Gabber: Raising Hell in Technoculture

Journal article

Rietveld, H. and Monroe, Alexei (2021). Gabber: Raising Hell in Technoculture. Metal Music Studies. 7 (3), pp. 399-421. https://doi.org/10.1386/mms_00057_1
AuthorsRietveld, H. and Monroe, Alexei
AbstractGabber is a hardcore electronic dance music genre, typified by extreme speed and overdrive, which developed in the Netherlands, with Rotterdam as its epicentre, during the early 1990s, when house music-inspired dance events dominated. The use of distorted noise and references to popular body horror, such as Hellraiser, dominated its scene, and soon gabber was commented on as ‘the metal of house music’, a statement that this article aims to investigate. Applying a genealogical discographic approach, the research found that the electronic noise music aesthetic of industrial music was crucial for the formation of the sound of gabber. The hardcore electronic dance music that developed from this is at once ironically nihilistic, a contrary critique, and a populist safety valve. The digital machine noise of hardcore seems to offer an immersive means to process the experience of (emasculating) fluidity within post-human accelerated technoculture, itself propelled by rapid digital capital and information technologies.
KeywordsMusic
Year2021
JournalMetal Music Studies
Journal citation7 (3), pp. 399-421
PublisherIntellect
ISSN2052-3998
2052-4005
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1386/mms_00057_1
Publication dates
Online01 Sep 2021
Print01 Sep 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted06 Aug 2020
Deposited03 Sep 2020
Accepted author manuscript
Additional information

The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article was published by Metal Music Studies, 29 September 2021 DOI: 10.1386/mms_00057_1

Licensehttps://www.intellectbooks.com/self-archiving#accepted-manuscript-post-embargo
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