For the task of analysing a new music genre I have chosen the musical genre of digital hardcore, which is a fusion genre that meshes hardcore punk with myriad electronic dance music genres including breakbeat, drum and bass and techno and also incorporates elements of noise music and heavy metal. Common features within this genre are extremely harsh vocals, heavily distorted electric guitars and a very prevalent use of synthesisers, samplers and drum machines. This genre was developed in the 1990’s and was first defined by the frontman of one of the bands at the forefront of the genre, Alec Empire of Atari Teenage Riot, when he set up an independent record label named Digital Hardcore Recordings, which proceeded to sign bands who worked within the style. Though first developed solely in Berlin it soon became an international underground movement, becoming more prominent throughout the 1990’s and the early 2000’s but losing momentum in the 2010’s. This particular genre was known to feature political themes through the lyricism and had a clear tendency to lean to the far left of political ideologies. It combines the unmistakable hardcore sound of electronic techno with the raw energy and DIY sound associated with punk.
The use of electronic instruments is a defining feature of this particular genre, with particular pieces of tech and production techniques commonly used including samples, heavy distortion, and a very prominent use of synthesisers. Drum machines were utilised to build frenetic breakbeat, with a clear industrial influence; the music usually featured a quick and erratic pace, which gives a sense of hurtling toward a resolution or a drop that never come. This interesting use of tempo was described by Jeff Terich of Treble Media as ‘on the verge of reaching speeds incompatible with popular music, as if the rapid acceleration of BPM’s would render the idea of rhythm irrelevant or, at the very least, unpredictable. maybe this is music for dancing; definitely this is music for screaming and breaking things’. This heaviness and attitude came from not just the rapid tempo’s featured but also the heavily distorted synths, or sometimes electric guitars, the vocals which weren’t so much sung as shouted and the use of samples, not just of instruments but of repeated phrases. This genre was also interesting for its use of high energy dance style beats but with punk vocals and more frantic energy behind the beat than would typically be heard. There was also a tendency to make heavy use of filters and the layering of instruments or voices, and a feature I found to be particularly interesting was the use of space and room sound that was utilised in the music; in some of these songs they were recorded in interested spaces with no attempt to sound proof so there is a fascinating sense of reverberation and space that can be heard and felt within the music.
Two examples of pieces of music of this genre are ‘Kids Are United’ by Atari Teenage Riot and ‘Anarchy’ by Shizuo. ‘Kids Are United’ by Atari Teenage Riot is a reinvented version of ‘If The Kids Are United’ by Sham 69, they kept the power chords of the original but fused them with big techno drums creating a collision of sorts which fuses punk and techno sensibilities; they also put samples of anti-authoritarian speech over the beat. This song perfectly captures what was typical of a digital hardcore song. As for ‘Anarchy’ by Shizuo this track, as well as the entire album on which it was featured titled ‘High On Emotion’, is more intentionally lo-fi and abstract. This song was recorded live in what can be heard to be an acoustically interesting space and makes use of synthesiser bleeps, vocal samples and sounds from the audience present at the recording. It features a heavy double time rhythm and prominent use of filters; compared to most tracks of this genre this one is decidedly sparse and experimental. Shizuo focused on raw sound manipulation and spacial deconstruction more than building a track that makes much sense as a commercially enjoyable piece of music.
While listening to examples of this genre I was struck by how angry it was, how determined to upend the political balance and cause real change; it sounds raw and determined. I feel that this energy is mostly built by the heavy synthesisers, the use of distortion and samples, and of course the large focus on using drum machines to build such frantic beats. This music is punk in a new form; when I listen to it I get the feeling of being in a crowd, surrounded by other people who are angry at the state of the world; it gives the feeling of being at a rave, surrounded by sweaty bodies ready to rage. It’s interesting because it gives the sense you should dance to it but its almost too erratic and unpredictable, it gives you an urgent sense that you should do something, maybe dance, maybe break something, maybe change the world.