How did Techno turn into Hardcore and Speedcore?

We just published this feature at The Hardcore Overdogs:

"How Speedcore Evolved out of the Techno Genre: A History and Timeline"
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/05/how-speedcore-evolved-out-of-techno.html

The idea was to show the transition of Techno at the beginning of the 90s, to Hardcore and Gabber in the mid-90s, and then finally into Speedcore towards the latter half of the 90s.

While doing my research, I noticed several things:

1. Tracks that resemble what we now call "Hardcore" and "Gabber" did not really exist before 1992 (or were very rare).

2. Acid / Newbeat 1987-1990 was often "harder" then early 90s Techno.

3. After "We have arrived" was released in 1990, not much happened in of hardness and distortion for the next few years :-) This track really stood out!

4. 1993-1994 had lots of tracks already that ran at several hundred bpm (surprisingly!), at least in their middle parts or outros. By either speeding up or doubling the bassdrum.

5. 1993-1995 were probably the most "extreme" years in the history of Hardcore. The Netherlands were super-tough, and lots of completely insane tracks were released, like dominee dimitri or abc-alarm.

What I don't quite "get" yet is the transition of early Techno to Hardcore and Gabber around 1991 / 1992.
Gabber tracks just seem to appear somewhen in 1992 (with "deng" kicks and all), and then they're suddenly everywhere - a quantum leap, instead of an evolution. At least that's how it appears to me when looking back - I'm sure this is not what really happened back in the 90s.

The "second" transition, from Gabber to Speedcore is much more clear. Tracks just became faster and more distorted, until we arrive at the Speedcore sound.

Maybe someone can fill in these gaps?
I'm sure we made quite some errors, so any info is appreciated :-)

And yes, the text completely omits UK Artcore / Breakbeat stuff, sorry :-)

The supposed "missing link" which forms the transition from early rave / oldschool / early techno to early gabber / early hardcore is exemplified IMO by tracks such as the following.

Holy Noise - James Brown is Still Alive
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/1513041-Holy-Noise-Presents-The-Global-Insert-Project-The-Nightmare
Mainx - 88 to Piano
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/40265-Mainx-88-To-Piano-Remixes
Second Phase - Mentasm
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/8905-Second-Phase-Mentasm
Sadomasy - Body Motion
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/1611082-Sadomasy-DJ-One-Body-Motion
Meng Syndicate - Sonar System
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/115716-Meng-Syndicate-Artificial-Fantasy
Edge Of Motion - Set up 707
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/16641-Edge-Of-Motion-Edge-Of-Motion
Public Energy - Three O Three
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/40287-Public-Energy-Hemi-Sync
Epilepsia - Epilepsia
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/39689-Epilepsia-Epilepsia
Dilemma - Erase Your Mind & Hyperbolic
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/42969-Dilemma-Erase-Your-Mind
Dyewitness - Observing the Earth
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/47686-Dyewitness-Observing-The-Earth
Sperminator - No Women Allowed (all tracks on the EP )
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/970-Sperminator-No-Woman-Allowed
Euromasters - Amsterdam Waar Lech dat dan?? (All tracks on the EP)
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/178901-Euromasters-Amsterdam-Waar-Lech-Dat-Dan
Strong Heads - Frequency Test
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/76073-Strong-Heads-Frequency-Test
Test - Overdub
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/81588-Test-Overdub
Gateway Experience - Twin Freaks (Original Mix)
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/361846-Gateway-Experience-Twin-Freaks-Remix
Master Techno - My Noise
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/125283-Master-Techno-My-Noise
Suburban Knight - The World
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/3345-Suburban-Knight-The-Art-Of-Stalking
Tones Energy - Phantasm
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/100855-Tones-Energy-Phantasm
Cameo - Money (Reese Instrumental)
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/136872-Cameo-Money
Ultimate Seduction - a Walking Nightmare
https://discogs.programascracks.com/master/104176-The-Ultimate-Seduction-Ba-Da-Da-Na-Na-Na

Check also labels like VIP classics
DJ sets by Darkraver, DJ Stanton, DJ Rob.

Discogs Lists such as
https://discogs.programascracks.com/lists/house-classics/329958

My theory could be underscored by the fact that these tracks were often also played by many of the DJ's of the first Gabber generation.
This is in fact also what is often referred to as "Parkzicht style".
See for example
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/905094-Various-Parkzicht

Furthermore, the aforementioned tracks are also sampled by subsequent generations of hardcore / gabber producers. This shows that they were an influence on them.
Check for example Buzz Fuzz's Class Axion series.
Some of the tracks are also featured on some "Best Of" compilations, such as Thunderdome 92-99, History Of Rotterdam Records, Hardcore 100 Best of the Best, Hardcore 100 Best of the Best part 2.
Even though, the aforementioned tracks sound more like "techno" than as "hardcore".
They all fall in precisely the time window of 91-93 where precisely hardcore would be born out of the oldest techno.
Initially this style was also referred to as "Gabberhouse" and "Hardcore".

In 1991 D Shake is interviewed on the Dutch VPRO "Onrust" programma, where he uses the name "gabberhouse" to refer to harder techno.
As one of the comments on the Youtube fragment also shows, what the Dutch called Gabberhouse, was actually (often Belgian) Harder Techno, initially.
Only1, 2 years later did "gabberhouse" become a distinct style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuryTeduA1s

There's also a 2015 Belgian Drama Thriller movie named D'Ardennen where a lot of those tracks, including those of the Belgian F Van Geluwe (Test & Strong Heads) are featured as the background music / soundtrack https://www.kino-zeit.de/film-kritiken-trailer-streaming/the-ardennes-2015

i think he's asking about the transition *from* the sound of 91/92 into 93 onwards. because this is something I have wondered myself on here many times. I know that the music was exploding at this time, so the pace of change was quite fast in general across all genres.

however - it does seem like Dutch hardcore abruptly exploded out of nowhere. There's maybe only a handful of tracks maximum over 160 from 1992, then all of a sudden in 1993, labels like Mokum, Rave, Rotterdam are pushing past 200 bpm. by comparison, UK hardcore was also getting faster & harder - but although the change was quite rapid, it was also still a gradual evolution.

now of course, there were also plenty of tunes from 93 that were nowhere near 200 bpm...and crucially just knowing the release year doesn't really tell the full story anyway, because Jan 93 is very different from Dec 93! so i'm more curious about how it seemed to people who were raving at the time, did it seem like the music had changed suddenly?

LowEntropy
"How Speedcore Evolved out of the Techno Genre: A History and Timeline"
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/05/how-speedcore-evolved-out-of-techno.html

I think this timeline is missing some significant detail though - again this is a good example of how just looking at release year doesn't tell the full story.

so it's not just a simple progression from harder gabber to speedcore. because that misses out the populaity of "lighter" hardcore surging in 94/95, in reaction against hardcore getting too hard/fast (to many ravers)

because I would say that speedcore was really a reaction to THAT - the people who loved the harder side of gabber, being dismayed by the lighter side and going even harder & faster in response.

I'd also say it's a bit of a stretch to say that speedcore was fully established in 1995. You can obviously see the beginnings of it in a few releases, but it wasn't until the following year that it really became a thing I would say. Certainly the DJs that became known for it in the UK (like Loftgroover & HMS) - if you listen to their sets from 1995, most of the year they were just playing normal hardcore, it's only towards the end of the year that they start playing what became known as "speedcore".

Imo various acid producers started pumping their bassdrum a bit in 92... Adam X/Jimmy Crash for example come to mind which paved the way to go extremee. Also Damon Wild for example maybe?

These traxx are sometimes om the edge of hardcore techno too.

traffic_cone
i think he's asking about the transition *from* the sound of 91/92 into 93 onwards. because this is something I have wondered myself on here many times. I know that the music was exploding at this time, so the pace of change was quite fast in general across all genres.

Exactly! Tracks like Second Phase or Art Of Stalking (The Worlds) are mentioned, but they sound *nothing* like Alles Naar De Kloote or Bald Terror etc.

If you look at the early "hard" Techno stuff, there are still very visible ties to Newbeat, House, EBM, Acid, even more "commercial" Dance music... lots of focus on basslines (which are often more heavy then the drums), "shuffle"-like percussion, strings, live rapping / MC... like a darker and more extreme of a techno track you would expect to hear in a New York City discotheque around 1989-1990.
And with the advent of the 1992 Gabber sound, all of this is suddenly gone (with just a few exceptions).

It's really a sudden "jump".

traffic_cone
I'd also say it's a bit of a stretch to say that speedcore was fully established in 1995.

I meant in of "genre mechanics". If you listen to the 1993 tracks, there is a lot of "trying out things" going on... Moby just accelerated the bassdrum over the entire track, while 303 nation decided to double them...
I think by 1995, the general "formula" for Speedcore is clearly visible. And after this, producers rarely did tracks like "thousand" or "double speed mayhem" anymore.

And yes, Speedcore was well-establed as a term and subgenre of Hardcore by 1995, too. Dead by Dawn hosted their "Satanic Speedcore Parties", Patric Catani talks about "producing Speedcore" in the Alien Underground...

DJs often played more than one style in their sets, which is way it's rare to find "100% Speedcore" sets in these years.

Oh and you are right that the text "distorts" the view because it only shows a transition from early Techno and Gabber to Speedcore, while in the 90s, there were many more transitions going on... to Bouncy Hardcore, to Newstyle, to Breakcore...

-NeedleTeeth-
Imo various acid producers started pumping their bassdrum a bit in 92... Adam X/Jimmy Crash for example come to mind which paved the way to go extremee. Also Damon Wild for example maybe?

These traxx are sometimes om the edge of hardcore techno too.

Interesting... maybe that is the missing link!

I have a mix done with some acid traxx which can easily be fitted into proto-gabber.

i wouldn't say gabber is entirely unconnected from the techno and hardcore that came before it. as mentioned you had a few techno producers experimenting with distortion and harder drums in 92. but also - gabber from 93/94 is absolutely full of samples of earlier tracks. Just "Mentasm" alone must be dozens at least.

it's the intensity and tempo which increased dramatically at the start of 93. one obvious explanation could be people playing the harder records on the wrong speed - i mean that was a big part of how uk hip hop morphed into breakbeat hardcore at the start of the 90s.

as far as pioneering tracks go, this EP is worth a mention: https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/193952-Xenophobia-Into-Combat-EP - specifically the track "Project 250"...as the name suggests it speeds up to 250 at one point, but even the "slower" part is quite fast (and stompy) for a late 1992 UK hardcore track (although maybe the most remarkable fact is that it was produced by Grant Nelson (aka Wishdokta) - who was mostly known as a pioneer of (breakbeat) happy hardcore, and UK garage house)

It's probably quite hard to pin down the answer, but worth thinking about.

A huge part is the response from listeners and clubbers to start a trend or style, which is fair enough. Dubstep felt like it came out of nowhere, with just little drops of similar tracks in the years coming up to it. The "when and where" the explosions starts from is difficult without hearing from people there at the time, and if they're being honest in the first place! Were there particular clubs which liked to play particularly hard techno and early hardcore, pitched up a bit, which prompted local productions to be a little faster and dirtier, sparking the wave? There's plenty of examples of techno trying out filthy beats ; X-103's "Curse Of The Gods" in 1992 which was hefty, and sometimes played at 45 from what I recall, taking it up closer to 200bpm territory. Then all the actual hardcore records being played pitched or at 45, did that help? They're small examples of a big picture, and I'm spitting into the wind here.

With the speed and prolificity at which it happened; It also might not be just down to music evolving at a pace, but also had to do with production equipment becoming suddenly easily available, and cheaper, for budding artists, right around the time the style was gaining traction. Studio equipment >was< expensive, as was building a collection of smaller gear, and home computers were previously rare. But around that point, they were taking off as late 80's/early 90's machines became obsolete. If you could save for even a second hand sampler, amiga, keyboard, a copy of some midi software, you were good to go.

I don't think a single thing I said answers anything, so pardon the non-factual ramble.

A combination of adventurous producers who can produce in multigenres, some of them invent almost singlehandy new genres, sensitivity to audience/club owners taste, the equipment of the time (but limitations in equipment advances creativity!). Also, misusing equipment or expanding (the 303 not being used as bass line creator but with high tones melody lines for instances).
I personally take highly into the process of copying what other producers do and succeeding or failing in it. The outcome: you can copy it very well (like Dutch producer Erik Van De Broek who produces excellent Detroit etc. like techno/electro) or you totally miss the point but create something else. So 'Belgian techno' is not 'Detroit techno' but something else, with other parameters being taking further, or parameters being or becoming less complex (like failing to create a funky groove, like in the Trance genre, 'the other white beat'. So a new genre can be born because of failing to copy another genre, ever thought about it? So it could be that Rotterdam for instance just lacks the Funk to get a certain groove in their tracks and arrive to a vbasic, loud, punk like, combined with the stomping of Dutch clogs, because they can't dance like in American clubs.

Refering to Helicopterface about midi, i heard very very early German breakbeat hardcore tracks on Dev/Null's blogtotheoldskool website which sound very midi, have midi like sounds, sound cheap but are original, fast, taking idioms further and do creative sampling. Don't know if Martin Damm was involved but in those tracks you can hear definately the arrival of Speedfreak's way of being creative, cheap and crazy with midi, samples and song structure.

About tempo: It depends on how important you take tempo as a parameter, for advancement/evolution in a genre in general. Also, genres like breakbeat hardcore tracks already had faster tempos, apart from slower stuff. I also something (quote could be not 100% exact) from Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music: 'The hardest electronic music was actually the slowest (refering to New Beat)'.
If one or two or more producers started one day to combine hard bassdrums and fast tempo one day, you have advanced in that way (but for me it doesn't mean that you created more advanced music or something). Last one: one, two or more producers can independently from eachother arrive at a similar outcome.

X-103's "Curse Of The Gods" very interesting track in more ways btw, thanks. Having both Rotterdam and da Funk (in a cold, Techno way).

Want to add one more thing: adventurous, innovative producers adding new things to music/genres are not always the ones having the most worked song structures, the will or the capacity to really work out innovative ideas; ideas which un many cases came spontaneously or unconsciously. Others who copy them or work further on those ideas or similar ideas can arrive to better, bigger conclusions, sometimes driving, manipulating parameters of music to their logical conclusion (like increasing bpm's (parameter) with loud kickdrums (parameter) would lead to Speedcore). If Venetian Snares, if i'm correct, started using odd time signatures in a mostly 4/4 style like breakcore, he's innovative, which in turn ead to conclusions made by other producers manipulating this parameter following his example. For instance, could like the song/track structures of a group like Plaid more than Aphex Twin even if they would use the same IDM setup. Because Aphex didn't always work out an innovative idea (could be born unconscioudly, not on purpose) to the fullest, while others did.

.less.
About tempo: It depends on how important you take tempo as a parameter.

i don't think the point is about evaluating anything in of importance, or how advanced it is, or indeed how hard it is (in itself a subjective thing). Also a lot of that Ishkur's guide should be taken with many grains of salt, a lot of opinions presented as objective truths...

this was more just pointing out that it remains quite unusual for a style to suddenly see such variation in tempo.- even at a time when the music was new and developing rapidly. most genres of dance music have a consistent tempo at any one time, roughly speaking - for mixing reasons if nothing else.

by comparison - uk breakbeat hardcore also increased tempo significantly in the early 90s, rising from 125 to 160+ within a couple of years...but it was an incremental increase within this time. so at any point within this period, most DJs would be playing at a similar tempo, and most tunes would be too (barring a few unusual outliers, which would generally be pitched up or down to fit).

speaking of which...

.less.
i heard very very early German breakbeat hardcore tracks on Dev/Null's blogtotheoldskool website which sound very midi, have midi like sounds, sound cheap but are original, fast, taking idioms further and do creative sampling. Don't know if Martin Damm was involved but in those tracks you can hear definately Speedfreak's way of being creative, cheap and crazy with midi, samples and song structure.

now I do love lots of those early German records (Space Cube especially) because they often combined different influences and sounds to the UK artists - but they were absolutely following the UK example with that style, and with the specific approach that you describe. Which you can hear if you peruse that (excellent) blog, as > 90% of the examples on there are UK releases ;)

traffic_cone
this was more just pointing out that it remains quite unusual for a style to suddenly see such variation in tempo.- even at a time when the music was new and developing rapidly. most genres of dance music have a consistent tempo at any one time, roughly speaking - for mixing reasons if nothing else.

Ok, i agree that dj's manipulate the parameter 'tempo' and help the ears of the audience to get accostumed to it, also taking it into their own hands and produce tracks in tempos (or other parameters) they feel there are lacking tracks in.

Trying to look from a producers standpoint, i still stand my case that tempo is only one parameter for the producer, that is/was being manipulated both consciously/on purpose and unconsciously/unpurposeful by a variety of 1991 - 1992 producers, some of them being into producing for a longer time, others maybe their first track, or for one project. The guys doing it on purpose sometimes write it in the track titles; they want you to know it's fast!

Xenophobia - Project 250
303 Nation - Double Speed Mayhem
Euromasters - Alles Naar De Kl--te (250 BPM Remix By Dimitri)
Moby - Thousand

I'm sure many producers knew back than to tweak the parameter 'tempo' along many genres, and across the globe. It's not the all in definite parameter for me to state it's the reason 'techno' evolved to 'hardcore techno', later gabber.

I really think a part of house and techno got 'hardcore' because producers at some point didn't use breakbeats for a change (breakbeats = sampled elements) or threw away their breakbeats after initially using them while becoming focused more on harder bassdrums; on top of these bassdrums came claps and/or snares which were sequenced in ways it removed or changed the groove from house to more of a military march, stomping, lacking funk . Jeff Mills with his X-103 track pulls this off while still being somewhat 'funky' in adding distorted percussion like. The synth he uses reminescent to Belgian/Dutch usage of it in hardcore.
Euromasters (i think they're really really innovative for 1992) go totally crazy with combining hard bassdrums, tempo and even adding nonsense vocals. They, unlike Mills, totally lack 'funk', and techno feeling, on purpose or not.
Techno and acid (some guys did both of course) producers, like NeedleTeeth mentioned, put out hard acid tracks in 1992 with distorted 303's and powerful bassdrums, strange atmospheres, crunching synths, destroying the happy part of acid house and techno. I think they were arriving at 'hardcore' also, coming from a slightly different angle. The bassdrum 'drumming' away the other sounds and becoming the forefront is for me also a parameter. These bassdrums, combined with increasing tempos, on purpose or not, added craziness but also threw away paradigms which worked for slower bpm's and opened ways to building tracks in other ways. Increasing

traffic_cone
however - it does seem like Dutch hardcore abruptly exploded out of nowhere. There's maybe only a handful of tracks maximum over 160 from 1992, then all of a sudden in 1993, labels like Mokum, Rave, Rotterdam are pushing past 200 bpm. by comparison, UK hardcore was also getting faster & harder - but although the change was quite rapid, it was also still a gradual evolution.

I agree! Euromasters for instance are genius in not only using hard bassdrums, have a fast tempo and even adding nonsense vocals but also increasing the tempo over 200 bpm in one of their versions. They show all those evolutions in just one or two tracks!

traffic_cone
as far as pioneering tracks go, this EP is worth a mention: https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/193952-Xenophobia-Into-Combat-EP - specifically the track "Project 250"...as the name suggests it speeds up to 250 at one point, but even the "slower" part is quite fast (and stompy) for a late 1992 UK hardcore track (although maybe the most remarkable fact is that it was produced by Grant Nelson (aka Wishdokta) - who was mostly known as a pioneer of (breakbeat) happy hardcore, and UK garage house)

I think this is an example of the outcome of increasing the tempo of essentially a breakbeat hardcore track (with a bolder bassdrum) to higher bpm's. Noticing also how different producers can come to increasing the parameter 'tempo' with another sort of outcome, getting called 'hardcore'. Notice here there is not that much distortion and emphasising of the bassdrum with claps and snares, differentiating it from Euromasters and Mills. I respect this track (i know it from a 3-disc Rave Breaks compilation, forgot the name) but it's a bit less innovative i think, using existing elements. But setting the standard of this approach for UK hardcore/gabber for the years to come, the Scottish style for instance, sounds like the proto-track for it?

Also can be mentioned, Jackhammer by Cybersonik (Ritchie Hawtin).
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/20363-Cybersonik-Jackhammer-Machine-Gun

Interestingly, the creator himself is said to have made it as a diss towards Dutch gabber, so there must've been already hard, fast, distorted tracks that inspired him.
In turn, this record inspired many hardcore artists.
The bassdrum of other side, Machine Gun, is also used in Gabberdam by Chosen Few, and in Stockhousen - Underground Garden.
Jackhammer, the track, is also referenced by Drokz as "the first Terror track", in a Livestream with Darkraver.
@ 2:06:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gMkg_nheDY

i'm really lost as to what point you're making now. I mean, really the answer to "why" is the same as any question about a new style: trying things that hadn't been done before. And it's all but impossible to really piece it together looking back, given you had hundreds of people in different countries all experimenting.

but i will say: it's easy to forget now how significant pushing up the tempo would be at the time. Put it this way: there's a cartoon on the back of an early 4 Hero release (from 91) which compares producers making tunes at135 bpm to evil scientists meddling with forces beyond their control. A Prodigy interview from 1992 where Liam describes people making records at 155 bpm as a sign of things going too far. And the track "The Event" by Bass Generator (an actual prototype for the Scottish sound) - made summer 93 - has on the label "171 bpm - can you dance this fast?" - because it samples several big tunes from the previous 2 years, but all of them sped up significantly.

So in this context - in 1993, a track at 200 bpm would be a lot more radical than you might be assuming. Maybe from an intellectual standpoint, tempo might seem like a fairly basic element, but for DANCE music, I would say it's arguably the most important. Even relatively slight differences in tempo are quite significant in of how something works as dance music - in a way that is absolutely not true for any other genre.

HellBazZ_Davy
Interestingly, the creator himself is said to have made it as a diss towards Dutch gabber, so there must've been already hard, fast, distorted tracks that inspired him.

well he himself was a pioneer of it. but the story is that he was in Parkzicht, and heard the crowd chanting something to his tune "Thrash" - and when he was told they were chanting "joden, joden" (an anti Ajax thing I'm guessing!) he understandably thought "yeah this is going in a direction i'm not so keen on".

And so I think both tracks are intended as a parody of where things were going in the quest to push up the intensity. Like a "this is the logical conclusion of what you are doing, and it's ridiculous." I doubt he would have expected it to be the foundation of an entire genre of people making tracks in that style :D

Because if you listen carefully, the tracks are still more like 125 bpm techno with double speed kickdrums, than flat out 250 bpm hardcore. It's a subtle difference, but if you actually focus on all the other elements beside the kick, it becomes clearer.

Things were very 'fast' moving (development) in 1992.

From my own record buying experience in 1992, as I liked to buy different oddities, I bought The Brain "150 BPM Massaker" purely due to the title, it seemed new and cool. Likewise Automation "New Style" (Pink EP) was some fast odd sounding breakbeat structure and didn't seem like other English breakbeat (hence this 'new style' message). From what I recall Euromasters was hyped in Rising High communication I received, possibly something about a new sound, fast speed and aggression, and I bought that too.

Purely at local level exposure, the aforementioned Bass Generator "The Event" in 1993 was different to what was going on at the time here and pushed more speed but the track was "tuneful", unusually sampling RAF italo house track that was popular in Scotland, rather than aggression and noise normally associated with things at speed I'd heard.

from what I (based on his podcast interview with Mallorca, RIP) I think it started out as a mix for an album, which was to coincide with Rez's first big outdoor summer event (hence the title). I think he said it was supposed to be him and Carl Cox doing a mix, and he decided to do a sort of megamix for his mix...the album fell through and his megamix turned into a track (well, 2 tracks really). I think that was the story.

and which also takes me back to DJs playing records on the wrong speed as being one reason for producers making records much faster - because that was something Bass Generator did all the time, with Italo and techno. Even the set I had of him from a 1992 Rez has him playing "Can U Feel It" by CLS on 45.

Xylum_Larvik
Likewise Automation "New Style" (Pink EP) was some fast odd sounding breakbeat structure and didn't seem like other English breakbeat (hence this 'new style' message).

there's also a track called "Noisebleed" on the Yellow Automation EP that was definitely proto-gabberesque...although that seems to be a less well ed EP than the pink one.

HellBazZ_Davy
Also can be mentioned, Jackhammer by Cybersonik (Ritchie Hawtin).
https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/20363-Cybersonik-Jackhammer-Machine-Gun

Interestingly, the creator himself is said to have made it as a diss towards Dutch gabber, so there must've been already hard, fast, distorted tracks that inspired him.
In turn, this record inspired many hardcore artists.
The bassdrum of other side, Machine Gun, is also used in Gabberdam by Chosen Few, and in Stockhousen - Underground Garden.
Jackhammer, the track, is also referenced by Drokz as "the first Terror track", in a Livestream with Darkraver.
@ 2:06:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gMkg_nheDY

I find it a simple statement of Drokz with all due respect. In 1992 hardcore/gabber started to form and what can be considerd terror really started to be seen in 1994 in , USA & Australia for the biggest part.

In retropsect it's hard but than we could probaly name more tunes... Seeing everybody almost takes all he says as a fact I really dislike that. Good artist, good guy for as far as I know... But I find it a dumb statement.

But that's my view offcourse...

traffic_cone

I thought i would summarize my points at first, but i've little time atm. In the ground i agree with most of your points, about some of them i might have had a limited view myself.

I keep to my main these though, that before pointing to tempo as the main parameter to have this leap from 1992-1993, one should take into that the whole production values and its parameters (new bassdrums, groove, song structure, rhytmic complexity or simplicity, sampling, equipment, ...) had to change to really shape a new genre. Acid/techno producers already cranked up distortion, bassdrums (X-103 perfect example, but it's not straight, too 'funky'), throwing away the breakbeats, but there had to be a loss of 'funk', claps on the beats, a change in groove, synths used differently, other ways of sampling, etc. etc.

And i repeat, Euromasters were genius in not only 1) using new bassdrums, 2) have a fast(er) tempo, 3) adding nonsense vocals but also 4) increasing the tempo over 200 bpm in one of their versions of Alles Naar De Klote. The Rotterdam version is for me the prototype. They show all those evolutions in just one or two tracks in one release.

BTW, the synth of X-103 - Eruption is like covered in Asylum - Mescalum? It's interesting to compare both tracks!

traffic_cone
Because if you listen carefully, the tracks are still more like 125 bpm techno with double speed kickdrums, than flat out 250 bpm hardcore. It's a subtle difference, but if you actually focus on all the other elements beside the kick, it becomes clearer.

quite true. Still, the hated towards the genre helped to create Speedcore. Awesome fail, epic result!

LowEntropy
"How Speedcore Evolved out of the Techno Genre: A History and Timeline"
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/05/how-speedcore-evolved-out-of-techno.html

Very nice, as always. Congratulations.

Now for reference, the first time the word Speedcore is mentioned in a track title is from 1987 (Punk Metal) and as album title from 1985: https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/18364318-Various-Mehr-Schweden-Schwedischer-Speedcore-Sampler.

For "our" Hardcore it's in 1996 with Disciples of Annihilation! (classic). As classification of genre in Discogs, 1993 only with 80 aum, sorcerer and P stuff - as expected.

Don't also forget this gemm: https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/57576-Various-Speedcore-Formula-1-Hardcore-Sounds
No Speedcore included!

.less.
I keep to my main these though, that before pointing to tempo as the main parameter to have this leap from 1992-1993, one should take into that the whole production values and its parameters (new bassdrums, groove, song structure, rhytmic complexity or simplicity, sampling, equipment, ...) had to change to really shape a new genre.

certainly the pace of change was such that you didn't have any one development happening independently of the other.

i would say that some of the other changes in of hardcore "aggression" (harder kicks, more militant drum patterns), were already present in the "proto-hardcore" of 1992. I've certainly heard s of the UK free party scene that suggest this was the dominant sound that emerged by the winter of 92.

But then the following year is when it fully breaks off into something entirely distinct from classic "techno", with all elements "turned up to 11" - most notably the accelerated tempo.

I would also say that the tempo is also the one characteristic that most people outside of the hardcore scene would associate with "gabber" (or "gabba" if you want to upset the purists)

Hardmageddon
For "our" Hardcore it's in 1996 with Disciples of Annihilation! (classic). As classification of genre in Discogs, 1993 only with 80 aum, sorcerer and P stuff - as expected.

I think it's interesting to note that sometimes the name for a sub-genre is born before the sound it's associated with. For example - in the liner notes for the "Technohead 4" compilation, Michael Wells refers to an Alec Empire track as an example of a new style, and throws out a few names for it (one being "breakcore")** - suggesting the name hadn't quite stuck yet (and that album was released in 1997). However there are a few references to "breakcore" in releases going as far back as 1993 - but in those examples it was more used as a contraction of "breakbeat hardcore".

Maybe the strangest example of this is "techstep" - which bizarrely enough was the name of an English happy hardcore label in 1995 - a full year before Ed Rush, Nico et al did their thing.

curse my shit internet, double post.

AFAIK the first time Speedcore was mentioned, relating to a physical release / track / label, was the advent of "Speedcore Records" ( https://discogs.programascracks.com/label/4358-Speedcore ) - and *not* the release of "New York City Speedcore" (of course it's a great album nonetheless).

But of course, the term "Speedcore" (just as Breakcore) was already well established in the global Hardcore scene by 1996.

traffic_cone
Maybe the strangest example of this is "techstep" - which bizarrely enough was the name of an English happy hardcore label in 1995 - a full year before Ed Rush, Nico et al did their thing.

Maybe someone pointed this out somewhere at some point in the last ten years, which might be the reason why the bit of history on the No Uturn page is missing from an earlier version, where nico sykes recapped when they went to the SOUR HQ back then showing their new tracks calling them techstep and some days later the "Tech Stepping" compilation on emotif was announced leaving the No Uturnies a bit pissed, and nico writing resuming along the lines of to "be watchful who you tell about your new thing/names" or something. ;)

I mean...I think the term "hardstep" would already have been in use then (the point in between jungle and jump up) so it's not exactly the biggest leap from there to techstep :)