Genre story · Metal
Industrial Metal
Metal guitars pressed against the repetitive force of machines, sequencers and manipulated sound.
Industrial metal emerged as the 1980s Industrial and extreme-rock undergrounds began crossing into one another. Ministry moved toward harsh guitars and programmed rhythms, Godflesh made a particularly oppressive use of bass, distortion and drum machines, and later bands expanded the relationship between electronic production and metallic riffing. The genre did not create Industrial Music itself: the earlier movement had been developing electronic and performance-art approaches since the 1970s.
The mechanical pulse
Repetitive, heavily treated guitar figures can sit against electronic drums that seem almost immovable. Samples, distorted voices and abrupt edits further change the relationship between instrumental attack and repetition. Some songs remain tight and dance-oriented; others are slow and physically overwhelming. The defining quality is the way machine-based methods change the behavior of Metal instrumentation.
Two traditions meeting
Industrial Metal is a substantive fusion involving heavy metal and industrial methods. Its history intersects with Industrial Rock, Alternative Metal and some extreme-metal scenes, but a metal band adding a sample is not automatically industrial metal. The role of electronics in composition matters.
Essential recordings
- 1988MinistryThe Land of Rape and HoneyA major step toward guitar-heavy industrial aggression.
- 1989GodfleshStreetcleanerMechanical rhythm and thick low-register guitar repetition.
- 1995Fear FactoryDemanufacturePrecisely organized metallic heaviness and industrial production.