"The original idea of Industrial Records was to reject what the growing industry was telling you at the time music was supposed to be." – Peter Christopherson aka Sleazy, Throbbing Gristle

The origins of industrial music are, like many other things in life, obscure. Online on forums, at concerts and on the streets the debate rages on. Some would insist it started with KMFDM in 1984. Others say it was Nine Inch Nails in 1988. More people claim it was Throbbing Gristle (Fig. 2 below left) in 1975. I tend to stick with the assumption that it was Luigi Russolo’s 1915 work “The Art of Noise.” The most popular assumption is that it was Kraftwerk (Fig. 1 below right) in 1970. Kraftwerk had futurism, strangeness, and transgression which industrial was and still is all about. Throughout the years, industrial has always been this sort of risqué dance with your Moog synthesizer and imagination. That seems to be the only way to describe it: Wrong, shocking, beautiful, creative, artistic, ominous and grotesque. On the other hand, it failed to have an official name for itself until Throbbing Gristle’s Industrial Records in 1975. Industrial started out minimalistic and synonymous with avant-garde and even punk rock. In the ‘70s, industrial tiptoed around Europe’s underground, just a baby in diapers, in Germany, England and France. It finally crossed the Atlantic in 1981 with Chicago’s Ministry and was also taken on in 1982 by Canada’s cEvin Key, Nivek Ogre and Mark Walk of Skinny Puppy. By the late ‘80s, bands were popping up everywhere:

1984 – KMFDM (Germany and France)
1985 – Stabbing Westward (Chicago, Il., United States)
1986 – Front Line Assembly (Canada)
1987 – Neuromance (Germany)
1988 – Leather Strip (Denmark)
1989 – Chemlab (Washington, D.C., United States)

After the migration west, industrial would never be the same. Separate subgenres formed including Aggrotech, Cyberpunk, Industrial Rock,

EBM, Industrial Metal, Synthpop, Darkwave and many, many, MANY more. Darkwave has been kept alive by bands like The Crüxshadows and Die Form. Industrial Metal was originated by Ministry in the United States. Cyberpunk music started with music inspired by films and novels like William Gibson’sNeuro mancer, and the 1982 filmBlade Runner. EBM

was the original electronic music started by Kraftwerk and perfected by Nitzer Ebb in 1982. Neue Deutsch Harte (New German Hardness) is an Industrial Rock “sub-subgenre” started in 1977 by German actor Joachim Witt and popularized by Rammstein in 1994. Rammstein is the biggest industrial metal group in the world having released seven albums, over ten music videos and sold hundreds of thousands of records despite that fact that nearly all of their songs are in German. Oomph! is also a very big Neue Deutsch Harte band especially after their hit song “Augen Auf!” sent them skyrocketing to success in 2004. As far as Industrial Rock goes, Mindless Self Indulgence (left) is probably the most popular band, having been on tour with My Chemical Romance, Combichrist, Saosin, The Birthday Massacre, Linkin Park, Julien-K and many others. Mindless Self Indulgence uses a unique blend of punk, hip-hop, industrial and metal to attract fans of all ages. It’s safe to say MSI is the industrial band with the youngest fan base ever; Most of their fans are under 18.

Fig. 3 Destroyx of Angelspit wearing
pink hair falls made of various materials.
The goggles help hide the area where

Cyberpunk’s most famous band is Dope Star Inc. They formed in Rome, Italy in 2003. They released 10,000 Watts of Artificial Pleasures and formed an instant fan base with songs like “Vyperpunk” and lyrics like “Sleep all day / party all night / never go home and never die.” Their newest single entitled “Fast and Beautiful” defines the Cyberpunk genre. Despite the fact that Dope Stars maybe one of the morepopular Cyberpunk bands, it doesn’t change the fact that Australia’s Angelspit has one of the most dedicated cult followings. Angelspit formed in 2004 with their first EP, Nurse Grenade, free on their website. Due to a strong fan following, the duo was able to get signed to

bands like Depeche Mode and Soft Cell. However, Synthpop at the time was synonymous with rock. Synthpop remains alive in Industrial. Bands like Apoptygma Berzerk, Beborn Beton, And One and Assemblage 23 all brought a lighter and slightly more commercial point of view to electronic music. Love songs are very popular in the Synthpop subgenre. These include “Unicorn” by Apoptygma Berzerk, “Peach” by Beborn Beton, “Blue Dress” by Depeche Mode, “In this Together” by Apoptygma Berzerk, and “So Klingt Liebe” by And One (which became a major

Cyberpunk fans and musicians typically wear hair falls which are like ponytails that attach to your real hair to fall over it (Fig. 3 above right). Hair falls can be made of various materials including synthetic hair, nylon strips, wire and other items. Another hair item is horror hawks. Horror hawks are similar to hair falls in that they are synthetic hair that attaches to your own, however, they attach to a Mohawk (Fig. 4 left). The band Das Ich has a very unique look. Band member Stefan Ackermann wears full body paint while band mate Bruno Kramm wears his hair in the shape of goat-like horns.

popular than bands. For example, anything Sascha Konietzko (Fig. 5 top of next page) does is perfectly godlike. He has had a laundry list of side projects including MDFMK (during the period when KMFDM broke up after the Columbine Massacre), Excessive Force, Drill, Schwein (a Japanese language band from a German-born artist. Yeah, that’s what I said) and PIG. Little Jimmy Urine of MSI has a cult following. The 30-something year old singer gets screamed at in affection by youngsters like a teenage pop star. Andy LaPlegua also has a number of projects including Combichrist, Panzer Ag and Icon of Coil. To be completely honest, when first getting into the genre, I didn’t know what Combichrist was; I only knew Andy LaPlegua.