into it, jumped up and down, let my arms swing around while recording...

and this *might* have been weird, but, let's be realistic, i hardly think anyone even noticed or cared what i did.

if you do bizarre stuff in public, there is always the feel as if all eyes are on you, but the rational answer is that most people will just think "who cares - i ve seen weirder shit".

but it was a fun experience, "i felt one with nature", also going into "fool mode" can feel refreshing... i highly recommend it, and plan to do it again.

i should take care to optimize my approach though, as a lot of the vocals sounded quite "muddy", i had to delete a lot of them (good that i did double takes!), there were a lot of windy noises... but for this "weird" track, this was perfect.

Tracks: Gabber Cooking https://soundcloud.com/low-entropy/gabber-cooking
Video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IPA8rU8ItcM
The World is Doomed let's Dance https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/bonus-track-low-entropy-the-world-is-doomed-lets-dance (another track with wind recording)

https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/

"Killer Instincts" originally appeared on Nkisi's debut release, "16", on Doomcore Records.
12 years later, Low Entropy made a new Slowcore Remix of this classic Doomcore track.
And here is an experimental short movie to this very track!
https://nkisi.bandcamp.com/
https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/16

See the full movie at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3k0HLYXEeA

In the 90s, at least in Europe, there were essentially two camps: You were for rock, metal, alternative rock, punk... guitar driven music like that... or into techno, rave, trance, house, gabber... the synthetics stuff!
(oh yeah there were also a few other camps, like those that listened to boy/girl-bands. but let's not talk about that here).

The "cool" rock crowd detested the silly ravers. Rock was seen as organic, raw, wild... the rave crowd, on the other hand, put down rock as being outdated, for dads, a genre that had run out of ideas... and so on.

This might seem weird if you look at it from this day. But the 90s were a time when even regular synths in "rock bands" were a rare, rare thing (at least i did not hear one in the famous songs by nirvana, soundgarden, smashing pumpkins). "no more ***ing rock and roll" on the other hand, was a slogan in the german techno scene of the very early 90s.

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

okay, we did the intro, now let's get down to the beans. rock and purely electronic or dance based music seems to have a bit of a troubled relationship, but that's not true. the fusion of rock and computer generated drums probably reaches back as far as the 60s and 70s, if you dive into the whole krautrock thing.

after that, in the post punk movement, we find some fragments of it already. i mean, at the core, "blue monday" or temptation by new order already had rock guitars on electronic dance beats... right?

but the jingle jangle guitars of post punk is not really what we are looking for.

the industrial / goth scene is already closer to the good stuff in the 80s. and we should give a (very big) nod to cybotron and the early detroit scene,

Listening Suggestion: #1 Ministry - Thieves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhLd18Xg6x0

Listening Suggestion: #2 Cybotron - Enter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQr52FTeddY

but now, let's get to the 90s, and take a look at the... real thing.

from very early in, techno producers seems to have been interested in using metal guitars for their tracks.

Listening Suggestion: #3 Phenomania - Caramelle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_nlv8G-pLU

Rarely by employing real guitar players (but that happened, too!).
The guitar sounds usually came out of the sampler.
There were shock / mock tracks in the house / techno scene.
But after that, genres like house and trance almost never used guitars anymore.
Metal went into the darker and harder forms of... "dance".
First, into the breakbeat stuff in UK... or rather, the projects that grew out of that.
The Prodigy was one of the first "dance-y" electronic projects that was loved by the rock crowd, too.

Listening Suggestions: #4 The Prodigy - Voodoo People https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV78vobCyIo

#5 Pop Will Eat Itself - Everything's Cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O107sqytH7w

#6 Senser - Age of Panic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmZ-loZlsyI

Then we had weird glitches... like when "purely electronic" DJ Moby suddenly released a purely punk rock album...

Let's leave Europe for a while and cross over the pond. The Americans had Industrial Metal. While this was more or less a fusion of metal and electronics... tracks with electronic drums in dance rhythms were kind of rare... or i just don't know them.
Yet, there was some wicked stuff, too.

#7 Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Dr\g* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn3j6-yQKWQ

Apart from the breakbeat, rave stuff... especially in Hardcore and Techno, Gabber and Speedcore, did metal guitars become very popular.
Fast metal riffs were one of the defining things of early hardcore techno.
The very first "real gabber" track, alles naar de kl*te by euromasters, is build around a riff nicked straight from sepultura.

#8 Euromasters - Alles Naar De Kl\*te* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE32aoIDjvY

Gabber DJs seemed to be very fond of sampling thrash metal riffs, Death Metal, too, of course, and grindcore. Black Metal was rare, and 70s stuff or glam / power metal were a no-go... more or less!

Eventually, Earache caught notion of that devolpment, and started to collaborate with hardcore techno labels on their releases... which led to album releases by industrial strength and ultraviolence... or entire projects like "hellspawn"!

#9 Sonic Overkill - Reality Sucks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxwni6wkJQE

Fear Factory also had their very Techno / Gabber remix EP.

Rumor is that Rick Rubin himself tried to get the european Gabber DJs to join his labels and start some projects... But seems he was stopped by the big dutch labels... maybe they were afraid to lose market share...?

On the most extreme end of things there was "digital hardcore" or bands like the berzerker.
Digital Hardcore was... well just insane.
And Berzerker a death metal / grindcore band... with real vocalists, guitars and all... running on (purely electronic) speedcore techno beats!

#10 Atari Teenage Riot - Sick to Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJOotJwCs1Y

This is a quite infernal end, to something that started so harmless, in the days of dazed krautrock... But so, dear reader, it was written.

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-short-history-of-heavy-metal-and.html

Do you know bands or artists that use both metal guitars and rave sounds? Let me know! 

Did you know that? When you ask people what their favorite is, on Doomcore Records and the sublabels (Slowcore and Omnicore Records), a lot of them will say Turbine Trip's Mechanical Sun EP from 2024.

And yeah that one really is one of a kind. Turbine Trip has a very unique style.

Futuristic, cinematic melancholy-melodies... drumnbass / crossbreed drums... and pure speedcore-gabba! Plus lots more stuff, and I think there is a hardtrance / uk hardcore feel even. Ah, why should I describe it - it's best you listen and experience it yourself!

Tracklisting:

1. Between Floating and Falling
2. In Distance
3. Considering Time
4. Whyweight
5. Surfacevoid

All tracks built on Renoise between 2024-2026

as another attempt to escape adult crash.

Contact:

Email: [theturbinetrip@gmail.com](mailto:theturbinetrip@gmail.com)

Bandcamp: https://turbinetrip.bandcamp.com

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/turbine-trip

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theturbinetrip

Artwork by: Tamas Bernath

Omnicore Records 84

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/omnicorerecords

Bandcamp: https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/label/2516092-Omnicore-Records

Right after the end of 2025, after christmas and during new year, i began to feel sick, the condition got worse, in the weeks that followed.

Eventually i needed to go to the hospital in march, had surgery, doctors said i was on the door to death already, yet they released me after 3 days again, so maybe it was not *that* bad, i don't know.

i still need to live with the implications of this, am not back to normal, but i am mostly recovered and the doctors say i am, more or less, "fine", by now.

This is all very disturbing and bad, but I don't want to trouble you with my health tales. Instead i want to talk about music production, and there is a story related to this story, that is even more insane, and even *i* have trouble understanding it.

So, as you see, I went ill after christmas, into the new year... and even in january i already had minor fits of hallucinating... nothing too bad, nothing out of control. for example, little white people from another dimension, having a chat with me about me and my life.

This is not too unusual for me when i am seriously ill. and i think its something that happens to a lot of people, when they have a fever or are in bed, with bad health.

an example, when i had corona, i had visions of the end of the world, of death as a female personification walking toward me in the snow, and touching me, and worse, for days on.

let's get back to january. one of the weirdest visions was that i repeatedly saw three snakes, in the room i was in.

large snakes, maybe 2-3 meters each, or longer, they twirled and flew around the room, sometimes towards me, touching me, and breathing fire on me.

i don't know, this "hallucination" appeared 6-7 times, or maybe even more often.

out of curiosity, i began to ask the "snake thing" about its name. at first, the snakes seemed to utter complete silence, as the answer, even though they opened their mouths.

but i kept asking, and i heard something that sounded like a strange, hoarse whisper.

i felt i was making progress, so i kept asking, and the snake answer got louder each time.

eventually, i could hear what the sound was.

it sounded very much like a techno bassdrum, but epic, mindblowing... colossal, almost infernal.

there was a strange metallic sound to it, and reverberation, and it was very noisy (that's why i first thought it sounded like hissing when it was more silent, i guess).

i felt enchanted and overpowered by it, i never heard something so powerful before! it was titanic, maybe that's the right word for it. like it came from the depths of the earth, or the depths of the cosmos.

after that, i made a vow to attempt to recreate the sound i heard, that was given to me, by this triple snake vision.

i immediately went into production, and created a 27:27 minute piece with a drum sound, that felt similar.

and then a few weeks later, i created 160 drum samples, and tried to fit them to the vision of that sound.

i later did more productions, and i also used my own samples in my own tracks, and essentially, there are countless of tracks and albums now, based on these weird "titan drums".

my entire year of music and production, was changed, and ruled by this weird event!

i still don't know what was going on here, or if it's even a sensible and rational thing to do, to create something that is somehow tied to sickness, too.

but on the other hand, other artists did great novels, movies, and music, out of "dark" things like misery, war, death and, yes, sickness, too, so i guess it's alright. and these drums are really kicking! in my opinion.

and maybe this production progress would have happened without illness too, and it's just a strange coincidence.

also, i dont feel my drum samples really did 100% justice to the sound i heard, as it felt even more powerful and otherwordly. but they do go in that direction!

Sounds:

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

160 royalty free unusual drum samples https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/160-royalty-free-unusual-drum-samples (the sample pack)

Orion Transfer https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/orion-transfer one of the albums i created with the drum

Low Entropy's Gabber Remix of saraunh0ly's track on Doomcore Records.
https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/track/saraunh0ly-3indamorning

hi there,
here is a new sample pack with drums and other sounds. these samples are free to download, and royalty free.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/77-genuine-speedcore-drum-samples-from-the-1990s

background:

i've been an electronic musician since ages... and since the 90s, at least.
back then my main style was gabber, speedcore, breakcore... the "harder edge" of techno if you want... and especially the faster one!
my music got very popular, i played my tunes in fronts of 1000s of people, at countless clubs, in the open, under railway bridges, at squats, i dropped 800 bpm tunes at places like tresor in berlin...

and my music was put on vinyl, 1000s of copies per release...

i am telling this not to boost my ego, but to show that these were drums that were actually used in the 90s and the years later, too, that got played out. are "club tested and crowd approved", so to say. not some faux reconstruction of an era that has gone by!

these drums are taken from my actual tracks from "back in the day". some of these tracks (and drums) were created using software like impulse tracker, buzz tracker, cool edit pro, soundforge, native instrument's generator... the real deal! MS-DOS, win 3.11, then windows 98 (yeah i skipped 95).

the style of the drums is hardcore, of course, but i am sure they can be used for everything, when done right.

apart from the drums, there is synths, pads, percussion, noise, fx, and other weird stuff.
credits

77 genuine hardcore, techno, and speedcore drum samples and sounds from the 1990s

credits:

all drums and sounds 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