User:Ridernyc/industrial metal

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Industrial metal
Stylistic origins	Industrial Rock, Thrash Metal, Hardcore punk, EBM, Noise Rock
Cultural origins	Late 1980s, United States, United Kingdom, Germany
Typical instruments	Electric guitar - Synthesizer - Drum machine - Drums - Sequencer - Keyboard - Sampler
Subgenres
Coldwave - Neue Deutsche Härte (complete list)
Other topics
List of Industrial metal musical groups

Industrial Metal is a musical genre that draws elements from Industrial Music and Heavy Metal music. Industrial metal music is usually centered around repetitive metal guitar riffs, synthesizer/sequencer lines, sampling and distorted vocals. This term is used quite loosely, describing everything from industrial rock bands sampling metal riffs (such as The Young Gods) to heavy metal groups augmented with sequencers and drum machines.

Musical style

Industrial Rock artists generally employ the basic Rock instrumentation of electric guitars, drums and bass and pair it with white noise blasts, electronic music gear (synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and drum machines). Guitars are commonly heavily-distorted or otherwise-effected. Bass guitars and drums may be played live, or be replaced by electronic musical instruments or computers in general.

One characteristic that distinguishes Industrial Rock from its non-Industrial counterpart is the incorporation of sounds commonly associated with machinery and industry. The incorporation of this sound palette was pioneered by the early 1980s "Metal Music" artists (SPK, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Krupps, Test Dept, Z'ev and others), who practiced an Industrial Music variation that relied heavily on Metal percussion, generally made with pipes, tubes and other products of industrial waste. The psychological effect was symbolic of urban decay.

Both the music and the lyrics of Industrial Rock are commonly presented in a manner that some listeners might find unsettling. Many bands produce and release their own records, honoring the DIY credo. A combination of the elements above can be seen in a handful of post-punk purveyors: Chrome, Killing Joke, Laibach, The Swans and Big Black.

In his introduction for the Industrial Culture Handbook (1983), Jon Savage considered some hallmarks of the Industrial Music genre: organizational autonomy, shock tactics and the use of synthesizers and "anti-music". Furthermore, a "special interest" in the investigation of "cults, wars, psychological techniques of persuasion, unusual murders (especially by children and psychopaths), forensic pathology, venereology, concentration camp behavior, the history of uniforms and insignia" and "Aleister Crowley's magick" was present on Throbbing Gristle's work, as well as in other Industrial pioneers.

Early innovators

Industrial Music was created in the mid to late 1970s, amidst the Punk rock revolution and Disco fever, and was epitomised by bands such as Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, and SPK. Within a few years, many other musical performers were incorporating industrial-musical elements into a variety of musical styles. Many post-punk performers were early adopters of Industrial Music's techniques. Pere Ubu's debut (The Modern Dance, 1978), for example, was tagged "Industrial"; it probably was the first rock record to be called such, even though Ubu's warped Rock 'n' roll was hardly the only one to make parallels with Industrial Music's nihilistic sonic science. PIL's early "death-disco" records were close in spirit to Industrial. So was San Francisco's Chrome, which melded Jimi Hendrix, The Sex Pistols and tape music experiments; or Killing Joke, considered by Simon Reynolds as "a post-punk version of Heavy Metal".

Though guitars had been used by industrial groups like Throbbing Gristle since the early days of the genre, it wasn't until the late-1980s that industrial and metal began to fuse into a common genre. The industrial metal scene was the result of the convergence of a number of different musical trends, although the British band Killing Joke is generally considered a pioneer of industrial rock and was a major influence on many industrial metal bands. Coming out of the late 70's/early 80's, their sound, considered post-punk at the time, combined dark punk/quasi-metallic post-punk with synthesizers and rhythms that alternated between dance (a disco influence), thrash, and tribal. Big Black can also be considered a great infleunce on the industrial metal sound. Finally, the band Chrome has been mixing punk with industrial and electronic music since the late 70s, and although they are considered to be very influential by artists within the genre, they are often overlooked by fans.

A number of electronic bands had begun to add elements of metal to their music, with Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey and Godflesh's self-titled EP at the forefront (both released in 1988). Previously a guitarless band, Ministry's inclusion of metal guitars on "Stigmata", "The Missing", and "Deity" proved to be a watershed event. Subsequent albums, The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste and ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (commonly referred to as simply "Psalm 69"), would establish Ministry as a premier industrial metal act. Godflesh went their own way, melding Sabbath riffs with The Swans's crawling pace, topped with Throbbing Gristle-like white noise blasts. Though not a top-seller compared to Ministry, Godflesh became hugely influential, their name regularly dropped by Danzig, Faith No More, Fear Factory, Korn and Metallica.

At the same time, KMFDM was bringing metal influences to its guitars in singles like 1989's Virus and 1990s Godlike. In 1990, Killing Joke released the explosive Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions, which built the band's earlier dark, brooding sound and electronic experiments into an industrial metal sound. A final element was added by a number of technologically advanced bands within the metal scene, spearheaded by Canadians, Voivod.

Some crust punk bands such as Nausea and Doom experimented with mixing early industrial into their sound. Depressor is the first to use it as an integral part of their sound, sometimes being described as "incrustrial".

Later developments

(tag removed) unreferencedsection|date=November 2007}} Industrial metal blossomed in the early 1990s, particularly in North America where it outstripped pure industrial in popularity. The original strain of industrial metal became known as aggro-industrial, while a new form featuring punk- and hardcore-influenced guitars and more pronounced synthesizer accompaniment became known as coldwave. Nine Inch Nails, a band formed by Trent Reznor, brought the genre to a much more mainstream audience by releasing primary industrial albums such as Broken (Nine Inch Nails EP) & The Downward Spiral accompanied by their groundbreaking performace at the 1994 Woodstock. Prominent coldwave bands included Chemlab, 16 Volt, and Acumen (later Acumen Nation), though more recently, Acumen Nation has nearly dropped all electronics in favor of a more metal sound. In Europe, some groups such as Young Gods and Swamp Terrorists would create industrial metal without live guitars, relying wholly on samplers. Many established groups adopted industrial-metal techniques around this period, either temporarily or permanently, including Skinny Puppy (on the Jourgensen-produced Rabies), Front Line Assembly and Die Krupps.

More recently, groups like Rammstein and Oomph! have taken inspiration from electronic music as well as industrial and hard rock to create a new genre called Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hardness) or what Rammstein describe as "Tanz-Metall" or "dance metal".

The influence of industrial metal has permeated throughout the heavy metal genre, with a number of bands accenting their live instrumentation with industrial programming and sampling. Fear Factory is one of the most notable, incorporating electronic elements from a very early stage and often being produced by Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly. Devin Townsend's metal band, Strapping Young Lad, also features pronounced industrial-metal aspects. Many contemporary metal/nu-metal groups, drawing influences from industrial, hip hop, and electronic music, have incorporated samplers and sequencers. As a result, acts like Rob Zombie, Static-X, Powerman 5000, Monster Voodoo Machine and Dope are often, though inconsistently, included in industrial metal.

A new industrial metal scene is developing in Italy, with many acts, including Dope Stars Inc. ,Blue Velvet, Ensoph and Kubrick.

Examples of industrial metal

• 16 Volt
• Asylum
• Blue Velvet
• Coal Chamber
• Crossbreed
• DÅÅTH
• Deathstars
• Emigrate
• Gravity Kills
• Godflesh
• Gothminister
• KMFDM
• The Kovenant
• Left Spine Down
• Malhavoc
• Ministry
• Mnemic
• Mushroomhead
• Nine Inch Nails
• Nocturne
• Oomph!
• PIG
• Pitchshifter
• Psyclon Nine
• Rammstein
• Red Harvest
• Ruoska
• Spineshank
• Strapping Young Lad
• Sybreed
• Treponem Pal
• Turmion Kätilöt
• Twin Method
• White Zombie

Record labels

• Dancing Ferret
• Dynamica
• Invisible Records
• Metropolis Records
• Wax Trax! Records
• Nothing Records
• Earache Records
• Koldfinger