  
NoiseBreak Chapter XI ft. Borgore: A Night of Fractured Rhythms and Lost Identity
February 8, 2025 - Quantic Club, Bucharest
The NoiseBreak Legacy: A Bass Culture Crucible
Since its inception in 2019,NoiseBreak has positioned itself as Romania’s torchbearer for drum and bass and dubstep, curating events that bridge underground grit with mainstream appeal. Their milestones—Culture Shock’s euphoric liquid DnB sets, collaborations with pioneers like Gentlemens Club—have historically balanced innovation with reverence for the genre’s UK roots.
Chapter XI, celebrating six years, promised a similar fusion of nostalgia and progression. Instead, it unraveled into a chaotic homage to hardcore excess.
Borgore: The Provocateur’s Paradox
Borgore (Asaf Borger), the Israeli “gorestep” icon, has long straddled controversy. His 2010s output—crude synths, trap-dubstep hybrids, and collaborations with Miley Cyrus—pioneered a brash, carnivalesque sound divorced from dubstep’s meditative origins. By 2025, his sets lean into industrial-tinged brostep, favoring moshpit fuel over rhythmic nuance. While his label Buygore champions young talent, his live performances often prioritize shock over substance.
The Lineup: A Mismatched Odyssey
Hartelion
Local stalwart Hartelion opened with a neurofunk-leaning set, her 12-year tenure evident in crisp amen breaks and atmospheric layering. Tracks like *Black Ice* showcased her affinity for Pendulum-esque melodies, though transitions felt rushed—a harbinger of the night’s disjointed flow.
Deckster
Deckster’s pivot to halftime DnB and industrial techno clashes baffled. His signature *Straight from the Bedroom* grit devolved into muddy kicks and overcompressed basslines, erasing the genre’s syncopated soul.
Rendezvous (B2B)
The anonymous Rendezvous duo delivered a jarring mix of jump-up and gabber. Their Breakage #4 remix, a jungle classic, was drowned in distorted kicks—a disrespectful nod to NoiseFactory’s 1993 blueprint.
Aqquanox
Aqquanox (Cristian Georgescu) flirted with liquid funk but defaulted to screeching mid-range wobbles. His Neon Dreams VIP, once a melodic standout, became a cacophony of half-time drops.
Trokx
Closer Trokx mirrored Borgore’s ethos: maximalist, relentless, and artless. Tracks like Riot Engine prioritized fist-pumping chants over rhythm, reducing DnB to a caricature of its 1990s self.
Borgore’s Setlist: A Brostep Onslaught
1. **“Unicorn Zombie Apocalypse”** (Shannon Doherty vocals drowned in growls)
2. **“Decisions”** (Miley Cyrus sample butchered by overdriven kicks)
3. **“Wild Out”** (Waka Flocka Flame verses eclipsed by metallic screeches)
4. **“Syrup”** (2014’s “Thirsty” reworked into a tinnitus-inducing trap hybrid)
5. **“Hate”** (A rare melodic interlude ruined by abrupt hardstyle drops)[94][107]
The crowd erupted—moshpits, crowd-surfing, beer showers—but the set felt like a parody. Nuanced DnB staples (Goldie’s *Inner City Life*, LTJ Bukem’s *Horizons*) were absent, replaced by a relentless 150BPM assault.
Conclusion: A Broken Covenant
NoiseBreak’s legacy lies in bridging Romania’s bass culture with global pioneers. Chapter XI, however, betrayed this mission. Borgore’s set—more *deathcore* than *dubstep*—epitomized the night’s identity crisis: a chaotic river of cracked mixes, sacrificing groove for aggression. While the crowd reveled in the carnage, purists left mourning DnB’s stolen soul.
Final Note:
NoiseBreak must recalibrate. Bucharest’s scene deserves events that honor electronic music’s lineage, not just its moshpit potential.
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