Direct distribution was undertaken by Midi War/DHR-Mailorder from Berlin in 1995-97, subsequently from the London office.
For countries outside the UK DHR releases are often licensed to different labels, such as AlterNation for continental Europe, Grand Royal for North America and Beat Records for Japan.
In 2007 Alec Empire put DHR on hold to focus on his newly founded label Eat Your Heart Out, reserving DHR for re-releases, as well as new Atari Teenage Riot material following their reactivation in 2010.
I listened to a lot of Digital Hardcore during my late teens to early 20s. my attraction was at the time just looking for a harder variant to all the punk and metal I'd previously listened to. it was extremely niche and only a few really knew about it. around the early 2010s, it got popular on the internet due to the birthing and emergence of its sister genre breakcore which a majority of the DHR fold innovated. The style and movement thrived on destruction but you cannot say it didn't help pave the way for the likes mindless self-indulgence, the mad capsule market's later sound and nowadays clipping and death grips. I don't really listen to it much now but it always has a special place in my music collection.
One of *the* leading labels in Hardcore, Breakcore and Experimental in the 90s - and creator of its own style, well, Digital Hardcore. This Mix showcases a few of its classic tracks.
While Digital Hardcore Recordings was already known to experiment in any possible direction in sound, its sublabel "DHR Limited" took steps even farther. Starting in 1997 and running till 2005, it mostly released artists like Patric Catani and Alec Empire from the DHR rooster, but also some outside acts. Breaks, Noize, Hardcore, Dark Ambient, it's all here, taken to its extreme, drowned in sound and madness. DHR Limited marked a high point in the avantgarde approach to harder electronic music in the 90s, and only a few other labels like Fischkopf or Praxis had similar boundless experimentalism in sonic outings
Wondering why none of these guys from Digital Hardcore are doing new stuff today ?
I so miss Sir Christoph de Babalon , Alec Empire , Patrick Catani , Hanin Elias , etc.... i know they are old ( as i'm now lol ...sadly , sigh ) but i have never understood why everything from the electronic music had to be stopped ??
If it is DHR , Techno, Trance, Hardcore/Gabber , Psychedelic/Goa-Trance etc.... they should all continue making live concerts and tours as albums on records and cd's .
I miss those times 1980-2005 were all was great magical without hate , everyone worked hand in hand not cared for the money alot since it was a bonus . Nowadays money ruins alot ....sigh.....
Anyway DHR is and was a great label and style of music something we can call "avant gardiste" like those strange music in the 70's .
DHR is the label that set the standard, that raised the bar - there was "noisy electronic music" before, but nothing that rocked like this. These guys know what's up and releases from FLEX BUSTERMAN, ALEC EMPIRE, ATR, EC8OR will always remain classic.
It's getting hard these days to invent a new, refreshing sound in electronic music. Well that's what Alec Empire and his friends just did in the early nineties with Atari Teenage Riot, EC8OR, Shizuo, Christoph de Babalon and many others with what is known now as "Digital Hardcore". A perfect mix between punk , breakbeat & harsh electronics, Digital Hardcore is a great alternative for those who find that Gabber and Hardcore producers are simply out of ideas and reharsh the same old 4/4 distorded 808 & 909 kicks for over fifteen years.
Diabolick
November 1, 2021