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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
Mainstream popularity:	Enjoyed moderate commercial success in throughout the 90s and early 2000s. Attention from the mainstream is currently low on the USA, but is moderately sized on Europe.
Derivative forms:	Nu metal
Subgenres
Coldwave - Neue Deutsche Härte
Other topics
List of Industrial metal musical groups

Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws elements from industrial rock and heavy metal music. Industrial metal music is usually centered around metal guitar riffs and industrial rock synthesizer/sequencer lines, heavily distorted, very low pitched guitars, as well as harsh vocals, but in some instances can have clean vocals. This term is used quite loosely, describing everything from industrial rock bands sampling metal riffs to heavy metal groups augmented with sequencers and drum machines. Industrial metal encompasses industrial subgenres such as aggro-industrial and coldwave (see List of post-industrial music genres and related fusion genres) and often overlaps some elements of nu-metal and post-punk.

It is difficult to distinguish many industrial metal artists and industrial rock because both genres leave much room for ingenuity and creativity. By convention, all industrial metal artists may be more vaguely described as industrial rock as well, but not all industrial rock artists are properly described as industrial metal.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early innovators 1.2 Later developments 2 Examples of industrial metal 3 Record labels 4 Samples 5 Notes

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^[1], Faith No More, Fear Factory^[2], Korn^[3] and Metallica^[4].

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.

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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)^{[citation needed]} or what Rammstein describe as "Tanz-Metall" or "dance metal"^{[citation needed]}.

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 electronica, 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. , T3CHN0PH0B1A, Ensoph and Kubrick.^{[citation needed]}

• Strapping Young Lad
• Malhavoc
• Crossbreed
• God in a Machine
• Emigrate
• Fear Factory
• The Kovenant
• Godflesh
• Kryptyk Plague
• Oomph!
• Ministry
• Mnemic
• Serriform
• Nine Inch Nails
• Rammstein
• Red Harvest
• Rob Zombie
• Pitchshifter
• Spineshank
• Static-X
• Sybreed
• White Zombie
• Deathstars
• DÅÅTH
• KMFDM
• PIG
• KHHRYST
• Left Spine Down
• 16 Volt
• Turmion Kätilöt

• Sub-machine Productions
• Dancing Ferret
• Dynamica
• Invisible Records
• Metropolis Records
• Wax Trax! Records
• Nothing Records
• Earache Records

Fracture - Epicentre (1998) Excerpt by the Canadian act Fracture Problems listening to the file? See media help. Sielwolf - Verstärker zerstört (1993) Excerpt by the German act Sielwolf Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Old Lady Drivers - Marzuraan (1991) Excerpt by the American act O.L.D. Problems listening to the file? See media help. Testify - You Gotta Have Brains... (1993) Excerpt by the German act Testify Problems listening to the file? See media help.

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Alternative metal · Avant-garde metal · Black metal · Christian metal · Classic metal · Crust Punk · Dark metal · Death metal · Doom metal · Extreme metal · Folk metal · Funk metal · Glam metal · Gothic metal · Grindcore · Groove metal · Industrial metal · Metalcore · Neo-classical metal · Nu metal · Post-metal · Power metal · Progressive metal · Rap metal · Sludge metal · Speed metal · Stoner metal · Symphonic metal · Thrash metal · Viking metal
Regional scenes	Scandinavian death metal · New Wave of British Heavy Metal · Bay Area thrash metal · Brazilian thrash metal · Norwegian black metal
Other topics	Fashion · Subgenres · Bands · Festivals · Umlaut

v • d • e Industrial
Post-industrial developments	Ambient Industrial - Dark Ambient - Death Industrial - Electronic body music - Martial Industrial - Neofolk - Noise - Power Electronics
Fusion Genres / Derivatives	Dark electro - Electro-industrial - Industrial hardcore - Industrial metal - Industrial rock - Industrial techno - Power noise - Technoid
Other electronic music genres	Ambient - Breakbeat - Drum and bass - Electro - UK garage - Hardcore - House - Industrial - Synthpop - Techno - Trance - Triphop