Enter Mordorkore: Berlin’s debut hardcore fantasy rave
Dungeon synth, Tarot, medieval chamber music and memes, industrial music, bardcore, Enya, ritualistic performance art, cosplay, and LARP culture come together in an out-of-this-world extravaganza.
enter-mordorkore-berlins-debut-hardcore-fantasy-rave
October 08, 2021
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# Enter Mordorkore: Berlin’s debut hardcore fantasy rave
Dungeon synth, Tarot, medieval chamber music and memes, industrial music, bardcore, Enya, ritualistic performance art, cosplay, and LARP culture come together in an out-of-this-world extravaganza.
Imagine a dance floor where goblins, faeries and mages gather together
to make merry, raise their goblets to the sky and set forth on
adventures into the unknown. What seems like a fantastical wonderland in
a metaverse far, far away, is reality at [Mordorkore--][1]a new party
series and collective in Berlin that explores medieval fantasy sounds
and aesthetics through the medium of fast dance music, costumes, and
performance art.
{: .highlighted}
Anyone catching up on pop culture
through a perpetual loop of TikTok doom scrolling will know this: peep
at the wardrobes of [Caroline
Polachek][2]{: .editor-rtfLink target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} and [oklou][3]{: .editor-rtfLink
target="_blank" rel="noopener"}, [Danny L Harle's][4]{:
.editor-rtfLink target="_blank" rel="noopener"} [*Harlecore*][5]{: .editor-rtfLink
target="_blank" rel="noopener"} and
Ange Halliwell's [*The Weel of
Time*][6]{: .editor-rtfLink target="_blank" rel="noopener"} (one of EB's [favourite records of
2020][7]{: target="_blank" rel="noopener"}) and you'll see plenty of
examples revealing fantasy core as a defining aesthetic of our
time.
It makes sense, given the state of the world. If climate change didn't
already trigger a desire to escape into the fantastical, utopian and
adventurous possibilities of fantasy worlds, surely a pandemic would.
Mordorkore's inaugural rave was set to take place in March 2020, when
the pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
"Everyone's talking about the Apocalypse, we're ruled over by neo-feudal
robber barons, and we're living through an actual global plague. Whether
we like it or not, modernity is appearing more and more medieval," they
tell me via email.
"The medieval fantasy aesthetic provides very easily graspable and
diverse archetypes that can be played with, modes of behaving and
presenting oneself that lie outside hetero-normative gender binaries and
established systems of power." As they delved deeper into these areas,
they found other DJs, performers and artists exploring similar themes
and aesthetics, who immediately understood the concept, and were eager
to assimilate it within their creative practice.
Organised by a collective of DJs and performance artists working at the
intersection of hard dance, queer nerd culture and LARPing, Mordorkore
took place in August under the theme [Mordorkore Unchained][8].
[1]: https://www.instagram.com/mordorkore/
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_V2ccs_Urk
[3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQa8Dadmj7Y
[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQWMnEskrY
[5]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wHuHQQCjZg
[6]: https://highheal.bandcamp.com/album/ange-halliwell-the-wheel-of-time
[7]: https://www.electronicbeats.net/top-20-records-2020/
[8]: https://www.facebook.com/events/189512689870684?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5b%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D%5d%7D
The medieval fantasy aesthetic provides very easily graspable and diverse archetypes that can be played with, modes of behaving and presenting oneself that lie outside hetero-normative gender binaries and established systems of power.
Mordorkore's inaugural rave brought together performers like
photographer Maansi Jain, 3d designer Tabitha Swanson, DJ HOT BiTCH and
DJ [Opium Hum][1]{: target="_blank" rel="noopener"}.
Both of the party collectives that came together to make up what is now
Mordorkore--Butters and BLADEBEXXX--were formed, at least in part, to
promote innovative approaches to hardcore and related high-BPM
electronic dance music and organise parties catering to diverse, but
predominantly queer Berlin-based party people.
"The pure euphoria, fast pace and power of hardcore, combined with these
often absurd fantastical and cartoonish elements; it's just an
intuitively great mixture, and it set off different trains of thoughts
for us," the collective says. "We started to joke that the [hakken
][2]{: target="_blank" rel="noopener"}was the peasant jig of the
contemporary era."
[1]: https://www.electronicbeats.net/ode-to-the-night-michail-stangl-moby/
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PigLbZ1kZio
The hakken is the peasant jig of the contemporary era.
"There is also an important overlap between these areas and issues of
identity and performativity. Parties create spaces in which people can,
on the one hand, explore, express and develop different parts of
themselves, and on the other escape the more mundane, repetitive and
repressive aspects of contemporary life." For Mordorkore, the medieval
fantasy aesthetic, along with hard, fast and fun dance music, provide
very easily graspable and diverse archetypes that can be played with,
modes of behaving and presenting oneself that lie outside
hetero-normative gender binaries and established systems of power.
The Mordorkore collective insists its concept isn't predetermined and
fixed, it isn't just a mash-up of medieval sounds and fast dance music
or a dress-up theme. "Mordor doesn't have to mean LOTRs and -kore
doesn't have to mean hardcore. Rather it is a set of very diverse and
intersecting aesthetics and sensibilities, that people can draw on and
that resonate very differently with different people and that provide a
sort of constantly evolving framework in which people can find and
develop their own characters and forms of play. Its an unwritten rule
book through which people can be supported to set out on their own
quests."
*Keep up with Mordorkore's next steps by f[ollowing their socials][1]{:
target="_blank" rel="noopener"}. All photographs were provided by
[Pax][2]{: target="_blank" rel="noopener"} and Mordorkore. [Caroline
Whiteley][3]{: target="_blank" rel="noopener"} is a writer and editor at
EB. Artwork by Ha My Le Thi.*
[1]: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSRGxkZDVC2/
[2]: https://www.instagram.com/p4xp1x/
[3]: https://www.instagram.com/chatbotcaro/
---
id: 0d5bb58e-f087-4236-b086-1707f5f1b006
blueprint: article
title: 'Enter Mordorkore: Berlin’s debut hardcore fantasy rave'
date: 2021-10-08T12:36:28+02:00
wp_id: '198198'
subtitle: 'Dungeon synth, Tarot, medieval chamber music and memes, industrial music, bardcore, Enya, ritualistic performance art, cosplay, and LARP culture come together in an out-of-this-world extravaganza.'
slug: enter-mordorkore-berlins-debut-hardcore-fantasy-rave
teaser_image: legacy/enter-mordorkore-berlins-debut-hardcore-fantasy-rave/Mordorekore_SITE_01-scaled.jpg
contents:
-
type: text
text: '<p class="highlighted">Imagine a dance floor where goblins, faeries and mages gather together to make merry, raise their goblets to the sky and set forth on adventures into the unknown. What seems like a fantastical wonderland in a metaverse far, far away, is reality at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mordorkore/">Mordorkore–</a>a new party series and collective in Berlin that explores medieval fantasy sounds and aesthetics through the medium of fast dance music, costumes, and performance art.</p><p><span data-preserver-spaces="true">Anyone catching up on pop culture through a perpetual loop of TikTok doom scrolling will know this: peep at the wardrobes of </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_V2ccs_Urk" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-preserver-spaces="true">Caroline Polachek</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true"> and </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQa8Dadmj7Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-preserver-spaces="true">oklou</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true">, </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQWMnEskrY" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-preserver-spaces="true">Danny L Harle’s</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true"> </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wHuHQQCjZg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><span data-preserver-spaces="true">Harlecore</span></em></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true"> and Ange Halliwell’s </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://highheal.bandcamp.com/album/ange-halliwell-the-wheel-of-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><span data-preserver-spaces="true">The Weel of Time</span></em></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true"> (one of EB’s <a href="https://www.electronicbeats.net/top-20-records-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">favourite records of 2020</a>) and you’ll see plenty of examples revealing fantasy core as a defining aesthetic of our time. </span></p><p>It makes sense, given the state of the world. If climate change didn’t already trigger a desire to escape into the fantastical, utopian and adventurous possibilities of fantasy worlds, surely a pandemic would. Mordorkore’s inaugural rave was set to take place in March 2020, when the pandemic threw a spanner in the works.</p><p>“Everyone’s talking about the Apocalypse, we’re ruled over by neo-feudal robber barons, and we’re living through an actual global plague. Whether we like it or not, modernity is appearing more and more medieval,” they tell me via email.</p><p>“The medieval fantasy aesthetic provides very easily graspable and diverse archetypes that can be played with, modes of behaving and presenting oneself that lie outside hetero-normative gender binaries and established systems of power.” As they delved deeper into these areas, they found other DJs, performers and artists exploring similar themes and aesthetics, who immediately understood the concept, and were eager to assimilate it within their creative practice.</p><p>Organised by a collective of DJs and performance artists working at the intersection of hard dance, queer nerd culture and LARPing, Mordorkore took place in August under the theme <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/189512689870684?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5b%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D%5d%7D">Mordorkore Unchained</a>.</p>'
-
type: quote
quote: 'The medieval fantasy aesthetic provides very easily graspable and diverse archetypes that can be played with, modes of behaving and presenting oneself that lie outside hetero-normative gender binaries and established systems of power.'
-
type: text
text: '<p>Mordorkore’s inaugural rave brought together performers like photographer Maansi Jain, 3d designer Tabitha Swanson, DJ HOT BiTCH and DJ <a href="https://www.electronicbeats.net/ode-to-the-night-michail-stangl-moby/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Opium Hum</a>.</p><p>Both of the party collectives that came together to make up what is now Mordorkore–Butters and BLADEBEXXX–were formed, at least in part, to promote innovative approaches to hardcore and related high-BPM electronic dance music and organise parties catering to diverse, but predominantly queer Berlin-based party people.</p><p>“The pure euphoria, fast pace and power of hardcore, combined with these often absurd fantastical and cartoonish elements; it’s just an intuitively great mixture, and it set off different trains of thoughts for us,” the collective says. “We started to joke that the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PigLbZ1kZio" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>hakken </em></a>was the peasant jig of the contemporary era.”</p>'
-
type: quote
quote: 'The hakken is the peasant jig of the contemporary era.'
-
type: text
text: '<p>“There is also an important overlap between these areas and issues of identity and performativity. Parties create spaces in which people can, on the one hand, explore, express and develop different parts of themselves, and on the other escape the more mundane, repetitive and repressive aspects of contemporary life.” For Mordorkore, the medieval fantasy aesthetic, along with hard, fast and fun dance music, provide very easily graspable and diverse archetypes that can be played with, modes of behaving and presenting oneself that lie outside hetero-normative gender binaries and established systems of power.</p><p>The Mordorkore collective insists its concept isn’t predetermined and fixed, it isn’t just a mash-up of medieval sounds and fast dance music or a dress-up theme. “Mordor doesn’t have to mean LOTRs and -kore doesn’t have to mean hardcore. Rather it is a set of very diverse and intersecting aesthetics and sensibilities, that people can draw on and that resonate very differently with different people and that provide a sort of constantly evolving framework in which people can find and develop their own characters and forms of play. Its an unwritten rule book through which people can be supported to set out on their own quests.”</p><p><em>Keep up with Mordorkore’s next steps by f<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSRGxkZDVC2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ollowing their socials</a>. All photographs were provided by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p4xp1x/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pax</a> and Mordorkore. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chatbotcaro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caroline Whiteley</a> is a writer and editor at EB. Artwork by Ha My Le Thi.</em></p>'
---
Chunk #1 (Position: 0)
# Enter Mordorkore: Berlin’s debut hardcore fantasy rave Dungeon synth, Tarot, medieval chamber music and memes, industrial music, bardcore, Enya, ritualistic performance art, cosplay, and LARP culture come together in an out-of-this-world extravaganza. Imagine a dance floor where goblins, faer...
Chunk #2 (Position: 1)
What seems like a fantastical wonderland in a metaverse far, far away, is reality at [Mordorkore--][1]a new party series and collective in Berlin that explores medieval fantasy sounds and aesthetics through the medium of fast dance music, costumes, and performance art. {: .highlighted} Anyo...
Chunk #3 (Position: 2)
If climate change didn't already trigger a desire to escape into the fantastical, utopian and adventurous possibilities of fantasy worlds, surely a pandemic would. Mordorkore's inaugural rave was set to take place in March 2020, when the pandemic threw a spanner in the works. "Everyone's talking ...
Chunk #4 (Position: 3)
"The medieval fantasy aesthetic provides very easily graspable and diverse archetypes that can be played with, modes of behaving and presenting oneself that lie outside hetero-normative gender binaries and established systems of power." As they delved deeper into these areas, they found other DJs...
Chunk #5 (Position: 4)
Organised by a collective of DJs and performance artists working at the intersection of hard dance, queer nerd culture and LARPing, Mordorkore took place in August under the theme [Mordorkore Unchained][8]. [1]: https://www.instagram.com/mordorkore/ [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_V2ccs_Ur...
Chunk #6 (Position: 5)
Mordorkore's inaugural rave brought together performers like photographer Maansi Jain, 3d designer Tabitha Swanson, DJ HOT BiTCH and DJ [Opium Hum][1]{: target="_blank" rel="noopener"}. Both of the party collectives that came together to make up what is now Mordorkore--Butters and BLADEBEXXX--wer...
Chunk #7 (Position: 6)
Both of the party collectives that came together to make up what is now Mordorkore--Butters and BLADEBEXXX--were formed, at least in part, to promote innovative approaches to hardcore and related high-BPM electronic dance music and organise parties catering to diverse, but predominantly queer Ber...
Chunk #8 (Position: 7)
"There is also an important overlap between these areas and issues of identity and performativity. Parties create spaces in which people can, on the one hand, explore, express and develop different parts of themselves, and on the other escape the more mundane, repetitive and repressive aspects of...
Chunk #9 (Position: 8)
Rather it is a set of very diverse and intersecting aesthetics and sensibilities, that people can draw on and that resonate very differently with different people and that provide a sort of constantly evolving framework in which people can find and develop their own characters and forms of play. ...