As a lighter sound of drum and bass began to win over the musical mainstream, many Producers continued to work on the other end of the spectrum, resulting in a series of releases which highlighted a dark, techy sound which drew more influence from Techno and the soundscapes of science fiction and films. This style was championed by the labels Emotif and No U-Turn, and by artists like Trace, Ed Rush, Optical, and Dom & Roland. It is commonly referred to as techstep, which in turn gave birth to the neurofunk subgenre. Techstep focused intensely on studio production and applied new techniques of sound generation and processing to older Jungle approaches. Self-consciously underground, and lacking the accessible influences of much other drum and bass, techstep is deeply atmospheric, often characterized by sinister or science-fiction themes (including samples from cult films), cold and complex percussion, and dark, distorted basslines. The sound was a conscious move back towards the darker sounds of Belgian Techno and Darkside Hardcore (again the already mentioned darkcore), albeit with a greater electro / techno emphasis than darkcore.