Early innovators Though electric guitars had been used by industrial artists since the early days of the genre, archetypal industrial groups such as
Throbbing Gristle displayed a strong anti-rock stance. British
post-punk band
Killing Joke pioneered the crossing over between styles and was an influence on major acts associated with industrial metal such as
Ministry,
Godflesh, and
Nine Inch Nails. Another pioneer industrial rock group,
Big Black, also impacted some later groups. By the late 1980s industrial and heavy metal began to fuse into a common genre, with Godflesh's
self-titled EP and Ministry's
The Land of Rape and Honey at the forefront. Godflesh was founded by former
Napalm Death guitarist
Justin Broadrick. Drawing from a wide array of influences—
power electronics forefathers
Whitehouse,
noise rock band
Swans,
ambient music creator
Brian Eno Faith No More, and
Fear Factory. Ministry emerged from the scene surrounding
Wax Trax! Records, a Chicago
indie label dedicated to industrial music. Ministry's initial foray into guitar rock happened during a recording session of
The Land of Rape and Honey on
Southern Studios, in London. The band's frontman, the Cuban-born
Al Jourgensen, explained this transition: Jourgensen seemed particularly fond of
thrash metal. After the release of
Land, he recruited guitarist
Mike Scaccia from
Texas thrashers
Rigor Mortis. On one occasion, Jourgensen told the press that
Sepultura was his favorite band. He also expressed the desire to produce a
Metallica album. Jourgensen's interest in
dance-oriented electronic music did not entirely fade, however; he also formed the side-project
Revolting Cocks, a more
electronic body music-inflected collaboration with
Richard23 of
Front 242. German band
KMFDM was another seminal industrial metal group. Although not a metal
fan, KMFDM leader
Sascha Konietzko's "infatuation with ripping off metal
licks" stemmed from his experiments with
E-mu's
Emax sampler in late 1986. He told
Guitar World that, A Swiss trio,
The Young Gods, brushed with the style on their second album, ''
L'Eau Rouge'' (1989). Prior to its release, singer Franz Treichler declared: Canadian thrash metal band
Malhavoc became one of the earlier acts of the genre when they began to mix extreme metal with industrial music in the late 1980s.
Pigface, formed by
Martin Atkins and including Ministry drummer
Bill Rieflin, emerged as an industrial metal collective of sorts, participating with many figures from the
noise rock and industrial worlds. Nine Inch Nails, the "one-man-band" formed by
Trent Reznor, brought the genre to mainstream audiences with albums such as the
Grammy-winning
Broken and the best-selling
The Downward Spiral, accompanied by their groundbreaking performance at
Woodstock '94. The
rivethead subculture also developed at this time, along with the so-called "coldwave" subgenre, which encompassed
Chemlab,
16 Volt, and
Acumen Nation. Some
electro-industrial groups adopted industrial metal techniques in this period, including
Skinny Puppy (on their
Rabies, co-produced by Jourgensen), and
Front Line Assembly. British band
Pitchshifter, formed in 1989 by brothers
Jon and Mark Clayden, also started as an industrial metal band. The band later included elements of
drum and bass. Frontman JS mentions:
Industrial thrash and death metal Industrial metal's popularity led a number of successful
thrash metal groups, including
Megadeth,
Sepultura, and
Anthrax, to request remixes by "industrial" artists. Some musicians emerging from the
death metal scene, such as
Fear Factory,
Nailbomb,
Autokrator and
Meathook Seed, also began to experiment with industrial. Fear Factory, from Los Angeles, were initially influenced by the
Earache roster (namely
Godflesh,
Napalm Death and
Bolt Thrower). The German band
Oomph! after their second album
Sperm started to play industrial metal combined with elements of
death metal and
groove metal until the album
Plastik. Sepultura singer
Max Cavalera's
Nailbomb, a collaboration with Alex Newport, also practiced a combination of extreme metal and industrial production techniques.
Obituary guitarist Trevor Peres suggested
drum machines for
The End Complete, Obituary's most successful album; however the other band members' refusal led him to form
Meathook Seed.
Industrial black metal In the early years of the 21st century, groups from the
black metal scene began to incorporate elements of industrial music.
Mysticum, formed in 1991, was the first of these groups.
DHG (Dødheimsgard),
Thorns from Norway and
Blut Aus Nord, N.K.V.D. and
Blacklodge from France, have been acclaimed for their incorporation of industrial elements. Other industrial black metal musicians include
Aborym, and
...And Oceans. In addition,
The Kovenant,
Mortiis and
Ulver emerged from the Norwegian black metal scene, but later chose to experiment with industrial music.
Progressive industrial metal Several artists with their roots in
progressive music, though not often associated with industrial metal scene, also incorporated industrial textures into their music. Later-era
King Crimson, whose 2000s albums were referred as "industrial art metal", and
OSI can be named as examples of progressive industrial metal. Several acts associated with extreme metal subgenres also mix progressive and
avant-garde metal with industrial, those include the Hungarian experimental metal act
Thy Catafalque,
Blut aus Nord and Norwegian band
Shining with their critically acclaimed
Blackjazz album, which blended progressive rock, black metal,
free jazz and industrial. Canadian artist
Devin Townsend, the founder of industrial
thrash metal band
Strapping Young Lad, later fused industrial with progressive metal during his prolific solo career. Danish band
The Interbeing have also fused industrial with progressive metal.
Coldwave Coldwave is a subgenre of industrial metal originating in the 1990s. It has its roots in acts like
Nine Inch Nails and
Ministry. The style focuses on heavier, punk-based guitars, sampled hard rock-like guitars, synthesizer accompaniment, and acid house elements. Lyrical content is typically cyberpunk-oriented with pop music sensibilities, although it can vary.
Chemlab's 1993 album
Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar is often considered the album that defined the coldwave style. Artists like the aforementioned Chemlab,
16 Volt and
Acumen Nation exemplified this genre.
The Kovenant was the first band to develop cyber metal with some of its more well-known aspects: harsh vocals, extreme guitar melodies, and symphonic keyboards. A wave of other bands described as cyber metal would follow, including
Deathstars,
Mnemic,
Sybreed,
Turmion Kätilöt,
Illidiance,
Cypecore,
Mechina,
A Dark Halo, and
Neurotech.
Commercial rise in concert, 2009 Industrial metal blossomed in the early 1990s, particularly in North America, where it would eventually sell close to 35 million units. It first became a commercial force in 1992 when Nine Inch Nails'
Broken and Ministry's
Psalm 69 went
platinum in America, though the latter took three years to reach that status. and would eventually go quadruple-platinum. Following Nine Inch Nails' success,
Marilyn Manson, led by a protégé of Reznor's, came to prominence. The group's live performance and its transgressive appeal was often more commented on than their music. Industrial metal reached its commercial zenith in the latter half of the 1990s – according to the
RIAA databases, its top-selling artists sold around 17.5 million units combined. Records by major industrial metal artists routinely debuted on the top spots of the
Billboard 200 chart:
Rob Zombie's
Hellbilly Deluxe (No. 5), Marilyn Manson's
Antichrist Superstar (No. 3), and Nine Inch Nails'
The Fragile (No. 1). A number of industrial metal albums performed well on Billboard's
Heatseekers chart:
Filter's
Short Bus (No. 3),
Stabbing Westward's
Wither Blister Burn + Peel (No. 1),
Rammstein's
Sehnsucht (No. 2),
Orgy's
Candyass (No. 1), and
Static-X's
Wisconsin Death Trip (No. 1). During this era,
Trent Reznor was chosen by
Time as one of the most influential Americans of 1997. The genre's popularity was such that established
glam metal groups, including
Guns N' Roses and
Mötley Crüe, began to dabble in the style. Figures from the
hip hop scene also began to seek out collaborations with and remixes from industrial metal musicians. When industrial metal climbed the charts of the late 1990s, its sudden popularity was met with negative reactions from the early innovators of
industrial music.
Peter Christopherson told
The Wire that he no longer felt any kinship with the industrial scene: "this is not me, this is not what I'm about".
Lustmord, a prominent early industrial musician, declared that "Ministry just doesn't interest [him]" and "[he has] no time for all this
rock and roll shit they're doing now."
Skinny Puppy frontman
Nivek Ogre dismissed Nine Inch Nails as "
cock rock" but have since patched things up and have even performed on stage together. Industrial metal suffered a critical backlash at the turn of the millennium. In an April 2000 review for the
Chicago Sun Times,
Jim DeRogatis dismissed Nine Inch Nails' new music as a "generic brand of industrial thrash" and accused Ministry of repeating an act that "was old by 1992". Although
The Fragile reached the top spot of the
Billboard 200 and went on to earn
double platinum status, ==Film and video==