Industrial music is a genre that incorporates elements of electronic, rock, and experimental music, and often features harsh and aggressive sounds. But did you know that within industrial music, there are many subgenres that offer unique and diverse sounds?
It is a genre that can range from using hard noise and aggressive vocals to cover controversial topics to atmospheric sounds that leave us with a feeling of dread and unease. Exploring these subgenres can open your ears to a world of new and exciting sounds, and can help you discover new artists and bands that you may not have heard of before. So why not give it a try and see where this alternative sound takes you?
The beginnings of industrial music
The term “Industrial Music” was created by members of the iconic group Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza and the founding of the Industrial Records label in the mid-1970s. What few realize is that this genre actually got its start much earlier in history.
The earliest experiments into what is now known as Industrial music started with two French composers, Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaffer. These two are the forefront of an experimental music genre called musique concrete and began in the 1920s.
In 1930, a Russian born composer named Igor Stravinsky predicted that “there will be a greater interest in creating music in a way that will be peculiar to the gramophone record.” By 1942, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 2 was considered to be the “high tide” of what was known as industrial music. Shostakovich was more concerned with expressing the texture of music than what was the norm at the time. This entire work gives feelings of anxiety and tension throughout and can be considered the birthing grounds for industrial music today.
Industrial music is known for using rage, provocative language, and sounds that spark feelings of unease to challenge the preconceptions of music rules and openly talk about societal problems. It is often known to expound on the unequal distribution of power in society.
The continued growth of industrial music
Industrial music has not seen a decline in its popularity since its first musical inceptons. Today, the genre of Industrial music has been chopped into many sub-genres that still cling to the original ideals of their predecessors. This genre has also gone on to inspire so many others with its rule breaking ideals and society challenging lyrics.
Most of us are familiar with the more notable icons of Industrial, such as: Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, and Ministry, but these are only a small selection of what this genre has to offer. Music labels like Wax Trax gave Americans its taste of what this music scene was like by bringing bands like KMFDM, Front 242, and VNV Nation.
These beginnings allowed for new growth into this amazing and confronting music genre, but have you heard of these subgenres and the artists that belong to them?
Sub-headings of industrial music
Industrial Rock
Industrial rock is the sub-genre that most people probably know the most about or at least artists of that sub-genre. Industrial rock uses elements of industrial and rock music to create its style. It owes its origins to groups like Throbbing Gristle and Einstruzende Neubauten and often combine elements of disco and punk.
It is known for its use of heavily distorted guitars, bass guitars and drums that, often times, are replaced with electronic music. Their subject matter often contains provocative and transgressing topics.
Here are a few examples to get you started.
My Like With The Thrill Kill Kult – formed by Groovy Mann(Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy(Marston Daley), their music lends to humorous and satirical references to Satan, Jesus, and sex. Initially, they were inspired by directors like John Waters and wanted to create a movie titled “My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult” but only really got as far as writing the soundtrack for it, which became the primer for their sound.
Gravity Kills – Hailing from St Louis, Missouri, their music is often described as “a blending of eerie industrial rock with a pop-infused melodic chorus and a bit of hard-core head banging, Their rise to stardom came from inclusions on movie soundtracks like “Mortal Kombat.”
Stabbing Westward – Founded by Christopher Hall and Walter Fiakus while in college in Macomb, Illinois. They state their name came to them while working at a college radio station and allegedly was inspired by a 1950s speech regarding the political fears of Communism “stabbing westward.” It was their albums, Wither Blister Burn & Peel that launched them into the spotlight. Many of the songs on that album were written by Andy Kubiszewski, who Cleveanders will know was a part of the band Exotic Birds which also included Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame.
Industrial Hip Hop
Industrial Hip Hop fuses the themes and aesthetics of industrial with the musical stylings of hip hop. (Can I use musical stylings with Hip Hop? That seems blasphemous.) It owes its beginnings, largely, to Mark Stewart and Adrian Sherwood. It can often be seen using distorted drums and dissonant atonal noise. The vocals are aggressive and loud and the lyrics are usually offensive, disturbing, and/or confrontational. Here a a few artists to get you started.
Ho99o9 (pronounced horror) – an American punk rap group founded by theOGM and Yeti Bones in 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. H09909 mixed elements of thrashcore punk, noise music, and horrorcore rap to create their own unique style. Often times are, they are compared to punk bands like Black Flag and the experimental hip hop group, Death Grips
Blades of Hades – formerly known as Blades, this hip hop group comes to us from Australia. Yes, you read that correctly, a hip hop group from Australia. Their more hardcore styled lyrics and darker production sounds can be compared to British Hip Hop like Killa Instinct.
Antipop Consortium – this American based group met at a poetry slam in New York City. They are most known for using stream-of-consciousness style lyrics and contemporary composition methods to create a unique style, all their own. While they have been given credit for their inventiveness and experimental nature, they never received wide acclaim. Often they were met with mixed reviews from mainstream music and the underground hip-hop scene. In 2002, they disbanded after only being together for five years.
Industrial Pop
Industrial pop is often considered a paradox of the industrial genre, It mixes both mainstream and underground at the same time, to create a wholly unique style with catchy beats and over the top performances. Borrowing from the pop genre, its songs often have catchy lyrics and an earwig inducing chorus. Most often than not, these are the songs that are playing in the goth and industrial dance clubs, as they tend to pack the floors.
Aesthetic Perfection – An American-Austrian musical project headed by Daniel Graves.Graves is also known for making light of what is considered beautiful and popular in his music. Graves said “To me, Industrial Pop is less about how the music sounds, and more about the mindset of the creator. My music is firmly rooted in the goth/industrial scene, but there’s so much more music out there that I love and appreciate.”
Zombie Girl – A Canadian electro-industrial project started in 2005. The band is solely composed of Renee Cooper and live musicians, when she tours. Known for her music revolving black humor and B movie horror, Zombie Girl uses rock and roll style grooves with synthetic instruments.
Nyxx – Self described as goth-pop, Nyxx is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer. Nyxx strives to bring a darker side to the prevailing glitzy dance pop music by including biting, decayed industrial influences. Her rise to popularity came from her Kickstarter campaign where she raised enough money to release her debut EP in 2016. She has even gone on to work with Daniel Graves of Aesthetic Perfection.
NeoFolk
Often referred to as apocalyptic folk, this sub-genre is a combination of folk experimental and industrial music. The beginnings of this style is clouded but often stated to have emerged from the punk rock genre of the 80s. At this time, it was heavily populated by the groups Death in June and Current 93. This sub-genre uses literary, archaic, and cultural references to round out its unique stylings while using neopaganism and heathenry in its music.
Wardruna – Norwegian group that started in 2003 are dedicated to creating musical renditions of the Norse culture and esoteric traditions. They combine traditional and historic Norse instruments with non-traditional ones like trees, rocks, water, and torches. Often described as earthy, organic, and ethereal that seem to transport listeners away from everyday consciousness. Many people may be familiar with them due to their work with the popular series The Vikings.
Current 93 – Founded in 1983, this English experimental folk music group is still active in the NeoFolk scene. Founding member, David Tibet, works to stay true to the experimental nature of the Industrial genre by blending gothic chanting and haunting atmospherics with industrial noisescapes thanks to tape loops and synthesizers. The stylings of Current 93 as changed to include a more nightmarish and electric rock sound while still working to remain true the their experimental nature.
Witch house
Witch house is categorized as using dark occult themes and visual aesthetics of the industrial genre while incorporating styles from the chopped and screwed hip hop style. They are known for using synths, drum machines, obscure samples, heavily altered vocals, and droning repetition. Many people often confuse this sub-genre with house music, due to the name but nothing could be further from the truth. It relies heavily on occultism, witchcraft, shamanism, terror, and horror as the backdrops to their soundscapes. It features drastically slowed tempos with skipping or stopped time beats.
SALEM – SALEM fuses electronic atmospheres with slow and hard hitting beats of Souther rap. Often called drag or haunted house by many. Their vocals often change from being overly blissful in nature to a more nightmarish track, borrowing heavily from rappers like DJ Screw.
Crim3s – Crim3s got their start as the Story of Issac, an English electronic duo from London. The founding members met while living in a warehouse in North London. They consider themselves “pure punk” in nature and live by the no-fucks-given mentality.
The beat goes on
The listing of sub-genres for this category are as varied as the people who make the music. Some additional sub-genres would include: Aggrotech, Dark Ambient, Electronic Body Music, Ambient Industrial, Industrial Metal, Japanoise, and oh so many more. The one common theme that ties them together is their experimental nature and usage of electronic instruments. Together, artists use them in unconventional ways to achieve the tone and message that fits their specific message.
Most artists in the Industrial scene often remain somewhat underground and popularity is left to the more fringe bands like Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy as they are a bit more approachable by the masses.
The genre is still amassing new listeners and artists daily. Today we have groups like 3Teeth, Health, and Aryia who continue to make music for the masses and the underground ones continue to bring more people in with the experimental nature of their sounds.
Are you familiar with any of the bands mentioned in this article? Are there ones you feel should be included, as well? Maybe you never heard of industrial music or all of these sub-genres until today, let me know in the comments below. If there are artists you think should be featured, let me know that as well. Who knows, they could be part of an upcoming article. Thanks for reading.
Gay in the CLE 