Industrial Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog,” it’s time to get industrial! Yes, that’s right, we are going to be talking about industrial metal. Industrial metal is essentially the simple mixture of heavy metal and industrial rock. There is a lot of crossover between the industrial rock and industrial metal genres, meaning that if a band is considered to be part of one genre, they are often considered to be part of the other as well.

That being said, the heavy metal influences in industrial metal often make a huge difference in the sound of the music. Musically speaking, industrial metal generally consists of distorted metal guitar riffs that often share major similarities with those found in thrash and death metal. Industrial metal often makes heavy use of synthesizers, sequence lines, white noise and sampling techniques. The vocals of industrial metal are usually very distorted and very harsh in nature, consisting of growling, shouting and barking vocal techniques. The importance of fast and precise drumming in industrial metal has also become increasingly important as the subgenre has continued to develop. 

The founders of industrial metal are generally considered to be Ministry, Godflesh and KMFDM, though they are not the bands that helped to popularize the subgenre. Nine Inch Nails, Filter, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein and Fear Factory have really helped bring industrial metal into mainstream culture.

Ministry was one of the first industrial metal groups and they achieved a moderate amount of success. The band was a one-man project led by Al Jourgensen and formed in 1981. It was initially a synthpop project, but that style shifted towards metal in the late 1980s. Ministry quickly gained a loyal underground fanbase and in 1992, they became a phenomenon with their album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs. After a fairly successful career, Jourgensen disbanded Ministry in 2008, but brought the band back for one last album this year titled Relapse. 

Godflesh was another founder of industrial metal groups. We have already discussed them when talking about post metal, but to provide a recap, the band was a two-man project consisting of vocalist/guitarist/programmer Justin Broadrick and bassist/programmer G.C. Green. The band put out six albums before disbanding, but has since reunited. The group never gained any mainstream popularity, but they are considered to be a major influence by many well-known acts. The group is often credited for helping to develop the industrial metal and post metal subgenres.

KMFDM is the last of the three major pioneers of industrial metal. Along with Ministry, the group helped to expose industrial metal to the mainstream, making way for bigger bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson to fully integrate themselves into mainstream rock/metal. KMFDM formed in 1984 and is primarily led by multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko. The band has released 17 albums and has sold over two million records in the US alone. 

After Ministry, Godflesh and KMFDM helped to establish the roots of industrial metal in mainstream culture, the explosion of new popular industrial metal acts came about in the early '90s. Leading the way was Nine Inch Nails, who have sold 30 million records worldwide and have become the most popular industrial rock/metal act of all time. On the heels of Nine Inch Nails was Marilyn Manson, who combined alternative metal and industrial metal in the early 1990s to achieve a huge amount of fame and success.

Industrial metal reached the peak of its mainstream popularity in the late 1990s with bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Filter, Rammstein, Fear Factory, Orgy and Static-X all releasing very successful records. Despite its popularity, critics tended to dislike all of the attention that industrial metal was getting. The lack of originality and new nature of the scene isolated many of the subgenre’s pioneers and repulsed critics. At this time, many industrial metal bands were also attacked by the media for their lyrical content. Social conservatives claimed that the lyrics and graphic nature of certain industrial metal performers influenced the youth to act violently and aggressively. This wave of social backlash soon died down, allowing industrial metal to remain very popular during the early 2000s. Industrial metal still has a strong following today, though it doesn’t have the same degree of commercial success as it used to.

Post Metal

For the past few weeks, we have been discussing several subgenres of metal that are heavily associated and often mixed with one another. These subgenres included sludge metal, stoner metal and doom metal. The last subgenre that is often linked with them is post metal. Post metal is a recently developed subgenre of heavy metal and has only been created because of experimentation with the aforementioned subgenres.

Post metal is essentially the simple combination of post rock and heavy metal. For those who do not know, post rock is a style of rock music that focuses heavily on the texture and timbre of music. This style of rock focuses on dynamics and often consists of musical build-ups and slow progressive changes in rhythm and melody. Post rock bands are usually instrumental and they often incorporate soundscapes as well as looped music during their songs. It’s a very experimental form of rock music and it usually ignores all conventional song traits. 

What makes post metal different from post rock is the way the music is combined with heavy metal. Post metal tends to follow the compositional standards of post rock, but it usually has a grittier and more depressing tone. Post metal is also much more likely to feature vocals instead of instrumentals. These vocals are usually similar to those found in sludge metal. Due to the depressing nature of the music, it is often mixed with doom metal and sludge metal in order to provide moments of experimental depth to the music. 

The post metal subgenre was essentially pioneered by Neurosis and Godflesh, even though the term “post metal” was not actually coined at that time. We have already talked about Neurosis in depth, but it is important to note that their post metal sound was fully realized with their album, Through Silver in Blood.

Godflesh was a strong influence on both the industrial metal and the post metal subgenres, as it was an experimental band in nature. Godflesh is the brainchild of Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green, and has featured several other members during their lifespan. Recently, Godflesh has reunited and is considering releasing a new album.

The most notable band in the post metal subgenre is undeniably Isis. The term “post metal” was initially coined by the group. Their second album Oceanic set the official groundwork for the subgenre. Isis released a few more albums before disbanding, but their influence within the heavy metal genre has been huge. They essentially spawned the entire post metal scene and many bands within the subgenre today have often been accused of mimicking Isis. 

Today, post metal is a growing subgenre. Many bands such as Cult of Luna, Pelican, Giant Squid and Russian Circles have achieved great success by practicing it and often combining it with sludge and doom metal. Similarly, bands such as Agalloch, Lantlos, and Altair of Plagues have combined the subgenre with black metal in order to achieve a following. Post metal is a fascinating subgenre and one that will surely be further expanded upon in years to come.