What is going on with ‘Hardcore’..?

[hutzdani]

The usual Cater for the Festival people and try to aim for the Mainstream and aiming up the Mainstage from various artists.

With the Meteoric rise of Crossbreed a few years back it was dominated with it its slowly dwindled down and Uptempo and the big Mainstage resurgence of Frenchcore has taken its place.

The smaller artists don't even get a look in, just look at these forums the bigger artists used to try and support the smaller ones, once Promo was bringing up like likes of Dither and now we get spammed with that style relentlessly, Even N Vitral went totally mainstream and there has been little noise from the industrial side of things also with some artists breaking out into a more Techno side these days.

Ophidians Split with Enzyme and it appears he's trying help / support alot of smaller artists in recent years that have been taken up by labels like PRSPCT.

The only thing keeping me holding on now is artists like KRTM / Tripped / Ophidian / Djipe / Sacerdos Vigilia / Somniac One / Hellfish / dropping harsh stuff every now and then hell even TOA feel quiet on their hardcore sound these days.

Hell the last records I was really pumped for was TOA / Ophidians Return of the Silence /
[KRTM] ft. Thrasher's Placebo track.

I was never a Fan of the mainstage kinda hardcore and stopped listening constantly around the time enzyme started to go mainstreamy in 2016 and have been picking the gold from the overwhelming trash ever since.

Its all getting a bit much these days, so i just keep checking the odd good artists pages for sniffs of gold, in 2019 alone i have only grabbed 8 releases on Bandcamp / Stores

[GianaWana]

before all of this things, hardcore was a movement and nowadays, new generations don't represent that movement, with the raising of modern frenchcore and the popularity of raw,usually breaking boundaries with higher bpm or melodic and fast connections,are bringing a well made music that fits the needs of this generation.

i barely listen to hardcore nowadays, i didn't feel this style, the last good song i heard was angerfist-pennywise.
and when i listen hardcore i still listen tracks like: distorted revelation- tell it like it is/ accelerator & lunatic - lost/aof-earthquake/ stunned guys-raise cain/ neophyte&stunnedguys - the soul collector/angerfist-take you back/retaliate/ amnesys-hymn remix / the viper 98 to your min and various early stuff from the stunned guys,gtown madness and neophyte crew.

you can feel the big changes in those yeaRS, i feel hardcore tired of existing nowadays, and dissolving with frenchcore and raw,confusing itself and not resulting a proper style/movement anymore

[the_wraith]

Over the decades there have been different changes really. But I think the biggest problem is that the music industry has changed and it has become a struggle to make money - especially with styles that arent listened to intently, but get mostly mixed together on festivals, which in itself could through a negative eye already be seen as a form of devaluation. That Promo and Co have been pushing their artists to go with the flow is I think foremost a matter of survival for the labels. Sure as long as they dont make the numbers public its probably a guessing game, but I assume that they simply dont dare experimentation anymore, because their calculated margin is too small for that. Which is a two-edged sword of course, the lack of experimentation will make people leave who are more interested to actually hear interesting, non-conformist stuff, but it will also cater to the ravers and their current beloved trends.
At the same time producing tracks has become more complicated. Most people here seem to be pretty young, but I can look back to Rave The City and Thunderdome - I think they're all on YT. If you listen to that stuff, people could make a track like that in 1-2 hours, while now - as long as you actualyl make the stuff yourself - you would waste probably at least 1-2 days on creating a kick.
Which brings me to another thing which I personally find is somewhere between a natural evoluton but also rather annoying - modern styles are basically not songs anymore but mashups. 6 kickdrums, 8 screeches, 3 transitions, 2:30, done. Thats not a song in my eyes, its polished shit made for dj-mixing so some random dood has something to move his body to. That stuff has no atmosphere, doesnt tell a story, its just spazz-out-relax-spazz-out-relax. Which again lowers the value of it of course, making it necessary to create more shit even quicker.
I'm not sure the strategy is very intelligent, but maybe thats just me.

[GianaWana]

agree,extremize everything because the business has changed.
looks like a rat race but the results are clear.
when things are going in this way, they must refound the native scheme of this music genre and optimize it with little influences and optimized sounds with the new technologies we have. they have no other chances.
if not, the genre will die slowly.

[5th angle]

"..you would waste probably at least 1-2 days on creating a kick"

You made a good point here, friend. Waste is the word. Back in the days, the music was about the feeling, not kicks.

[SKRWD]

I've never considered myself as a part of the Hardcore scene (even though my journey's started with Thunderdome back in 2004/2005), but from what I've experienced so far it seems that

Modern trends and competition ruined it imo.
Now, we have dozens of new tracks constantly being produced without any soul, filled with generic trends etc.

[Szy]

The problem is this generation; accepting poor quality childcore with all the fucked up pok pok pok kicks that have no intensity at all.
The trend of Frenchcore, that style it’s just so poor, what a drama. The Hardcore scene should be really ashamed of themselves, especially the new softcore generation that likes it. You all are destroying what Hardcore is all about; rough, hard, agressive instead of soft, childish and happy!

[jacktorrance]

The problem is this generation; accepting poor quality childcore with all the fucked up pok pok pok kicks that have no intensity at all.
The trend of Frenchcore, that style it’s just so poor, what a drama. The Hardcore scene should be really ashamed of themselves, especially the new softcore generation that likes it. You all are destroying what Hardcore is all about; rough, hard, agressive instead of soft, childish and happy!

I agree with that. Most of Sefa's and Dr.Peacock productions are miles away from the quality of hardcore we had before. It really sucks. They just play random ass tunes with frenchcore beats.

I miss artists like Nosferatu, Tommyknocker, Dione, Tha Playah, Dj D, Meccano twins and Amnesys... I know some are still around but we don't get to see them as often. Thanfully we still have good producers like mad dog and angerfist. Also I must name my favorite producers of the last couple years: the melodysts. Love them, they are bringing so much freshness to hardcore music

[Xurreal]

Thanfully we still have good producers like mad dog and angerfist.

...where nearly every track sounds exactly like the previous. Hardcore is pretty much dead

[noiseshock_of]

Exactly the same that is "going on" with any other music genre - nothing, just older generations who believe it used to be better and not liking the new thing. In any genre you'll find these people who would bet their lives it "used to be better".
Don't get this wrong, I rather have millennium hardcore than the new thing. But it doesn't mean something is going on. Music stays on the move all the time because the older generations will stop partying sooner or later, so as an artist you want to stay fresh and bring new people in, otherwise there comes a time you will have no crowd anymore but a bunch of 40 year olders who are still going hard. Perfectly respectable as well, but if music is your main income, it's not ideal.
Also.. As a listener I rather have something that is moving in one direction. It's just the way all genres work. I might or might not like the current direction, but I prefer that to a stuck genre.