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Hard Court Generation – Hellraiser “The Best Of” Megamix PAL 120M VHS (file, G.B.B.R., 2019)

What it looks like:

The cover image for the release features stark black lettering on a white background. The titles are a pastiche of themes directly or indirectly related to the hardcore gabber scene, with copious references sprinkled throughout (hard court/hardcore, a classic compilation CD series Hellraiser, the title format which seems to borrow from ID&T megamixes and VHS tapes). The font used is in fact the same as that used on ID&T’s infamous series Thunderdome. The stark black-and-white image fits in well with the rest of the G.B.B.R. catalogue. This label, which features music in several experimental genres, including vaporwave and ambient, has adopted the hardcore gabber scene as its main theme of interest, with most releases using its aesthetics as inspiration, and every cover featuring stark black-and-white artwork.

What it sounds like:

The release features twenty tracks with imaginative titles that also seem to be lifted from classic hardcore gabber releases and such (“Earthquake VII – The Ultimate Hardcore Collection Cassette 1”, “Heroes Of Hardcore: DJ Lady Dana” and “Dominator The Festival 28-07-2007 Stadspark Groningen”). Each is a precise 5 minutes for a run-time of 100 minutes total. The tracks all seem to be constructed from the same concept, which is markedly original: all tracks use different distorted kick drum sounds, which are stacked randomly to create arrhythmic, wallish types of textures that feel very much like hardcore gabber tracks on steroids. Unfortunately, this often results in a sound that is very far from pretty – even from the perspective of an audience that is devoted to abrasive, monolithic static noise. The random stacking creates a wall of sound, but lacks the feel of a harsh noise wall, as the kicks interact in regularly undesirable fashion, resulting in ugly digital distortion or a distribution of sound eruptions that is just too shy of random enough to create the illusion of a true wall.

In conclusion:

While I can completely get behind the concept and absolutely marvel at the inventiveness behind this release, I feel the end result is unfortunately lacking. The textures just don’t feel static enough and the resulting sound is often more a blurry jumble of unpleasing kick sounds overlapping and overlaying. Points must be given for the idea, which is fascinating, but the execution leaves too much to be desired, and from a mere audio standpoint, there is too little to enjoy here.