(Berlin hardcore dissenters Atari Teenage Riot were among a new generation of German techno artists (also including ATR's Alec Empire, EC80R, Speed Freak, DJ Bleed,
etc.) who sought to reconnect music with political radicalism through
ever more challenging, experimental hybrids, engaging everything from
speed metal and acid to jungle and hardcore punk.
Formed in 1992 by
Empire, Hanin Elias, and Carl Crack, ATR's controversial first single,
"Hunting for Nazis," was released by German techno stronghold Force Inc.
that same year (Force Inc. owner Achim Szepanski is also known for his
commitment to political radicalism). Subsequently, the group released a
string of singles and full-lengths, all of them instantly recognizable
for their brash, noisy fusions of brittle, 200-plus-bpm breaks, massive
guitar riffs, and a good deal of shouting. Similar in motivation to
Detroit's Underground Resistance or industrial dance group Consolidated,
ATR professed a concern with a general conservative shift in the
Western political climate (particularly in Germany after the collapse of
Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe) and supported the development
of new, overtly political forms of youth culture by way of response).
