Digital hardcore

Digital hardcore is a fusion genre that combines hardcore punk with electronic dance music genres such as breakbeat, techno, and drum and bass while also drawing on heavy metal, industrial and noise

Characteristics#

Digital hardcore music is typically fast and abrasive, combining the speed, heaviness and attitude of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and riot grrrl with electronic music such as hardcore techno, The electric guitar (either real or sampled and usually heavily distorted) is used alongside samplers, synthesizers and drum machines. While the use of electronic instruments is a defining feature of the genre, bass guitars, electric guitars, and drum kits are optional. Vocals are more often shouted than sung by more than one member of the group. Typically, the lyrics are highly politicized and espouse left-wing or anarchist ideals. Some practitioners have been influenced by anarcho-punk.

1990s#

The music was first defined by the band Atari Teenage Riot, who formed in Berlin, Germany in 1992. German bands with a similar style began signing to the label and its underground popularity grew, with small digital hardcore festivals being held in several German cities.

2000s#

In Alec Empire’s words, “Digital Hardcore went from a local, Berlin based scene to an international underground movement.” The soundtrack to the film Threat included contributions from digital hardcore musicians, along with metalcore bands. James Plotkin, Dave Witte and Speedranch’s project Phantomsmasher combined digital hardcore with grindcore. Notable 21st century digital hardcore groups include Left Spine Down, Motormark, Death Spells, The Shizit, Rabbit Junk, and Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. Additionally, Nine Inch Nails’ 2007 studio album Year Zero has been considered as a digital hardcore album as well.

2010s#

Digital hardcore saw less prominence in the 2010s. However, its international influence can be seen in the prominence of electronicore, a similar musical genre fusing hardcore punk and metalcore with electronica. The German band We Butter the Bread with Butter has seen commercial success employing this fusion. The term “digital hardcore” has largely fallen out of use, given its association with politically charged lyrics, which are not a characteristic of newer electronicore artists. One notable digital hardcore band to come out of the 2010s was Machine Girl, especially with their 2017 album “…Because I’m Young Arrogant and Hate Everything You Stand For”, which combined their earlier modern breakcore style with more extreme hardcore punk vocals. The album Bottomless Pit by experimental hip-hop band Death Grips has been described as digital hardcore.

2020s#

Coming into the 2020s, digital hardcore has seen a rise with new releases and artists, such as LustSickPuppy, femtanyl, and Lip Critic. Notable mainstream success within the digital hardcore genre has been seen with the British band WARGASM, whose debut EP, Explicit: The Mixxxtape, was released on 9 September 2022; the full-length album Venom was released a year later to critical success.

Bibliography#

Reynolds, Simon (1999). Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. Routledge.
Taylor, Steve (2006). The A to X of Alternative Music. Continuum International Publishing Group.

Genre family: 20th-century music genres, 21st-century music genres, Hardcore music genres, Hardcore punk genres, Rock music genres