As Breakbeat Hardcore became more popular and some releases even reached the UK charts, a new trend developed in reaction to this success, which became known as darkcore: a scene which centered around two closely related styles, Jungle and darkside. Producers like Rufige Kru and 2 Bad Mice made their breakbeats faster and their basslines heavier than was common, but the key was the ominous mood; melodies, sound effects and vocals were often slowed down, reversed and warped to disorient and unnerve the listener.
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As Breakbeat Hardcore became more popular and some releases even reached the UK charts, a new trend developed in reaction to this success, which became known as darkcore: a scene which centered around two closely related styles, Jungle and darkside. Producers like Rufige Kru and 2 Bad Mice made their breakbeats faster and their basslines heavier than was common, but the key was the ominous mood; melodies, sound effects and vocals were often slowed down, reversed and warped to disorient and unnerve the listener. The use of macabre samples - often from horror films - added direct expressions of panic, fear and paranoia to an already nightmarish atmosphere. This was a direct inversion of the euphoric and celebratory mood that was the default in rave music, instead reflecting drug burnout, violence at raves, and a larger context of social malaise.
The duo 4hero were crucial to the genre, having released an early precusor in the form of "Mr Kirk" (featuring sampled dialogue of a father being informed of the overdose death of his son) as well as kickstarting the genre with releases like "Cooking Up Ya Brain / Where's the Boy?". They were also the owners of Reinforced Records, one of the important labels of the time alongside QBass's Suburban Base Records and Mark Ryder's Strictly Underground Records. There were also newer labels such as White House Records and Moving Shadow, though the latter would find greater fame after moving on from darkside when its moment passed.
That time came quickly after 1993, as much of the breakbeat hardcore scene moved towards Happy Hardcore. Darkside, meanwhile, saw a rapid decline; producers kept the speed and the heavy bass but left the darkness behind. Although the terms were often used interchangeably and both genres co-existed in the same scene, the decline of darkside and the growth of jungle made it more apparent that they were two distinct genres. Darkside remained a form of the old breakbeat hardcore sound while the nascent jungle sound heralded new beginnings; producers and DJs in both scenes would go on to be significant figures in Drum and Bass. Later developments in that family of genres saw a return to darker sounds, with Darkstep being something of a spiritual successor. The revival of interest in breakbeat hardcore in the 2000s saw darkside find a second wind, with new artists and labels such as FX and 7th Storey Projects releasing new material and re-establishing a scene for the sound.
