Why Trench?

UPDATE 8/2023: About 9 months after this article, I wrote another article to reflect on the current state of “Trench” as a name for the sub-genre. You can read it here.

For the last decade, we’ve been casually referring to the more minimalistic and flow-focused side of dubstep as “Riddim”. However, many artists and fans have not been happy with this name and its increasingly loose definition and usage. Let’s take a look at the reasons, how the name “Trench” can serve as a solution, and what differentiates the genre from other styles of Dubstep.

Origins of the Sound

When the sound was first pioneered around 2010 by artists like Jakes, Subfiltronik, Akirah, Shiverz, etc, the artists themselves were referring to it as “Dubstep”. In the early days, they didn’t think it needed to be separated from the genre. However, as Dubstep grew bigger and became more diversified—even reaching mainstream popularity—people felt that it was hard to find specific underground styles without giving them names for categorization. 

The Problem

As the sound was gaining more fans, a website called ClublandLV (which was popular among Dubstep fans, but was infamous for piracy), published a new category for this sound and called it “Riddim”. Many fans and producers of the sound were extremely reluctant to use this term. Nobody really knew who came up with it, why it was named after Jamaican ”riddims”, and they especially didn’t want to validate a piracy platform that was generally looked down upon. Overall, “Riddim” just didn’t seem like it was a good fit for the sound. For the first few years, you would always see people use it as a joke. Then suddenly, bigger artists started to use it (often ironically), and it ended up getting so much attention that the name was now inextricably linked to the genre, much to the dislike of many of its own producers. And then because the term was so widely used—often simply because it got a lot of attention, even if it wasn’t fitting at all—the definition of the genre got lost almost completely.

Change is Possible

In 2022, me and many other artists and fans feel like it’s time to take control over the name of our genre back, and find a new name that’s more suitable. Now that the genre is well established, and we don’t need to rely on ironic marketing, we can take matters in our own hands, and redefine what we want Trench to be! 

Origins of Trench

In 2014, Getter, who was previously making heavier Dubstep, started to be interested in the more minimalistic side of it, but didn’t want to go with the name “Riddim” (for similar reasons I mentioned above); so he came up with “Trench” and released his EP “Trenchlords Vol. 1” which featured two collaborations with artists who were popular for the minimalistic sound: Deemed and Algo. The style he came up with for this release was unique, influential, and different from what we had heard before. It opened up the doors for experimenting with new types of sound design within the genre. At the time, the name didn’t catch on, so the term “Trench” ended up being closely linked with this specific Getter sound, even though it was intended to be more widely used. 

Where do you see Trench going?
I don’t know. There’s no real goal except to push quality heavy music and get rid of that god awful term “riddim” that some 15 year old kid made up to describe dubstep. That’s all it is, dubstep. So shush.

Getter Interview on YourEDM.com, Nov 2014

Trench as a Solution

Thinking about it from a 2022 perspective however—a perspective where the genre is more popular than ever, and the term “Riddim” is still being used reluctantly by many—the name “Trench” can come back into consideration as a replacement, and a more serious alternative. “Trench” as a genre name conjures up images of dark, deep, and grimy scenery—perfectly fitting for the sound, how it’s evolved, and where it’s headed now, while still being flexible enough for innovation. It’s a term we can be proud of, a term that sounds appropriate for the music, and that has some history in our scene. It can help us redefine what we want the genre to be, rather than letting it be used as a loosely defined blanket term for marketing.

What defines Trench?

There are a few key factors that differentiate Trench from other styles of Dubstep. I would summarize these as follows:

• Trench has a minimalistic sound, with fewer layers and basses than other styles of Dubstep
• Trench is less focused on loudness, and more so on flow, groove, and atmosphere
• Trench is often more repetitive, trance-like, with longer basslines
• Trench often has a darker, and/or atonal sound
• Trench often uses claps instead of snares
• Trench is usually between 140 and 145bpm, but can go up to 150
• Trench often doesn’t have a build in the intro; the surprise of the drop is a key element

These factors don’t always have to apply—leaving room for creativity—but they can serve as general guidelines to identify the sound.

Personal Decision

Since my suggestion has been met with a lot of positivity on my Twitter and Instagram, I, personally, choose to refer to the genre as Trench from now, and anyone who is open to the idea can join me in doing so! I’ve always loved and respected our community, so I don’t want to force anything on anyone, or make people pick sides. This is first and foremost a decision I’ve come to for myself because I’m passionate about this genre and I think it deserves to be taken seriously, and I would love to see others adopt the name.

Thank You

Thank you to our community for helping me with this article, contributing to the movement, and for being receptive to the idea in general. Thank you also for being respectful towards each other, and those who don’t agree with the change! I appreciate all of you.