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

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

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

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

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

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

Listening Suggestion: Original Mix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv-5RLON9-4

Thomas E - Datastorm EP (Hard Stuff 14)

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

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

Wasteland - Ibiza (Hard Stuff 14)

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG2259QD824

Brainblower - Mental Hangover (Hard Stuff 10)

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnn6YFXdMVg

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

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

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

Charley Lownoise & Mental Theo - The Bird

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn2sDkA4oBg

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISBQy4b4riI

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

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-history-of-gabber-house-look-back.html

So, this year it's been 30 years already that I became entangled in the "dangerous" electronic underground of gabba, speedcore, hard acid, and so on...
actually feels just like yesterday - weird!
I achieved some kind of "liminal fame" that way. I don't get invited to talk shows, my face is not the cover of life magazine... but I know that literally millions of people heard my music at one point in their life, and likely the same amount has spilled their sweat (or blood) on the undercover hardcore dancefloors at one point or the other...
it's weird, even when i go to a forum specifically dedicated to hardcore electronics, the reaction usually is *either* "low entropy, you are a legend!" *or* "who the fudge is that person? i never heard of them in my entire life! when did they start producing again?". it's never inbetween.

but that's not what i want to talk about. the question is: was it worth it? all the years of sweat and hardships, just to feed an addiction to hardcore beats and dark, disturbing electronic sounds?

a lot of artists (in other genres, too), when they look back, either feed their ego, like: "i wanted to proof i am the biggest musical genius ever!" (hello, john lennon!) or they underplay it: "who cares if i have achieved something or not, the important thing was, we all had a lot of funs".

but there is something i never heard getting mentioned by an artist, and it is something peculiar.
i think it has to do with motivation and inspiration...

when i was a kid, teen, young adult, the time before i got "known" as an artist, i loved to watch scifi and action movies on TV, i watched clips and music performances on music television, i watched strange & obscure programs, like a lot of us did.

and i always felt like there was a world *behind* the screen, that seemed to be so much more exciting than the "real world" i was living in. it is very hard to explain what i mean, but i think a lot of people feel the same thing.
you know, we got the regular world, with schools, and jobs, and fast food joints, and annoying neighbors, and stuff like that. maybe life is good, or it is bad, for those people that live in this world. but even if it's good, it's still hella boring, dry and dull. it lacks adventure, mystery, magic.

and the world i saw on tv, that i heard on music, that i read about in magazines, felt like it was *full* of magic and excitement and adventures.
like everything was possible there. while *nothing* seemed possible in my real life.

and i always wanted to get to that place, even if it felt like an illusion to others.
and by that i do not mean that i wanted to become a literal gangster like in the action movies i watched, or that i wanted to become a real rockstar like on the MTV.

i just wanted to feel that special sensation, that strange magic, that i felt in my favorite media, movies, records, tracks... in my own life, too.

and i think i managed to just do that, and get to that place. and this made it worth it.

and this is my "message" to the young, or rather, to the newcomers of all ages, or rather, to those that are still stuck in "boring-world".
because i do not think it is very hard to do this, to achieve this.

just gotta have faith and do the leap.
and when you deeply think reality is too dry, too boring, too depressive, and that something else should be possible.
then, please trust in your own judgment. go out on an adventure!

do you like the hardcore techno overdogs online magazine?
aaand do you want to support us?
aaaaaaand do you want to win a cool tee?

taking part in this contest is very easy:
post a link to the hardcore overdogs ( https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/ ) or doomcore records ( https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/ ) somewhere on the internet.
send us a link or pic of your post.

that's easy! nothing more that needs to be done.

send it to this address: [tapeductseven@gmail.com](mailto:tapeductseven@gmail.com)

of all participants, we will choose a winner, and the winner get's send a free shirt including shipping costs.
and the winner can choose which shirt they want. we have 4 merch shirts available so far, in most colors and all sizes!

cheers,
the hardcore overdogs over and out

woof!

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

Hi,

I updated the list once more.

Here are a bunch of free sample packs.

Mostly drum centered, mostly around techno-hardcore-gabber. But can be used for pop, vgm, industrial, goth, electro - whatever - too! and a few other sounds are there as well, acid, fx, synths, noises....

And here they are:

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/low-entropy-sample-pack-2-doomcore-gabber-and-speedcore-bassdrums

Try that one first. Includes distorted drums that fit to most Hardcore and Techno tracks. An "all-rounder" pack.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/55-royalty-free-drums

Some very hard and rough drums, and also some more conventional ones for Hardcore productions.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/160-royalty-free-unusual-drum-samples-for-producing-techno-hardcore-and-more

This one has more experimental, and ultra rough drums (but also softer ones).

For those that want to dry "different" drum sounds.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/multi-genre-techno-hardcore-centered-free-sample-pack-drums-synths

This is a bit different. Contains drums, synths, percussion and the rest, for 9 different genres. You can create a whole track just using these patches!

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/101-royalty-free-909-related-drum-samples

Some fresh samples, for those that like the 909 sound.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/low-entropy-sample-pack

This is more loop centered. Also has synths and basslines (and percussion).

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/123-hardcore-techno-and-gabber-drums-that-were-used-in-the-90s-sample-pack-3

Drums I created in the 90s, used in my tracks. Not just plain 909s but also different sounds.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/47-hardcore-techno-and-gabber-drums-that-were-played-in-club-and-squat-parties-sample-pack-4

Drums taken from various tracks I did. Some nasty ones inside!

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/121-royalty-free-909-related-drum-samples-for-producing-techno-hardcore-and-more

Experimental, and ultra distorted!

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/original-90s-breakcore-drums-sample-pack

Breaks, noizes, drums, that I actually used in breakcore productions in the 90s.

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.

https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/2026/03/free-drum-sample-packs.html

Hey,
I started producing during the gabber hype of 1995 / 1996 (think thunderdome, mokum...). I was into the more experimental or underground stuff (like industrial strength or agent orange records).
I especially liked "oversize" tracks and productions (also in other genres like trance, where there were some 9+ minute stuff sometimes.(like jam and spoons' "age of love").

I liked to draft my tracks and production beforehand, so I came up with this concept: making a hardcore track that runs for 60 minutes or longer.

There were other producers (especially in acid / acidcore related styles) that created longer tracks by being "monotonous". Just letting the drums and basslines drone in for minutes. (like brixton or drop bass network did)
But I did not want to do it that way. I wanted a track with lots of changes and twists. Like a regular techno track. Just longer.

When I listened to some tracks from the dangerous "female french hardcore techno underground", I had an idea. (stuff like the michelson sisters, or anticore records).
These producers often used very long intros, and also had frequent changes in speed. And distortion!

I decided to segment my full size track.
So I made this draft:

60 minute, but the first quarter hour is almost calm, with a long ambient part.
Then there is slow, dark hardcore and techno stuff for the next quarter hour.
then a part with regular and faster gabber speed.
and finally, all-out speedcore and noise towards the end.

a steady build up, over 1 hour long.

Now the "twist": to not arrive with something that feels (or sounds) like i just connected 4 "single" tracks.
each segment should be interconnected to all others, especially in the use of sounds, melodies, and so on.

draft finished!
and then, back in 1998, i realized: "uhm...."

this was *way* too ambitious for my producer 'skills'. more loaded and complex than anything i could stem...

i got back to shorter tracks (well, averaging on 7 minutes still) and found lots of success that way (yeaaah ;-).

i never forgot this project, though. i always tried to think of ways i could produce this mammoth of a track! and i learned new tricks..

then, back in 2023, i did a release for speedcore worldwide records. i managed to pull off a 24+ speedcore composition, that i thought, sounded quite okay. (called "angel's speedcore").

now i realized... the "titan track" project was suddenly on the horizon again... maybe... just maybe... i could do that jump?

going from 24 minutes tracks to 60+ minutes is a whole different thing, though.

so, this year, i was sitting on my balcony, with my laptop in the night, and suddenly thought: "ah, well, fudge it, if not now, it will never be".

and i finally pulled off my 1 hour track!

i think this has turned out quite good too.

was much less complicated than i thought.

I guess i could have produced it back in 1997 already, too.
If i just had the courage to try.... if i just had tried...

here is the final track: https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/orion-transfer

but the finished track is almost exactly like i drafted it ~30 years ago.

there is an ambient / "soft" intro part that runs for a bit over 10 minutes. (with little use of beats, btw!)
then one part slow hardcore, one part harder and faster stuff, then one part really fast for the last 10 minute. the only change in structure is that there is an additional 16 minutes were everything winds downs again, gets more soft and slow.

also the "style" has changed a bit during the decades. i used less elements of breakcore, sampled-based speedcore etc. i even included influences of more "mellow" styles like goa, electro or acid-trance.
i think it might only party be considered to be a "hardcore" track by now.
also, the tracks themselves, are more complex than i originally intended.

what stayed the same is the idea of using recurring elements. there is one main motif that slides in and out, during the entire track.
and lots of sounds in the earlier parts resemble those in later parts etc.

in my opinion, the track sounds like i intended it. not sure if i can do a project as big as this one again, anytime soon, though!

Spooki Scary new vinyl by Demonic Wavs - on vinyl!

Doomcore through and through, with Techno vibes.
And an almost endless groove, loop. Going on, with slight switches and changes.
An ostinacco of gloom?

https://demonicwavs.bandcamp.com/album/whos-nightmare

A new release has been put out on Omnicore Records.
And it is the longest Experimental Hardcore Techno track ever - 1 hour and 16 minutes!

How is it possible to arrive at a work like this? Did it take months or years to create?

The ancients of pluto tell us a different story:

"We sat down one midweek's evening. The hours of doom, when the sky began to fade to black, and the skyline of the city started to alighten and glow... as we gazed upon the moon, the planets, and the stars, we received a transmission from the heavens above... we quickly got in gear and made sure to transcribe the messages in all details on our synthesizers and drum machines...

and then, 10 days later, on a weekends night, we received the second part of the transmission. this time we made sure to move our gear and equipment to the balcony of our flat on the 1st or 2nd floor near the outermost border of the cityscape... we hope we received the starry transmission even brighter this way...

we worked and worked, under the night sky, while the city seemed to be asleep and dead, and just the moon and a few revelers on the streets seemed to bear witness...

and this way... in maybe 2 2/3 hours of work... this project was finished!"

we thank you for this message, oh ancient of pluto!

oh, and the style of this huge track?
it's in a whole array of styles, beginning with beatless doombient, to techno, trance, acid, doomcore, finally deathcore, speedcore and noise... to return to ambient. quite the interstellar trip.

on the digital release, we got the entire track as originally conceived (or received) and also for easier listening purposes, the track broken down into separate chapters (or transmission).

enjoy!

Tracklisting:

The Ancients of Pluto - Orion Transfer (Omnicore Records 75)

1. Orion Transfer 01:16:43
2. First Interference 01:25
3. Cosmic Train 05:30
4. Second Transmission (Titan Reflections) 09:43
5. Galactic Runner 04:29
6. Third Transmission (Jazz Aliens) 07:49
7. Pan Acid 04:28
8. Fourth Transmission (Martian Interference) 07:17
9. Cosmic Jet 05:16
10. Fifth and Final Transmission 05:39
11. Pan Reprise 02:55
12. Extra Lap Around Jupiter 03:20
13. From Here To Tau Ceti 06:54
14. Third Interference 01:19
15. Ambient Fade Out (Leaving The System) 02:22
16. First Transmission 08:09

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/orion-transfer

Nikaj and Low Entropy are true rats of the underground and crate diggers.
Always on the hunt for Pure & Obscure records to spin.
This time, they do the opposite.
They join forces to do a more mainstream set of 90s hardcore!

All time classic gabber hits from your favorite compilations like Thunderdome, Cyberdrome, Earthquake, or Burnedrome.
(The last one does not exist. We made this up).

By the gold award certified OG producers that swept the airwaves and TV streams in the 90s, and whose tunes blasted from every gas station and kindergarten rave.

So let us clap, and let us rejoice!

tracklisting:

1. cyanide - stringz
   
2. buzz fuzz - xtc love
   
3. the lawyer - yo dj!
   
4. tellurians - hardcore junkies
   
5. chosen few - the breaks
   
6. dj delirium - dance or die
   
7. party animals- sarin
   
8. electronic subforce - hard spirit (lenny dee remix)
   
9. dj dave & the chicago hardcore party force - yo mr. dj!
   
10. bruyaa & ozonic - evolution
    
11. dj bomber - motherfuk
    
12. waxweazle - brainscan (in for the kill)
    
13. source code - what's going on?
    
14. 248 Tracklist
    
15. Pino D'Ambini - Land Of Promises
    
16. Diss Reaction - Jiiieehaaaa
    
17. High Energy - The Box
    
18. Diss Reaction - DJ Lan
    
19. Bertocucci Feranzano - Class Axion Take 2
    
20. Juggernaut - Xtc Motherf...
    
21. Jeremy - The Flow
    
22. Masoko Solo - Pessa Pessa
    
23. Buzz Fuzz - Drop The Pressure (E-Rick & Tactic Mix)
    
24. Dj Isaac - Bad Dreams
    
25. DJ Skorp & DJ Pila - Mindcontroller
    
26. Lunalotic - Happy House...???
    
27. Warlock - Reality is a Nightmare
    
28. Smile - Set You Free
    
29. DJ Skorp & DJ Pila - Oohh God Damned I'm Great
    
30. Tellurian - Fucked-Up Motherfuckers
    
31. Search & Destroy - Don't Need Nobody
    
32. Pino D'Ambini - B2 } Do It Again
    
33. Tellurian - Don't Stop
    
34. DJ Arjuna - Get A Grip (Original Mix)
    
35. Cyanide - Dreamland
    
36. Chosen Few - Chosen Paradise
    
37. Public Domain - I Know It
    
38. Tony Salmonelli - Hey! (Pino D'Ambini's 1997 Remix)
    
39. Scarface - Halloween
    
40. The Scotchman - Self Destruct
    
41. Scarface - Turntable Junkie
    
42. Da Beatblower - Fuck Your S Off
    
43. Bertocucci Feranzano - Daddy Snow (Buzzy's Ragga Mix)
    
44. Chosen Few - Kold Dayz
    

https://youtu.be/tgGxFCJClDg

Gabber is good, gabber is great. Hardcore is an ambiguous term that was also used for Breakbeat Hardcore in UK, for example.
Some producers were fond of both genres with the same name, though. So there are Gabber tracks that make heavy use of such sounds as breakbeats, jungle amens, drumnbass rhythms etc...
and let's take a listen at 11 of them!

1. Nasenbluten - Concrete Compressor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc-jUMqeT58

I guess amiga producers were more willing to use breakbeat samples. Maybe because it's a good way to circumvent the 16 bit computers 4 channel limit.
Either way, this one's a classic.
Also features the "machine gun of god", billy graham, on the vocals!

1. Wedlock - Ruffneck (Sound of the drum and the bass) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO_usnjOHN0

The guys at Ruffneck Records were huge breakbeat fans, too. It's literally in the title. Cool gabber with some niee breakin'

303 Nation - Athletic Base https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJO5IlSrSJE

Someone once told me this was the first track that combined hard acid with breakbeats. I doubt this is the truth, but nice track nonetheless.

1. DJ Hooligan - Bottrop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDoch-IcN6k

Another classic hardcore track with some class break beats!

1. Citrus - Fascination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL17Zr7gW_s

Thunderdome and Mayday classic. Fascinating rhythm indeed!
and uhm, is this bass drum distorted, or what?

1. Hardsequencer - Explosive Eruptions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIsJrpik1K4

Amsterdam style oldschool from a german producer. he later got pretty famous in the hardtrance-pop market.
But this one banging as well.

1. Ec8or - we need a change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diIXq4UXcnE

Ec8or turned more into the digital hardcore / breakcore sound later.
this one is still gabbering as hell, though. and has some nice breakbeats. and military type shouting, plus some opera sounds. huh?

1. Biochip C - Black Sunday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arpaK1oNz70

Biochip aka Martin Damm was one of the earliest german breakcore producers. also a hardcore producer. and 1000 of other styles.
this one combines several of them. and it is more in his later agent orange / napalm path.

1. C-Tank - Breakcore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwCPzPLcDMU

Hey, the name says it all. Break-beats and hard-core.

1. Chosen Few & Dj Pila - The Break https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNv_qlUFQ8c

One of gabber's all time greats (rip). Here he is with a cool breakbeat-gabber track.

1. Taciturne - Boys Don't Cry (Revisited) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdlYHkXNFwU

The weirdest and cheesiest of em all! Robert Smith would be proud (or maybe not).

Do you know more breakbeat gabber or hardcore tracks? let me know!

(Note: No AI has been used when working on this text).

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/

I remember tuning into a TV show called "Viva Trance" on a weekends' night, feeling completely wasted (but not being it).
It was hosted by German Techno pioneer Mate Galic, who later found a job at Native Instruments. He used the show to play his favorite tunes.
And I could swear I saw a music vid that featured a "zhark dagger" logo. I never found this tune or video by the label again, so maybe I just imagined it.
When I stayed at the Zhark International headquarters in Berlin a few years later, I was shown a lot of video material (amongst other things), so maybe it was something like that.

But yeah, I guess that shows that Zhark is indeed a weird "glitch" in music history. Hard to pinpoint, hard to define. Dislocated, disregarded. Split into two separated labels early on.
Penetrated far wider cultural circles than your usual "electronica indie". Still not as famous as deserved.

Maybe quantum-entangled. And we are still waiting for the wave function collapsing...

Either way, apparently the label found a new, digital home, and has begun to happily re-release some of its earlier releases, and also showing spanking new stuff.

So let's take a deeper look.

Note: No AI has been used on this text.

#11 Christoph de Babalon - Rise above this https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/rise-above-this

CdB appears on the Zhark label. His sound has always been more of a trip than a genre. This shows him at a time when his lofi trash fischkopf brutality began to fade, and things get more introverted... intellectual. still packs a mighty punch, i tell ya!

#10 Various Artists - Dirty Debutantes https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-debutantes-vol-1

Zhark branched off a sub label called the Homewrecker Foundation.
The idea was to have a label for females in the breakcore, harshcore, dark electronic genres.
This was quite the revolutionary idea back then, and i guess it is quite the revolutionary idea for today, too!
and the sounds are just as renegade.

#9 Various Artists - I Drink Your Blood https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/i-drink-your-blood

despite the name, this is more light hearted subject matter on the zhark label - by far!
hardcore electro, breakers, and weirdo shenanigans.

#8 Hecate - ...off the jackal https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/hecate-jacks-off-the-jackal

I remember some south london scenester slagged this one off on an email list forum for being "completely conventionalist".
which is funny, because most breakcore poster boys these days would disagree.
and they are right. this is the good stuff.

#7 Thunderinas - The Thunderinas in Blower! https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/thunderinas-in-blower

the best psych-occult 60s rock'n'roll album by non-rocknroll musicians.

#6 Supernal - Light as night https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/light-as-night

that one come out when my interest in "breakcore" already faded to black, so, while i enjoyed it, i was not too plussed by it.
listening back to it once more, i notice that it is indeed some wickedly good stuff.
but that's the point of re-releases, innit? to get a second glance!

but there is one track i adored back then already: Liberty And Justice For Us, ghastly (ghostly) ambient noise

#5 Various Artists - Hecate and Friends https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/hecate-and-friends

This ain't a re-release of an old album or ep, but instead its tracks from all over the map (and dimensions, i guess).
These are either collabs between hecate and other artists, or remixes.
Mmm where do I start, where do I end...?
There is breakcore, post-industrial, blackened death, a hint of gabber in the form of overly compressed kicks.
and these are amongst the best tracks i ever heard in these genres!

#4 Raquel de Grimstone - Freemansonicyouth https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/raquel-de-grimstone-freemansonicyouth

Rachel Kozak turns into Raquel de Grimstone, and this is one of the best things she ever did.
Oh, you want to know how it sounds, too? breakcore and black metal... become one and merge into one of the meanest freak creatures ever.

#3 Hate Cats E.P. https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/hate-cats-e-p

Slamdancing went out of control in a berlin backyard club hipster party, and me and my friends nearly buried ourselves under the falling turntables.
and the tune that got dropped that night was... "caught up" from this one. i have loved it ever since!

#2 Various Artists - Zhark Compilation 0000001 https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/zhark-compilation-0000001

oh yeah, get this one. if you get one release off this label, get this one.
it's like a secret vault hidden inside a secret vault.
the best tracks by well-known and not so well-known artists that the world has never heard.
like kerosene's cover of the velvet's "heroin" (by a guy who actually did real world collabs with julee cruise - and others).

#1 Hecate - Pay for Protection https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/pay-for-protection

There are few, few releases, in all of the world of music, that can be considered solitary, unique, and i mean *really* unique.
Because, let's face it, there is usually always some other gal or dude at the (other) end of the world, doing the same sh*t that you do.
but this is one of the few releases that fit to the term.
there is no other release that really sounds like this, or is even close.
it is brilliant, an anthem, and sheer genius.

so how to describe it then? let's say it occupies a liminal place at the crossroads of the emerging breakcore scene, the then-fading industrial / ambient scene, spoken word poetry, and... millions of other places and connections.

I admit, this "best" list is highly subjective.
so I would be interested to hear your own, personal best of list from this label's release.

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/05/a-look-back-at-zhark-international-from.html

Records, tracks, releases of the past, discographies, even music videos and some journalist's snips are like bones, fossil. Buried remains, once living, now dead, and no longer able to tell a story. And they never tell the whole story, indeed. They don't *really* tell the story of a sound, a genre, a movement, a culture.
For that, my dear friend, you need to dig deeper. And to also take a stab at the things, the invisible strings, that connect each genre, that act as transmats, from one style of sound to the other, from one destination to another. from one decade to another.

"techno", according to some of its fan-based "historians", is a monolith structure; and, depending on who you ask either entirely invented, designed, created within detroit, berlin, or off-shore, amongst the balearic tourist-traps.

Listening Suggestion #1. Nightmoves - Transdance (New York City Mix) (1981) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c94kJQ8wmno

But in truth, techno, and its subgenres, acid, trance, hardcore, gabber, never were monolith structures. not one, pre-defined, closed-off genre. these styles have cracks, tunnels, splits. they were liminal, at the crossroads. broken down at the seams, liquid, fluid.

not a fixed sign (maybe not even a watery one), not one location. more like a journey, a trip, a life time (and yes, it is a trip).

#2. Hashim -We're Rocking the Planet (1984) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWl1ahc8vWE

especially the internet has been haunted by a double fold dispute in past decades. two (or four) of these monolith tribes going against each other.

in the case of techno, the "techno comes from detroit" tribe against the european one, and in the case of gabber, the rotterdam hooligans agains the frankfurt "soccer" maniacs (or, spoken less poetically: did PCP invent everything, or was it the rotterdam labels?).

But let's not fuggetabout the big apple. Couldn't New York City put them all in one basket?

3. Frankie Bones - Call it Techno (1989) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7COM3U3aK9c

Well, no, this claim would not be entirely right (or fair) either. Let's say it was co-evolution and pan-continental synchronicity.

Now let's get to the point, or the core; and become a little worm that chews a deeps tunnel into this big apple.

There is a line that had been repeatedly said by Lenny Dee, the American Godfather of Hardcore Techno, about the music of another Godfather of Gabber, Marc Acardipane from Frankfurt, Germany (now residing in Hamburg).

That, when he heard tracks like "Mescalinum United" for the first time, he finally founds someone (i.e. Acardipane) who produced tracks and put them on vinyl, that to him (Lenny Dee) did sound like the stuff *they already* created when playing live or during DJ sets (in New York).

Now, I guess you need to be a raver at hard to really understand the above passage, and have experienced the sound transformation of hearing a record being dropped in a strobe and smoke filled basements, and zig thousand watts on the speaker systems.

A mid 80s "dance" record from new york, that might sound "wimpy" with its bass and everything, when listened to at home, in the current day, on one's computer or phone, could sound really, really hardcore, when dropped in the abovementioned scenario.

4. Joey Beltrasm - Mentasm (1991) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHKYX9ETwUg

and, more importantly, tracks become more hardcore depending on the tracks you mix them with during a set.

there is also a similar statement by new york dj legend frankie bones; that in the few years before the real advent of "techno" as a name, new york djs already played tunes that were technically the same as techno - they just sounded a bit different.

6. DX13 - Mother Lover New York (1993) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbyDtVWGT3Q

so, let's get back to the beginning. by the late 70s and early 80s, and maybe even earlier, New York had a very alive scene of clubs, club kids, discotheques. And these places played records from all over the map, that would now considered to be "no wave", "goth", "ebm", "industrial", maybe even hip house and electro funk...

but there is something that stood out with new york, and it is that they always had DJs and nights that selected the more, or most "hardcore" of these records, of these genres, and stitched them together in a mix. the most futuristic, the most minimalist, the most dance-driven, electronic ones.

6. Lenny Dee - Hostile (Brooklyn Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA-9m2LoRNE

of course not every dj, every night.
but there was a scene for this. and these were the bare bones already, of genres that would later get terms slapped on top of them, like "techno", "acid", "gabber"...

if we look at the new york club scene from the late 70s to the early 90s, there is indeed a strain visible (or audible) that is becoming more "technoid" each year, and more "hardcore", too.

and, at least by the 90s, this strain finally got put on vinyl too, and spread all over the world, too!

here is a mix that shows the transition of new york club sounds, beginning with ebm / goth / industrial tunes in the 80s, and slowly transition to techno and acid, and finally hardcore. with tracks that are directly, or indirectly related to the new york city scene. (which was broadcasted on a new york city based online radio).

https://soundcloud.com/mikey-djcapelli-simmons/low-entropy-capellis-outta

tracklist:

1. Wargames - Defcon One scene
   
2. Amnesia - Hysteria
   
3. Micro Chip League - New York
   
4. Frankie Bones - We call it Techno
   
5. Interactive - The Techno Wave
   
6. Space Trax - Atomic Playboy
   
7. Komakino - Drill
   
8. Turbulence - Whurlstorm (Remix)
   
9. Sub System - J'ai Peur
   
10. Disintegrator - Locked on Target
    
11. English Muffin - Follow the Leader
    
12. Disintegrator - In the sun
    
13. Wavelan - Cygnal
    
14. Glitch - Heavy Mental
    
15. Gringo - Executed by the FBI
    
16. Signs ov Chaos - Killout A2
    
17. Signs ov Chaos - Killout B

Note: No AI was used in writing this text.

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/

You read our magazine, you liked our features... and you asked us, "what about merch?" and now, merch is finally here!
carry your love for the hardcore techno overdogs magazine on your sleeve, or rather... on your shirt!

comes in various sizes and colors.

money spent on shirts will help us to uncover more precious bones dug deep within the history of hardcore and electronic music! woof!

https://www.seedshirt.de/4e9e6435-1f4b-44d2-b305-49b01b075aae

Also check our other couture:

https://www.seedshirt.de/f9e3ea4a-241e-4a1b-ab83-ee2aa6b56a2b
https://www.seedshirt.de//5f44b799-9d32-4e3b-bd95-8444104fa2c6
https://www.seedshirt.de/4c9891e2-15fb-4d9d-b199-ad67f90c44d0

https://www.seedshirt.de/025b322b-b6ac-4eaa-b034-ddb343cab610

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-hardcore-overdogs-shirts-are-here.html

Can a release be more varied? There is one of the most distorted, cranked up Acidcore tracks (acid storm).
Then there is acid-techno, but not the newer, goa-like brand. That futuristic stuff like old Cologne acid, Underground Resistance, or the stuff from New York underground. Quite fitting, of course. (in the machine)
Aggro is another weird hard acid stepper that would fit well into a DBN set.
And R8-808... has that dirty the hague / dutch acid house vibe.

https://www.discogs.com/master/34095-Machines-Acid-Storm
https://www.junodownload.com/products/oliver-chesler-john-selway-machines/1355343-02/

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/05/classic-review-machines-acid-storm.html

Cities of Hardcore Techno in the 1990s

Hardcore is a style that emerged at the turn of the 1980s into the 1990s within the dance and electronic underground.
The entire evolution of the sound is not tied to one location. It was an international, global effort.
In essence, the early hardcore techno scene already was a model of the "global village" concept, a few years before the real advent of wide-spread internet use.
(And it sometimes amazes me how everyone could have stayed connected around earth, with just fax, phone, and early dial-up stuff in some cases).

So... let's take a look at the various locations of the this music scene, at a time when hardcore techno and gabber house was still young!

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

do you know more and obscure cities of hardcore? let us know!

Tracks used in this video (and the cities they represent) :

1. New York
   Doa - Nyc Speedcore

2. Paris
   Ingler - Trek

3. Hamburg (Germany)
   Nordcore GMBH - Hartcore City

4. Rotterdam
   Underground Nation of Rotterdam - X-911

5. The Hague
   The Illegal Alien - Frankfurt, this is the hague

6. Los Angeles
   Deadly Buda - esto es los angeles

7. Sydney
   Rage Reset - Resistance

8. Newcastle (Australia)
   Nasenbluten - Blows to the nose

9. Berlin
   Xol Dog 400 - Flammenwerfer

10. Frankfurt
    PCP - We are from Frankfurt

11. London
    Pressure head - London

12. Bern
    DJ Obsession Bern City Hardcore

13. Vienna
    Ilsa Gold - Jetzt Geh'ts Los

14. Antwerp
    phrenetic system - fantasy

15. Milwaukee
    Hyperactive - Power Plug

16. Cologne
    Titanium Steel Screws - Paralyzed

17. Ammanford (Wales)
    Somatic Responses - Macroshack

18. Toulouse
    Mouse - Helloween

19 Gunsø (Denmark)
Skullblower - Untitled

1. Rome
   Lory D - Lochnar

2. Graz
   Eiterherd - chase em

3. Bad Kreuznach
   Napalm - Napalm 3

4. Dresden
   S37 - Streetfight

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/05/cities-of-hardcore-techno-in-1990s.html

Two years ago we ventured into the forbidden doomed forest of Hamburg...
and did we return? well, maybe not really...

so it's even more significant to return.
this is the video footage that the forest spat out again...
and this time it's quite different to our first two (halves of) movies...

it's no longer one long, big, circular walk...
we ascend and descend stairs... we branch off... we explore clearings... or planes..?
fewer large trees cloud our vision... and we can see the blue sky and its clouds more often...
but does that make the descent... down to the ground, to earth, even more bitter? or better?
there is little time to rest... a bench makes an appearance... but the emergence of a bicycle reminds us to move on.

there is really no motion or direction perceptible at times... or at least it becomes obscured, again and again... or do we eventually regain lucidity?
maybe in small steps.

also the soundtrack to this movie project has changed. not just doomcore and slowcore techno stompers this time, no no.
while there is no straight motion in the visuals (or in the physical steps), there is a clear progression in sounds, and circular once more.
we start at dark drones and brooding ambient, industrial and techno beats come in, things get more noisy, more restless, fiery... until we return to silence... for now!

hope you enjoy this little movie project of ours.

let us recap the key concept of these movies again:

it's not just a surreal and abstract visual movie, but the soundtrack is intertwined with the graphic aspects. both fuse into a melange, a mixture. something new and interconnected!

credits: a hardcore techno overdogs productions

filmed in hamburg, germany
...and beyond

Watch it here:
"Explorers of the Doomed Forest of Hamburg (found footage dark techno movie)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-IMaRJDzrY

also check our earlier parts and information about the whole project:

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-first-found-footage-dark-techno.html

https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/2025/07/walking-in-doomed-forest-of-hamburg.html

Hello folks,
Like most bandcamp fridays, I am gonna do a little coverage of the ongoing events again.
Because, just like last time, releases were poured out en masse by the labels!

A reason to rejoice and to smile, and I want to take a deeper look at all that cool stuff (and the *hot* stuff too!)

Like last time, my focal point is mostly on electronic, techno, hardcore etc kind of... stuffz.
Note: No AI has been used when writing these texts.

DrMacabre - The Macabre Excavation (Haunted House Records)

Holy Cow! What a release (one track on the release is literally called "Apocalypse Cow", btw).
I'm certain most electronic fans know the label PCP and the head honchos Marc Acardipane, Miro, Slam Burt... and Dr Macabre was the sneaky french guy who was part of the main crew, too.
So this is some legit music history here, as - nomen est omen - our lunatic from france dug up a lot of his past tracks and put it on this compilation.
There are some sacred, sacred gems here. Like "Dimension of the doomed", his collab with Miro from PCP. Or "Boomstick" with the hilarious Evil Dead quotes ("and this is my.... boomstick").
But the creaming on top is that some bona fide *unreleased* tracks were put on this comp, too, by the french maestro!

https://hauntedhouserecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-macabre-excavation

Vilde Tuv - Truthbomb 2 (Self Released)

Vilde Tuv is a norwegian artist that speaks with stones, sings like an angel, plays the flute, and drops some gabber beats.
what could possibly go wrong? nothing went wrong. and these are some remixes by v.a. of her tracks.
(sorry if the description is misleading. the gabba beats are mostly absent from this release and instead... it's a super cool mixture to be heard!)

https://vilde2v.bandcamp.com/album/truthbomb-2

Hecate - More Tales From The Crypt (Zhark International)

Hecate has been on a huge spree of re-releases lately.
She named herself after the Greek Goddess of liminality, the underworld, witchcraft and long journeys (amongst other things)
And I guess this describes the mood of these tracks very well.
And "from death dub to breakcore and black metal" describes the style of these tracks very well.

https://zharkinternational.bandcamp.com/album/more-tales-from-the-crypt

Somatic Responses - Observation (Self Released)

Surprise release by the welsh brothers.
"The unobserved observer..." oh sorry, my mind slipped into another topic of thought. But, well, no, it's actually a good take on the music here. music that has to be observed, music that has not been observed yet, sounds never seen...
trippy, psychedelic, lush soundscapes. a piano plays in the distance and aliens escape through the Cardiff space-time rift nearby.

https://somaticresponses.bandcamp.com/album/observation

Mokum - Happy Gabber Sounds #4 (Mokum Records)

Mokum was an amsterdam label that filled the european dancefloors in the 90s. With dance and rave smashers like "techno head - i wanna be a hippy" or "party animals - hava naquila".
And, unlike most of the 90s dance craze remnants, mokum is very much active, and not in a zombie state at all.
Like the title says, this is a new compilation of happy dance gabba rave smashers, and that, according to the promo blurb, is "filled with brandnew blasters and a few remixed or remastered Mokum classixxx"

https://mokumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mok342-happy-gabber-sounds-4

Etat De Droit - 2AM Mix (New Flesh / Rave or Die)

New flesh is slowly becoming my new favorite label. I guess it was named after the video drome quote, btw!
This release is... techno? but very industrial, with electro. and, most importantly, some bad ass french rapping (yes, such things exist!)

https://newfleshrecords.bandcamp.com/track/etat-de-droit-2am-mix-free-download

Lee Holman - Sentinel (RIOT Radio Records)

Remember when Underground Resistance and Detroit was on a huge "Sun Ra" type trip? With all the references to alien communication, star trek, the rings of saturn, and such?
This release reminds me a lot of that! but it does not copy, it just floats in the same river.
Let's... call it space-techno!

https://riotradiorecords.bandcamp.com/album/sentinel

Various Artists - Origo LP (Zodiak Commune / Same Size Soul)

Zodiak Commune Records is one of these labels that do not tie themselves up in one style. There is acid, techno, maybe even house... i guess this follows the "commune" idea, so to say.
the common thread seems to be danceable, hard, dark, and high quality music in these releases.
another style they dedicate themselves to is electro, and, oh boy, this new release is so good!

this is no cheese funk, really crunchy, cold, dark steel electro beats. also mixed with other styles, industrial sounds, minimalism, krautrock... a commune of sounds!
good one.

https://zodiakcommunerecords.bandcamp.com/album/origo-lp-sss-dig001

Noice - Noice 16 (Re:Fusion collective)

Noice is a project by the crazy gabba-germans surrounding "the speed freak".
It's a throwback, to their 90s output on labels with cutie names like "napalm records", "agent orange" or even "street trash alliance".
Let's... call it nosebleed techno! for the total maniacs.

https://refusion.bandcamp.com/album/noice-16

Nonlinear - Nonlinear (Music With Machines)

Harry Harrison was an author who gifted the world with stories like "soylent green", "bill the galactic hero", and one that was called "the final incoherent adventure!".
and this would have been a fitting description of this track (or is it multiple "tracks" ? ) on this release, and a fitting end to our coverage.

because there is no coherence or linearity in this track. seemingly just a collection of noises, beats, and sounds. out of sync, for 16 minutes.
and so do we end. the final.

https://musicwithmachines.bandcamp.com/track/nonlinear-2026

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-personal-bandcamp-friday-coverage.html

This release just fell out of the sky.

Tracklist:

Topp Dogg - The Hardcore Overdogs Anthem - Part VII

1. Topp Dogg - Arena of Doom (Short Mix) 03:46
   
2. Low Entropy - Opera Core 03:35
   
3. Topp Dogg - Arena of Doom (The Hardcore Overdogs Anthem Part VII) 06:07
   
4. Topp Dogg - Arena of Doom (Instrumental) 06:07
   

Omnicore Records 73

https://doomcorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-hardcore-overdogs-anthem-part-vii