Uptempo Hardcore

Uptempo hardcore is the fastest mainstream branch of hardcore techno, defined by tempos at and above 200 BPM and by the distorted, saw-edged "zaag" kick drum. It grew out of Dutch and Belgian gabber culture in the mid-2010s, when audiences at events such as *Dominator* and *Masters of Hardcore* shifted from mainstream hardcore toward faster styles. Producers such as *Partyraiser*, *DRS* and *Deadly Guns* built the idiom on relentless kick streams, screeching leads, pitched samples and half-time breathers, with *Deadly Guns*' metal-inflected variant branded thrashcore. It is now the dominant sound of the European hardcore festival circuit.