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Industrial music is a genre of harsh and provocative music that emerged in the 1970s from experimental electronics and punk rock. Learn about its origins, subgenres, fusion genres, and precursors from various sources and artists.
- Assimilate by Skinny Puppy. While Skinny Puppy was not the band that birthed industrial or gave it its name, they were one of the first bands to run with the label and define what the genre would be in the 1980s.
- Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. With Nine Inch Nails remaining the most famous and listened to practitioner of the genre, it was only natural we include them as an example.
- The Anal Staircase by Coil. With a song title like that, you know you are in for something strange with this song by Coil. From their second album Horse Rotorvator, this song showcases the heavily experimental nature of the genre.
- Headhunter by Front 242. Front 242 is another band that embodied the industrial music image of the 1980s. Headhunter is at once both a complicated song that produces anxiety with its sound, while also being a track that anyone could dance to.
Mar 26, 2024 · Learn about the origins, evolution, and influences of industrial music, a genre that combines art-rock with aggression and oblique synths. Discover the pioneers, such as Throbbing Gristle, Skinny Puppy, and Ministry, and their impact on Nine Inch Nails and other acts.
- Nisha Gopalan
- 4 min
- Pierre Schaeffer – “Etude aux chemins de fer” (1948) As World War II drew to a close, the radio and recording studios of France afforded Pierre Schaffer a unique opportunity to intersect his interests in sonic art and science.
- Cromagnon – “Caledonia” (1969) Pounding drums, radio wave static, sampled orchestral music, fuzz guitar, bagpipes(!) and something approaching a black metal vocal hiss—in 1969 there was essentially no frame of reference for this combination of sounds, certainly not one so heavy and intense.
- Suicide – “Frankie Teardrop” (1977) Although not an industrial band per se, the proto-electronic darkness of Suicide’s “Frankie Teardrop” is a template for early Industrial music, its experimental leanings and harrowing intensity.
- Throbbing Gristle – “Hamburger Lady” (1978) Formed out of performance art troupe COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle coined the term “industrial” but they didn’t limit what that entailed, their early recordings ranging from noise to sound collage, disco, synth-laden kosmische and exotica.
Jun 7, 2021 · Learn about the origins, influences, and characteristics of industrial music, a genre that blends rock and electronic elements with machine sounds. MasterClass offers online classes on music production, songwriting, and more.
Industrial music is a dissonant electronic genre that emerged in the late 1970s as a response to punk rock. Learn about its origins, characteristics, artists, and legacy in this article from Britannica.
Jul 9, 2021 · “Industrial music for industrial people” was a slogan coined by US avant-garde performance artist Monte Cazazza as the mission statement of Industrial Records, a label founded by one of the pioneers of the genre, Throbbing Gristle.
