What is Breakcore?
Breakcore is a fast, chaotic, and highly experimental subgenre of electronic music known for its intense breakbeats, rapid BPMs (often 160+), and aggressive sound design. It blends elements from jungle, hardcore techno, industrial, noise, and glitch, often incorporating distorted drum samples (especially the Amen break) layered in complex, unpredictable patterns.
Breakcore thrives on a sense of controlled chaos, rejecting polished, formulaic structures in favor of abrupt shifts, heavy sampling, and emotional extremes; ranging from rage and anxiety to irony and absurdity. Tracks might juxtapose cute anime vocals with violent distortion, or classical strings with gabber kicks, all within seconds.
It emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, spearheaded by underground artists like Venetian Snares and DJ Scotch Egg, often distributed via DIY scenes, netlabels, and anarchic online communities. Breakcore isn't just a genre, it's a statement against musical conformity.
Why is Breakcore Ruining My Life?
To answer it briefly, no. It is not ruining my life. The title is nothing more than a clickbait, a little attention seeking edgy naming.
Not satisfied with the answer? Wellβ¦
Breakcore is not just the music, but a whole different experience. The first thing I have fell in love with Breakcore was its community, and its producers' mindset.
How a music genre can have a mindset?
Basically, there are 2 sides to the genre breakcore. First one is the mainstream one. This breakcore is the anime themed ambient DnB, which some people hate it because it contradicts with the underground and experimentation nature of the real Breakcore. However I like that genre too. But if you want to find some authentic breakcore, you need to search the web for it. Soundcloud is a godsent platform to find those undiscovered music.
If you wonder around SoundCloud a little bit, explore the new releases of the breakcore tag, and try to understand the poorly made tracks, you will start to see some of the most interesting musical ideas and identities.
So, the first thing I can say about Breakcore artists is, mass majority of them are producing their music not because they want to make money from it, or be popular. Some people literally do this as a hobby, a way to express themself. And when I say mass majority, I meant it. Breakcore at its core, is a very obscure genre, which does not have tons of listeners, and artists does not make it easier⦠The main takeaway from this is passion. As a future full-time composer, I can see how I can lose this flame inside me, the will, the enthusiasm, the artist soul, and I really don't want to. So, I want to be closer to amateurs who do their thing because they love to do, compared to the professionals who do only for money.
Another point tied to that is, Breakcore artists loves experimenting. Because your craft does not tied to outside validation, creativity unravels. Everything is unconventional; Their repetition doesn't include any form, often repetitions are too much. The break samples are often copped to oblivion, creating very distracting and intense drum patterns (literal embodiment of ADHD). And the sounds are often distorted, over processed, and even washed by noise. I find a lot of common space between breakcore and contemporary classical music. Breakcore is EDMs little contemporary branch, while not being plain IDM either.
I tie my Breakcore love to my youth. Because I raised in a very traditionalist environment (a poorly managed conservatory), I always felt distanced toward the acceptable, authority, tradition, and the combination of them in education. And releasing breakcore on my Soundcloud was a huge step over my artistic development. It was my way of crossing that imaginary line which always restricted me from trying unconventionally experiment things.
So, I put the name "Breakcore Is Ruining My Life" before publishing the first piece of the album. However, I realize now, it wasn't ruining my life, It was teaching me that there are infinitely more alternative ways to live.
"It is like drinking a cold one while watching the sunset.
This piece was the moment I stop caring about the "professional image". As a composer, my job was to create, and creating was what I was doing.
Man I love that song.
The weirdest piece I have created! And I have created so many weird pieces...
This is an impressionist breakcore piece. I have inspired from Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Sans etc. One day, I thought to myself: "Why those composers so big? How they defied the conventions and created their own aesthetic?". My answer was creating something nobody did. Something nobody even dared. I had to combine my favorite 2 genres at the time in one piece!
For this piece, I did not sleep, and spent the whole night at school (they lock down our school). Finals were close, and I was used to spent time till dawn, but this one was different. It was the weirdest night I ever had. I am not joking, at some point, I started to hallucinate. I was hearing voices at the 4am. It was the first time I sneaked at our building, hide inside some undetectable room, then stayed, ordered pizza despite the risk of getting caught, played piano somehow, and left at the 11am. The next day was the spring-fest, so classes were of. I slept till the night, then joined to the party. Weird times...
Every section of this piece describes a time segment of working till morning. It starts with 1AM, energetic. You can hear the fans of my computer, night birds etc. Musics focuses and becomes a dreamlike state. Reverbs change, effects change, sounds change.
Because I never stay awake if I do not have any obligation, those nights are always a test to concentration, a race against deadline, and pure suffering. I hate them.
In the middle of the piece, you can hear the tiredness of the music, getting sloppy, slowing down, washed up by the white noise...
Then, sudden energy blast near to the end of the night. While sun is rising, you focus, and you focus hard.
The ending is the pure relief, and dopamine rush of surviving the night. Probably finishing what you could not imagine getting finished. With the pride, you look last time at the balkony, you see people wake up, you see day starts. For you, it symbolizes an end.
Wake up. Day newly started.
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Greatness comes with a heavy cost...
Again and again, I am paying the price to have a glimpse.
Sometimes I hate myself, sometimes I wave my pride.
Most of the time, I can't see the "great" thing, at anything.
I sank, let all go. I disintegrate, fail altogether.
I thrive, have burnout, and am seen as a disaster.
It's sad to see that it's all in my mind, and nobody actually cares.
But everyone judges the reason why I should be praised.
It is said that in the end, I didn't change; I can't change.
As I realize how pointless all the change is, just to become someone else,
I just lose the passion, I just can't answer who I am.
But it is not about that someone either, I wanted it for myself.
Hurt myself just to escape from pain. That's the irony.
Whatever I do, whoever I become,
Inside of me always craves for that greatness,
To achieve such goals, he needs to suffer.
Killing that just makes me miserable.
To not reach my dreams, not be the one I want to be.
Because of that, I am tired of harming myself.
I am tired of fixing myself.
I am tired of everything.
Perhaps it will never come!