The style began to emerge in the late 1990s, as hardcore techno artists were feeling a staleness in the Roland TR-909 and Roland TB-303 drum machine-based sounds, the commercial "childish" elements in Dutch gabber, and the overall assaults of speedcore. Artists began to incorporate more breakbeats, taking the conceptual extremity of hardcore and harsh industrial music and applying it to the drum and bass template. Straining out much of the "rave" influence on hardcore and adding a degree of complexity, breakcore was a more palletable genre for music fans who were turned off by the rave scene, and so there is something of a crossover audience for fans of extreme music of all types, including grindcore, harsh industrial music, noise music and "IDM".
There is no one clear point of generation, but some key locations include South London, Newcastle, Australia, Milwaukee Wisconsin, Rennes, France, and Winnepeg, Canada. Important labels include Praxis and Subversion (Cristof Fringeli), Ambush (DJ Scud), Amputate, Six-Shooter, Hymen, Addict (Dan Doormouse), Zhark (Hecate), Zod. Some artists that typify the style include Venetian Snares, DJ Scud, Somatic Responses, Hecate, Doormouse, C. Fringeli, Abelcain, Bombardier, Electromecca, Rotator as well as newer artists such as Minion, Resurrector, Skeeter, Duran Duran Duran, Donna Summer, Xanopticon, BongRa, and Shitmat.