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New beat spawned hard beat (heavier, more EBM) and skizzo (faster, techno-influenced) subgenres

Fact L1Foundations O · Culture, history & theory

From 1988 to 1990, new beat spawned two short-lived subgenres. Hard beat incorporated more prominent influences from industrial music, EBM, and acid house — a heavier, more aggressive style described as ‘the perfect link between EBM and New Beat.’ Skizzo was a techno-influenced style, considerably faster than the original slow new beat. Together these two subgenres are the main vectors by which new beat evolved into early-1990s Belgian hardcore and eventually gabber, discriminated primarily by weight versus tempo.

Examples

Hard beat: Concrete Beat ‘I Want You’, Major Problem ‘I Still Have a Dream’, Tribe 22 ‘Acid-New Beat’. Skizzo: faster, techno-leaning, feeding into Belgian techno.

Assessment

Distinguish hard beat from skizzo in terms of tempo and sonic influences. Which is characterized by speed and which by heavier EBM/industrial weight?

Prerequisites — understand these first

Don't confuse with

Sources

“**Hard beat** (also known as **hardbeat**) is a subgenre of new beat that emerged in the late 1980s, encompassing more prominent influences from [industrial music]”
corpus · new-beat--article-origin-story-flesh-slo · chunk 2

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