(Central Station/MRA)

Holy fucking Shit! I have to admit it has been some time since I delved into the banging ecstasy of Rotterdam hardcore. When I was a young, fit thing it was the only style that really did it for me. Needless to say I’m a bit older, deafer and lazier now, but going through this 4 CD set, ‘The Ultimate History of Rotterdam Hardcore’ did leave behind one great big smirk of satisfaction.

As the name would suggest, we can thank the Dutch city of Rotterdam for this insanely fast (160-500 bpm) and aggressive genre. A sister style to Gabber, it is made up of distorted and industrial beats, rapid-fire drum patterns, sped up guitar riffs and blistering synthesizer sequences. Not the friendliest of genres, hardcore is generally typified as anti-establishment, song titles and vocals are usually offensive and most producers like to incorporate blood curdling samples from violent horror movies.

Spanning ten years of hardcore history from labels ‘Terror Traxx’, ‘Forze Records’, ‘The Nightmares’ and ‘Rotterdam Records’, this is one hell of a ride. From a 100 plus track list comes the 1993 classic ‘Stick Up’, with a hammering bassline, it samples the Beastie Boys and screams for you to “put your hands in the air & gimme all your money”. Then comes ‘Psychopath’ from production trio ‘Evil Maniax’, a brain crusher of a track that has lost little of its destructive force, and joining Hardcore stalwart ‘DJ Paul’ are punk-hardcoreband ‘Teenage Warning’, produced in 1998 ‘If The Kids Are United’ is a harsh and relentless track that is bound to push you over the edge.

Rotterdam hardcore is nasty stuff. Whether you define nasty as a good or bad thing will determine whether or not you like this album. Personally, I think we all need a good dose of nasty every now and then. Takers anyone?