Darkcore

Darkcore (also referred to as darkside hardcore or darkcore jungle[1][2][3]) is a music subgenre of breakbeat hardcore in the UK rave scene, that emerged from late 1992. It is recognized as being one of the direct precursors of the genre now known as drum and bass.[4]

This article is about the breakbeat hardcore subgenre. For the hardcore genre, see Hardcore (electronic dance music genre). For the drum and bass style, see Darkstep.

Darkcore
Stylistic origins	Breakbeat hardcore industrial
Cultural origins	Early 1990s, United Kingdom
Typical instruments	Synthesizer keyboard drum machine sequencer sampler
Derivative forms	Hardcore jungle jungle drum and bass

Origins

By late 1992, breakbeat hardcore was beginning to fragment, and darkcore was one of those subgenres to emerge, and counter to 4-beat. Darkcore is often characterised by dark-themed samples such as horror movies elements, cries for help, sinister sounding stabs and synthesizer notes, along with syncopated breakbeats in addition to 4-to-the-floor beats and low frequency basslines. It also saw the introduction of effects such as pitch shifting and time stretching to create mood.[5][6]

Notable releases

Notable releases include DJ Hype's "Shot in the Dark" (Suburban Base, 1993), Origin Unknown's "Valley of the Shadows" (RAM Records, 1993), Ed Rush's "Bloodclot Artattack" (No U Turn, 1993),[7] Rufige Cru's "Terminator" (Reinforced Records, 1992), Doc Scott's "Here Comes the Drumz" (Reinforced Records, 1992),[8] and 4hero "Journey from the Light" (Reinforced Records, 1993).[9] Other labels releasing "darkside" tracks in 1993 included Moving Shadow and Basement Records. Basement's producer/engineer Jack Smooth said that Basement's slightly different style of darkcore featured "4×4 kick, techno sounds, [and] lush pads over heavily cut layered breaks."[10]

See also

• Breakbeat hardcore
• Jungle
• Drum and bass

References

1. Magnetic. "11 Sub-Genres Of EDM That Sound Really Scary". Magnetic Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
2. Dojo, D. N. B. (2017-11-10). "Premiere: No_Name – The Things We Left Behind". DNB Dojo. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
3. "Tim Reaper goes to the Darkcore on his guest mix for Blog to the Oldskool". Darkfloor. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
4. Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Picador. By late 1992, the happy rave tunes of 199–1 were being eclipsed by a style called 'darkside' or dark-core; hardcore became haunted by a collective apprehension that 'we've gone too far'.
5. Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Picador. Sometimes the imagery was directly drawn from horror movies, sometimes it was inspired by the residues of a Christian upbringing or by amateur forays into cosmology, angeloiogy, and mysticism.
6. Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Picador. Using effects like time-stretching, pitch-shifting and reversing, the darkside producers gave their breakbeats a brittle, metallic sound, like scuttling claws; they layered beats to form a dense mesh of convoluted, convulsive poly rhythm, inducing a febrile feel of in-the-pocket funk and out-of-body.
7. "Darkcore – Drum'n'Bass". 12 Edit. 18 July 2016.
8. "The 20 greatest jungle records ever made". FACTmag. 12 February 2011.
9. Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Picador.
10. "Hardcore Will Never Die, But Mixmag Will". A Bass Chronicle. 23 March 2013.

Further reading

• Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Picador 1998 (ISBN 0-330-35056-0)