Industrial rock

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Industrial rock
Stylistic origins	Punk rock, Industrial Music, Post-punk, No Wave, Oi!, Hardcore punk, Hard rock
Cultural origins	Early 1980s, United States, United Kingdom, Germany
Typical instruments	Electric guitar - Synthesizer - Drum machine - Drums - Sequencer - Keyboard - Sampler - bass
Mainstream popularity	Large in North America in the 1990s; is now hitting the peak of its popularity in Europe.
Derivative forms	Industrial Metal
Regional scenes
Germany
Other topics
Notable artists

Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres such as punk, oi!, hardcore and later on hard rock. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal and is frequently confused with the latter.

Contents 1 Musical style 2 Origins 3 Mainstream Breakthrough 3.1 Mixed-Reactions from Inside the Scene 4 Wavering Popularity 4.1 Decline in America 4.2 Boom in Europe 5 Artists 6 Labels 7 Sales & Awards 8 External links 9 Notes 10 References

[edit] Musical style

Industrial Rock artists generally employ the basic rock instrumentation of Found Objects, electric guitars, drums and bass and pair it with white noise blasts, electronic music gear (synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and drum machines). Guitars are commonly heavily distorted or otherwise effected. Bass guitars and drums may be played live, or be replaced by electronic musical instruments or computers in general.

One characteristic that distinguishes industrial rock from its non-industrial counterpart is the incorporation of sounds commonly associated with machinery and industry. The incorporation of this sound palette was pioneered by the early 1980s "Metal Music" artists (SPK, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Krupps, Test Dept, Z'ev and others), who practiced an Industrial Music variation that relied heavily on Metal percussion, generally made with pipes, tubes and other products of industrial waste. The psychological effect was symbolic of urban decay^{[citation needed]}.

Both the music and the lyrics of industrial rock are commonly presented in a manner that some listeners might find unsettling. Many bands produce and release their own records, honoring the DIY credo. A combination of the elements above can be seen in a handful of post-punk purveyors: Chrome, Killing Joke, Laibach, The Swans and Big Black.

In his introduction for the Industrial Culture Handbook (1983), Jon Savage considered some hallmarks of the Industrial Music genre: organizational autonomy, shock tactics and the use of synthesizers and "anti-music".^[1] Furthermore, a "special interest" in the investigation of "cults, wars, psychological techniques of persuasion, unusual murders (especially by children and psychopaths), forensic pathology, venereology, concentration camp behavior, the history of uniforms and insignia" and "Aleister Crowley's magick" was present on Throbbing Gristle's work^[2], as well as in other Industrial pioneers.

[edit] Origins

Industrial Music was created in the mid to late 1970s, amidst the punk rock revolution and Disco fever, and was epitomised by bands such as Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, and SPK.^[3] Within a few years, many other musical performers were incorporating industrial-musical elements into a variety of musical styles. Casual listeners often use "industrial" to refer to the more accessible industrial rock style that came later, such as Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein or Marilyn Manson.

Some post-punk performers developed styles parallel to Industrial Music's composing techniques. Pere Ubu's debut (The Modern Dance), for example, was tagged "Industrial".^[4] So was San Francisco's Chrome, who mixed Jimi Hendrix, The Sex Pistols and tape music experiments;^[5] or Killing Joke, considered by Simon Reynolds as "a post-punk version of Heavy Metal".^[6]

Others followed in their wake.^[7] The NYC band Swans were inspired by the local No Wave scene as well as Punk rock (Buzzcocks, The Sex Pistols), Noise (Whitehouse) and the original purveyors of Industrial Music - Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and SPK.^[8] Steve Albini's Big Black followed a similar path, adding american hardcore (Minor Threat, Black Flag) and Oi! (Skrewdriver) to the mix.^[9] There was also Swiss trio The Young Gods, who deliberately esquewed electric guitars in favor of a sampler.^[10] The Young Gods early ouvre was inspired both by Washington, DC hardcore punkers Bad Brains^[11] and Jim Thirlwell's Foetus project.

[edit] Mainstream Breakthrough

Industrial rock's first commercial success might be attributed to Killing Joke's fifth album, Night Time. It won a silver sales certificate (60,000+ units sold) by the BPI^[12] largely on the strength of club favorite "Love Like Blood".^[13]

Industrial Rock's true commercial breakthrough, though, came through industrial metal's early leading lights: Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails's 1992 EP Broken hit the platinum mark in America and so did Ministry's Psalm 69.^[14] Both groups participated in the Grammy's 1992 Best Metal Performance category (Nine Inch Nails won^[15]). Nine Inch Nails went on the win another Grammy^[16] and four more nominations.^[17] Trent Reznor was also chosen by Time as one of the most influential Americans in 1997.^[18]

Industrial Rock reached its commercial zenith in the latter half of the 1990s. According to the RIAA databases, its top-selling artists, together, shifted around 17,5 million units.^[14][19] Other style-related groups gained recognition from the mainstream, being nominated for the Grammys: Marilyn Manson and White Zombie.

Sales were still going strong throughout 2000-2005; at least 10 million records were sold during that timeframe.^[14] Other style-related groups were nominated for the Grammys as well, such as Spineshank^[20] and Rammstein.^[21]

[edit] Mixed-Reactions from Inside the Scene

While Industrial Rock was riding high on the charts of the late 1990s and early 2000s, its sudden popularity was met with mixed reactions from the music's early practitioners - from mild estrangement to outright hostility. Some examples:

• Peter Christopherson (ex-TG, Coil) told The Wire that he "went into this record shop out in the middle of Wiltshire and they had an 'Industrial' section - so many of which I'd played on and I suddenly felt separate from it - like, this is not me, this is not what I'm about".^[22]

• In an interview by the Industrial Nation zine, Lustmord mainman Brian Williams declared the following about Ministry's Industrial metal phase: "I have no time for all this rock and roll shit they're doing now. (...) I can't understand why they would want to do it, I can't imagine why people would want to listen to it, but people have a right to do what they want. Ministry just doesn't interest me".^[23]

• cEvin Key (of Skinny Puppy) listened to The Downward Spiral "1 or 2 times" and wasn't impressed^[24]; he thought that Nine Inch Nails's success was "a bit of hype".^[25] Ogre went further: he called Nine Inch Nails "cock rock"^[26] and referred to Filter and KMFDM derisively as "the new Metal", although he was admittedly impressed by Ministry's Psalm 69.^[27]

[edit] Wavering Popularity

[edit] Decline in America

While Industrial Rock was riding high on the American charts of the late 1990s and early 2000s, specific quarters of the music press were mounting a backlash against the genre.

This attitude is best represented by music critic Jim DeRogatis. In an April 2000 review for the Chicago Sun Times, DeRogatis dismissed Nine Inch Nail's new music as a "generic brand of industrial thrash" and accused Ministry of repeating an act that "was old by 1992".^[28] Although The Fragile reached the top spot of the Billboard 200^[29] and went on to earn a double platinum status^[14], DeRogatis considered it a "flop", nonetheless.^[28]

A myriad of other reasons could support Jim DeRogatis's line of thinking:

• Veteran industrial metal artists (Ministry^[30], Godflesh^[31], Nine Inch Nails^{[citation needed]}) and newcomers alike (White Zombie^[32]) balking at the "i-word" tag.
• America's fascination with electronica, starting at the mid-to-late nineties. Many critics who championed alternative rock in the early 1990s now turned their attention toward the dance music phenomenon coming from the United Kingdom.^[33] Despite the attention drawn to it, electronica was unable to out-sell Industrial Rock.^[34]
• The rise of nu metal.^{[citation needed]}

Recent controversial assessments of Industrial Rock include a recent interview with Skinny Puppy conducted by Matt Child. A scathing excerpt condemns the genre as simply plagiarizing earlier influences:

"Industrial music -- or whatever it is we're calling that convergence of electronic elements, big guitars and punk's troublemaking spirit these days -- has got a bad rap. Admittedly, a lot of it's deserved: Most of today's rivet-heads are content to simply plagiarize Ministry and KMFDM riffs, pack a few heavy beats behind the noise and round out the package with a few samples and a few electronic bleeps pulled from the latest software plug-in. It's probably pretty engaging and energizing if you're the type who walks around in a long, black trench-coat visualizing public-space massacres. For everyone else, sadly, it's just another sad, tired offshoot of metal that has its moments now and then."^[35]

[edit] Boom in Europe

Parallel to the "i-rock" decline in North America, Europe belched forth its own brand of electro-metal. Germany's Neue Deutsche Härte, in particular, has had success in Continental Europe. Its leading light, Rammstein, has sold nearly 4 million records in Germany alone, while racking up gold (and platinum) records in Sweden, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Poland and the Czech Republic.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]}

Other like-minded German musicians have climbed the charts as well. NDH pioneers Oomph! have achieved a gold record for their Augen Auf! single on Austria and Germany.^[47][48] Eisbrecher's debut entered at #13 on the Deutschen Alternative Top 20 Chart, while the group's second album (Antikörper) reached the #85 position on the German main chart.^[49][50]

Scandinavian acts such as Deathstars, Gothminister and The Kovenant have been met with a degree of underground success. The sophomore Deathstars album, Termination Bliss, landed on #87 in the German Media Control Chart.^[51] They toured with gothic metal stahlwarts Paradise Lost and Lacuna Coil; in September 2007, they were the opening act of KoЯn's European tour.^[52] Gothminister's debut single "Angel" entered at #10 on the Deutschen Alternative Top 20 Chart.^[53] Another single, "Monsters", reached a peak position at #11.^{[citation needed]} The Kovenant won two Spellemann awards, the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammys.^[54][55]

[edit] Artists

• List of industrial rock bands

[edit] Labels

• Cleopatra Records
• East Meets West Records
• Fixt Music
• Invisible Records
• Metropolis Records
• Nothing Records
• Slipdisc Records
• Trafik Records
• Wax Trax! Records
• Vinema Records

[edit] Sales & Awards

Main article: Industrial Rock: Sales & Awards

The template above re-directs to a page dedicated exclusively to the awards (Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards) and certifications (IFPI, RIAA, CRIA) given to Industrial Rock groups.

[edit] External links

• Fabryka Industrial Rock webzine

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Bright, Matt (1996). Dog gone. Melody Maker, February 24th: 39.
• Chantler, Chris (2002). Splitting heirs. Terrorizer, 96: 54-5.
• Di Perna, Alan (1995). White Zombie: zombies gave me lunch! Guitar World, 15(6): 33, 35-6, 38, 40, 46, 170, 172.
• Fergunson, Paul (1993). Terror against terror: Lustmord's dancefloor coup. Industrial Nation, 7: 53-7.
• Gill, Chris; Rotondi, James (1996). Heady metal. Guitar Player, 30(3): 74-82.
• Hochman, Steve (1997). Rock & roll: hype or hope? Rolling Stone, 756: 20-1.
• Irvin, Jim (2001). The Mojo collection: the greatest albums of all time. Edinburgh: Cannongate.
• Licht, Alan (2003). Tunnel vision. The Wire, 233: 30-37.
• Martin, Jim (2004). Sadness will prevail. Terrorizer, 123: 24-5.
• Mörat (1992). Ye gods! Kerrang!, 411: 12.
• Pettigrew, Jason (1996). Watch yourself and watch what you say. Alternative Press, 92: 44-51.
• Reynolds, Simon (2005). Rip it up and start again: postpunk 1978-1984. London: Faber and Faber Limited.
• Sharp, Chris (1999). Atari Teenage Riot: 60 second wipe out. The Wire, 183: 48-9.
• Stud, B., Stud, T. (1987). Heaven up here. Melody Maker, June 20th: 26-7.
• Vale, Vivian; Juno, Andrea (1983). RE/Search #6-#7: Industrial culture handbook. San Francisco, CA: RE/SEARCH PUBLICATIONS.

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