New beat originated in Belgium in 1987, and was popular in several music clubs across Western Europe. Sometimes described as "new wave disco beat" the genre has been characterized as a blend of
new wave,
hi-NRG,), and
acid house. In addition to A Split-Second, new beat was also heavily influenced by other EBM acts such as
Front 242,
Signal Aout 42 and
the Neon Judgement, as well as
new wave acts such as
Fad Gadget,
Gary Numan,
New Order,
Boytronic New beat artists and bands include Lords of Acid and
Technotronic, while
Belgian hardcore techno bands that emerged from the hard beat and skizzo subgenres include
T99,
Praga Khan,
Cubic 22, and
the Immortals. ==Record labels==