Genre Guide: Breakcore

The Origins of Breakcore:

Breakcore is a genre of electronic music that combined the complex chopping and editing of breakbeats found in Jungle/Drum 'n' Bass with elements from Hardcore (Gabber, Speedcore, etc.). Elements taken from Hardcore include harsh distorted kickdrums, Hoover rave synths, fast and aggressive tempos, darker themes, etc. It's also not uncommon to find influences from noise/industrial music and Drill 'n' Bass (If you're wondering what Drill 'n' Bass is, it's like Breakcore's less abrasive and more mature older brother).

Those heavy kickdrums I'm talking about:

Neophyte - Komen Wij Uit Rotterdam (Gabber)

The Hoover sound:

Plexus - Cactus Rhythm (Hardcore Techno)

The earliest examples of Breakcore (and Digital Hardcore) can be attributed to Digital Hardcore Recordings, a label founded by Alec Empire in 1994. Music from this label took a more direct inspiration from Punk music, an influence that would mostly disappear from the genre by the end of the 90s. Another label important to the development of breakcore is Bloody Fist Records, an Australian Hardcore label founded by Mark Newlands of Nasenbluten in 1992. Artists signed to Blood Fist are characterized by their use of pop-culture samples (stuff like hip hop and news clips) and harsh and distorted beats. The shock tactics used by Nasenbluten (Show Us Yor Tits being an example) were also influential to the genre. A few years after DHR and Bloody Fist were established, DJ Scud and Aphastic founded Ambush. This label was responsible for some the first releases to use Ragga and Dancehall elements in Breakcore. Breakcore with Ragga and Dancehall samples would later be known as Raggacore.

In the early-to-mid 00s, Venetian Snares combined Breakcore with Drill 'n' Bass and Classical music on releases such as Doll Doll Doll and Rossz Csillag alatt született, exposing breakcore to a wider audience. Later in the decade, artists like Loli Ripe and Lolishit would start to use high-pitched and distorted anime vocal samples and references to Otaku culture (specifically Lolicon), creating the sub-genre known as Lolicore.