Forerunners Cromagnon's 1969 record
Orgasm has been credited with foreshadowing the industrial rock sound, with
AllMusic describing it as sounding "like it could be a
Ministry [...] recording from 1989".
Pitchfork labelled the opening track "Caledonia" as a "pre-industrial stomp". During the 1970s,
industrial music emerged through the early works of
Throbbing Gristle,
Cabaret Voltaire,
NON,
SPK and
Z'EV. SAlongside, New York City band
Suicide, formed in 1970, by
Alan Vega and
Martin Rev, whose 1977
debut album has been credited with providing "the blueprints for [...] industrial rock". Furthermore,
Iggy Pop who released his debut solo album
The Idiot, produced by
David Bowie, in 1977, was later retroactively recognized as a forerunner to industrial rock, particularly the closing track, "
Mass Production', which contains numerous "proto-industrial noises" created using
tape loops, which Hugo Wilcken described as "early industrial electronica."
Ian Curtis of
Joy Division, cited the album as an inspiration, and later influenced the work of
Trent Reznor of
Nine Inch Nails, who'd cover their song "
Dead Souls". Other influences on industrial rock include
Einstürzende Neubauten,
Alien Sex Fiend, and
Come.
1970s–1980s: Origins By the late 1970s,
post-punk bands began incorporating elements of
industrial music into rock music. Music critics retroactively credit the
San Francisco band
Chrome with sparking the "beginning of industrial rock."
Killing Joke described by music journalist
Simon Reynolds as "a post-punk version of
heavy metal" emerged as an influential band in the development of industrial rock music, their album
Night Time (1985) saw mainstream success and influenced
Trent Reznor of
Nine Inch Nails. Subsequently, New York City band
Swans emerged and drew influence from the local
no wave scene, most notably
Glenn Branca's Theoretical Girls "You Got Me", as well as punk rock,
noise music (particularly
Whitehouse) and the original industrial groups.
Chris Connelly said the musical project
Foetus was "the instigator when it comes to the marriage of machinery to
hardcore punk."'s
Union Station in 1986; left to right: Riley, Albini, and DurangoDuring the early 1980s,
Steve Albini's band
Big Black blended
post-hardcore and
noise rock with industrial music. The Swiss trio
The Young Gods, who deliberately eschewed electric guitars in favor of a
sampler, also took inspiration from both hardcore and industrial. In 1986, Canadian band
Skinny Puppy released the album
Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse, with its lead single, "
Dig It", seeing frequent airplay on
MTV. The song was a major influence on
Nine Inch Nails founder
Trent Reznor, who used it as inspiration when writing his first song, "
Down in It". By the late 1980s, Chicago's
Wax Trax! Records became a central hub for the genre, further popularizing it across the United States. The label was started by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher. The label went on to distribute some of the most prominent names in industrial throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, with artists like
Front 242,
Front Line Assembly,
KMFDM, and
Sister Machine Gun. In 1988,
Ministry, released their album
The Land of Rape and Honey, which drew from hardcore punk and
thrash metal, while retaining electronic elements and samples. Ministry frontman
Al Jourgensen was also involved in multiple industrial rock side projects that were signed to Wax Trax!, including
Revolting Cocks,
1000 Homo DJs and
Pailhead. Drawing heavy influences from New York's no wave scene,
Cop Shoot Cop replaced lead guitars with bass.
Mainstream popularity (1990s) In the 1990s, industrial rock broke into the mainstream with artists and bands such as
Nine Inch Nails,
Orgy,
White Zombie, and
Marilyn Manson. In December 1992, Nine Inch Nails' EP
Broken was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Nine Inch Nails gained further popularity with the release of their 1994 album
The Downward Spiral, which was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA in 1998. The band's 1999 album
The Fragile was certified 2× platinum in January 2000. With the success of Nine Inch Nails, the band's debut album
Pretty Hate Machine was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA. In the 1990s, four Nine Inch Nails songs went on the
Billboard Hot 100. Several industrial rock and industrial metal artists such as
KMFDM,
Fear Factory,
Gravity Kills and
Sister Machine Gun appeared on the 1995
Mortal Kombat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which was certified platinum by the RIAA in January 1996.
Marilyn Manson released their album
Antichrist Superstar in 1996, which was certified platinum by the RIAA two months after its release date. In the United States,
Antichrist Superstar sold at least 1,900,000 units. Marilyn Manson's EP
Smells Like Children was certified platinum in May 1998. The band's third album
Mechanical Animals went to number 1, dethroning
Lauryn Hill's solo debut
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and selling 223,000 copies in its first week in stores. It was certified platinum by the RIAA in February 1999 and sold at least 1,409,000 copies in the United States.
Orgy also experienced mainstream success during the 1990s. The band's 1998 album
Candyass was certified platinum by the RIAA in July 1999. Orgy's cover of
New Order's song "
Blue Monday" went to number 56 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the
Dance Club Songs chart. White Zombie experimented with
industrial metal on its 1995 album
Astro-Creep: 2000, which was certified 2× platinum by the RIAA in March 1996. White Zombie's vocalist
Rob Zombie began creating pure industrial metal albums in his solo career. Rob Zombie's 1998 solo debut studio album
Hellbilly Deluxe was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA less than two years after its release date. In November 1999,
Powerman 5000's album
Tonight the Stars Revolt! was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album sold at least 1,316,172 units in the United States. A large Industrial metal scene also emerged in Europe in the 20th century. The Industrial Metal band that manages to appeal to the largest audiences worldwide is
Rammstein. Other names have also proven successful in the European scene, including
Pain,
Deathstars,
Dagoba,
Eisbrecher,
Gothminister and
Godflesh. == Labels ==