Mono Tone helped define the sound of Hardcore to come, and was home to producers that soon became legends in this scene, such as Martin Damm aka The Speed Freak, or Patric Catani aka E-De Cologne / Ec8or / Eradicator.
What set Mono Tone apart from other labels of its era? Mono Tone was for those who did not like the influx of happy, easy to please "Dance Music" elements into the emerging Hardcore scene, and also for those who were into thorough sonic exploration and experiments. The result was a reduced, brutal, relentless, violent sound, that was very smart at the same time.
Mono Tone had a huge influence on the world wide Hardcore pool of producers and fans - I'm sure labels like Fischkopf or Digital Hardcore Recordings would have sound different without the inspiration Mono Tone provided.
Maybe some of this is not as obvious anymore - as many elements of Mono Tone, such as high tempo Hardcore, guitar samples, total distortion, and so on, have become commonplace in Hardcore. But I think the spark of brilliance can still be heard - and it's still energetic, powerful, mental music.
The output of Mono Tone was very varied, and they did not just do Hardcore.
This label that was very important but is sometimes overlooked - compared to other labels of its time - but deserves its own place in the hall of fame of hard electronic music.
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