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.

Crossover Thrash Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” we are going to be talking about crossover thrash metal. Frequent readers may remember that we talked about thrash metal some time ago, and before reading this new post, it might not be a bad idea to reread the previous entry about thrash metal. Crossover thrash metal is a specific type of thrash metal that takes heavy influence from hardcore punk music. Crossover thrash metal was popular during the late 1980s and 1990s. It spawned a wave of bands that gained large underground followings.

Crossover thrash metal bands are often mistaken as being part of other subgenres that combine heavy metal and hardcore punk. Thrashcore is a term that is often carelessly thrown around and many fans don’t know the different between thrashcore and crossover thrash metal. The distinction is that thrashcore is a term used to describe hardcore punk bands with fast tempos. Crossover thrash metal is a term used to describe bands that are primarily rooted in thrash metal, but do happen to take influence from hardcore punk. 

Metalcore was also a term in the 1990s that was sometimes used to describe crossover thrash metal bands, but since then, metalcore has evolved into an entirely different subgenre with completely different musical tendencies. We will talk about metalcore in depth at a later date, but it is important to know that crossover thrash metal bands just simply combine thrash metal and hardcore punk. If a band doesn’t do exactly that, then they are not a crossover thrash metal band.

There has never been a crossover thrash metal band to really make a huge name for itself, but there are a lot of crossover thrash metal bands with very sizable followings. These bands include D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, Stormtroopers of Death, Suicidal Tendencies and Gwar.

D.R.I. (also known as “Dirty Rotten Imbeciles”) was arguably the first band to pioneer crossover thrash metal. Formed in 1982, the band released seven albums and became a monumental force in the thrash metal scene, first pioneering thraschore and then crossover thrash. They never gained an extreme amount of popularity, but they are highly regarded by much of the heavy metal community for releasing  influential albums such as the Dirty Rotten LP, Crossover and Thrash Zone. Their Crossover album is where the term “crossover thrash” came from.

Corrosion of Conformity is another fairly successful and well known crossover thrash metal band. The band’s main members, Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman, Reed Mullin and Pepper Keenan, are all very well known for their contributions to heavy metal music. Corrosion of Conformity achieved a decent amount of success with their album Animosity. But when Keenan joined the band for their subsequent records, their sound changed and they became slightly more mainstream. Their albums Blind, Deliverance and Wiseblood are all considered to be classic records of heavy metal, even though they strayed from Corrosion of Conformity’s crossover thrash roots. The band has recently released a self-titled album without Keenan, who is busy with the heavy metal supergroup Down. Keenan still remains a member of the band, though.

Stormtroopers of Death (also known as S.O.D.) is a crossover thrash metal supergroup started by Scott Ian of Anthrax. The group also includes Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, ex-Anthrax bassist Danny Lilker and Psychos bassist Billy Milano on vocals. Their debut record Speak English or Die, released in 1985, is highly regarded by heavy metal critics and fans alike. It is a very influential record that helped to attract people to the subgenre.

Suicidal Tendencies is probably the most famous crossover thrash metal band and is regarded as one of the “fathers” of the subgenre. Led by Mike Muir, Suicidal Tendencies has released eight studio albums, with the first three being particularly crucial to the development of crossover thrash. It is important to note that Rob Trujillo, who currently plays bass for Metallica, received a large amount of notoriety for his work with Suicidal Tendencies.

The last crossover thrash band that has been very important to the development of heavy metal music is Gwar. Gwar is a satirically comedic metal band who has a large cult following. The members take on the identities of monsters and dress up in science fiction/horror themed costumes. Gwar is notable for being one of the first bands to talk about tabooed subjects through their lyrics. 

Beyond the bands previously mentioned, groups such as Prong, Nuclear Assault, Agnostic Frost, Sworn Enemy, Municipal Waste, Sick of It All and Cro-Mags have also achieved a decent amount of success through playing crossover thrash metal. The subgenre will always remain an underground phenomenon as it continues to expand.

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.

Sludge Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” we are going to talk about the dirtiest, slimiest, most disgustingly dense subgenre of heavy metal music known simply as sludge metal. Sludge metal is essentially the complex mixture of doom metal, hardcore punk and stoner rock. The subgenre often also incorporates musical properties found in grunge and Southern rock as well.

Musically speaking, sludge metal is typically characterized by its very slow tempos. However, there are often brief, fast-paced moments that are occasionally reminiscent of hardcore punk music. Similarly, the vocals of sludge metal frequently consist of hardcore shouting. Vocal styles may vary, as many bands incorporate screaming, deep growls and other experimental styles into the music. 

The main focus of sludge metal music is the string instrumentation. Sludge metal is a subgenre that is designed to sound as “filthy” as possible. Guitars and basses are usually downtuned, heavily distorted and make strong use of feedback. This creates very dense guitar tones that are slow and threatening at the same time. 

Many bands that are considered to be a part of the sludge metal subgenre also tend to receive other labels as well. There is a lot of crossover particularly between sludge metal, stoner metal, doom metal, post metal and crust punk. This creates a very experimental nature to the subgenre, and many bands pride themselves on using the sludge metal standards in order to create a unique hybrid of styles. 

Before sludge metal was officially pioneered by The Melvins, many bands such as Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Trouble, Swans and Saint Vitus had dabbled with the sludge metal style, but no band had fully implemented it. The Melvins were a band based out of Washington, and their first two releases, the Six Songs EP and Gluey Porch Treatments, released in 1986 and 1987 respectively, are often considered to be the very first legitimate sludge metal records. The Melvins are led by Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover, and have since put out many other legendary records. They were also a major contributor to the development of grunge music. 

Around the time of the release of Gluey Porch Treatments, Neurosis also released their debut album, Pain of Mind. This album was a crust punk record, but it contained elements that would later be found in sludge metal. Neurosis would soon become early practitioners of sludge metal during the early 1990s, and eventually their sound began to incorporate doom metal and post metal influences. 

Sludge metal really took off during the early 1990s. The majority of the emerging sludge metal bands came from New Orleans. These bands included Eyehategod, Crowbar and Acid Bath, all of whom have very large and devoted followings. 

Eyehategod is a band primarily run by lead vocalist Mike Williams and guitarist Jimmy Bower. Bower also plays in the sludge metal supergroup Down with many other monumental musicians from the New Orleans sludge metal scene, including Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo. Eyehategod’s most notable album is Dopesick, and is considered to be a classic in the subgenre.

Crowbar is led by vocalist and guitarist Kirk Windstein, who is also a member of Down. Windstein serves as Crowbar’s only constant member. Crowbar has had a very consistent album release history, and has just recently put out its newest album titled Sever the Wicked Hand, which has received a large amount of critical praise. 

Acid Bath was a band that combined a large amount of styles including sludge metal, stoner metal, doom metal, death metal, black metal and blues rock. Acid Bath most notably consisted of vocalist Dax Riggs and guitarist Sammy Duet. Riggs has experienced a bit of post-Acid Bath success with his band Deadboy and the Elephantmen, as well as guitarist Sammy Duet, who is the main songwriter in the popular blackened death metal band Goatwhore. Acid Bath only released two albums before disbanding, but those two records have given the band a sizable cult following.

Since the 1990s, sludge metal has experienced a rise in popularity, most notably due to the popular metal band Mastodon. Mastodon is the first band to really commercialize the style of music through their three most recent albums, Blood Mountain, Crack the Skye and The Hunter. Along with Mastodon, modern sludge metal bands such as Kylesa, Baroness and Black Tusk have helped to stimulate the style of music. Sludge metal’s growing popularity is sure to continue within the upcoming decade, though it still remains a very prolific subgenre of heavy metal music.

Stoner Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” we are going to delve further into the underground realm of heavy metal music by discussing the stoner metal subgenre. Stoner metal is simply a more intense version of stoner rock music, and is a combination of heavy metal, psychedelic rock, and blues rock.
Stoner metal is in many ways very similar to both stoner rock and sludge metal, and bands that are given one label are frequently given the others as well. Sludge metal usually tends to avoid the heavy use of psychedelia though, which is very prominent in stoner metal.

Musically, stoner metal is characterized by its use of guitars that make use of psychedelic effects, such as feedback, wah wah, and fuzzboxes. The guitar sound is also almost always heavily distorted. Song structures are usually very complicated and often consist of unusual time signatures, extended instrumental jams, as well as drone sections.

Several bands such as Hawkwind, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and The Blue Oyster Cult helped to set the tone for the development of stoner metal. The biggest precursor to stoner rock though was the band, Blue Cheer. Blue Cheer was prominent during the 1960s and 1970s, and with their monumental debut, Vincebus Eruptum, they managed to really influence the onset of the stoner rock/metal movement of the 1990s.



Many metalheads around the world consider the first real stoner metal album to be Blues for the Red Sun by the band, Kyuss. Kyuss came out of the Palm Desert scene and shocked the world with their innovative sound. Kyuss put out several other legendary stoner metal albums such as Welcome to Sky Valley and …And The Circus Leaves Town. The band was led by guitarist, Josh Homme, who is now the frontman of the extremely successful hard rock band, Queens of the Stone Age. Homme has also recently participated in the band, Them Crooked Vultures, with Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin. Kyuss has recently reformed without Homme and is touring under the name, Kyuss Lives!



Another major force during the 1990s stoner metal scene was the San Jose metal band, Sleep. Sleep was more heavily rooted in doom metal than Kyuss, and they are highly regarded for their very influential albums such as Sleep’s Holy Mountain, Jerusalem and Dopesmoker. Sleep eventually broke up and their guitarist, Matt Pike, received the most post-Sleep success with his highly acclaimed sludge metal band, High on Fire. In 2010, Sleep reunited and have played several shows since.



Stoner metal remained popular during the 1990s with other bands such as Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, and Orange Goblin building off of the success of Kyuss and Sleep. Today, stoner metal remains a very prolific scene, but has a large following of many devoted fans.

Doom Metal

Last week we discussed the most uplifting subgenre of heavy metal: power metal. This week it’s time to discuss the most depressing subgenre of heavy metal: doom metal. Initially pioneered by Black Sabbath, doom metal has gained a strong underground following in the heavy metal community.



Doom metal is distinguishable by several musical characteristics. Guitars and basses are usually tuned down, and they make heavy use of distortion. In doom metal, it is essential that guitarists have a very thick and dense tone. The tempo of doom metal music is usually slow to create a drawn-out, bass-heavy sound. The vocals in doom metal are usually clean singing, but the vocal tonality is always one of despair. When growling is used in doom metal, it’s almost always very deep, usually even more so than in death metal. Lyrics are very important in doom metal, and are typically depressing in nature.



Doom metal basically began with Black Sabbath. The early Ozzy-era music was the basis for which the entire subgenre is derived today. Tony Iommi had an immense guitar tone that was very unique for its time, and every subsequent doom band took influence from that raw, thick tone. Other important pioneers of the genre include Pentagram, Trouble, Saint Vitus, and Candlemass. Pentagram was formed in the early 1970s, but they didn’t release any albums until the early 1980s. Lead by Bobby Liebling, the band had a revolving line-up of musicians that were each well-known throughout the underground heavy metal community. Pentagram continues to perform today, though they still remain a prolific act.



Trouble was another pioneer of doom metal. Their first two albums, Psalm 9 and The Skull, are considered to be landmark doom metal records. Trouble eventually evolved into a stoner metal band, and has had an extensive history consisting of many long periods of inactivity. Nevertheless, Trouble is still recognized as one of the most important pioneers of doom metal.



Saint Vitus is a notorious act, having experienced a moderate amount of success particularly when they were fronted by Scott “Wino” Weinrich. Weinrich is one of the most notable musicians in doom metal, and is also held in high regard for his work in The Obsessed. Saint Vitus is finally about to release their eighth studio album, Lillie: F-65, which is their first album with Weinrich back on vocals in 22 years.



Candlemass is a Swedish band and they helped to popularize doom metal throughout the region in the 1980s. Leif Edling is the main songwriter for the band and is very highly regarded within the doom metal community. Candlemass have broken up several times throughout their history, but they continue to perform today.



Doom metal has changed a lot since its early days. The subgenre is now very frequently combined with stoner metal, sludge metal, gothic metal, and death metal in order to create unique hybrids. Furthermore, the subgenre is one in which many bands choose to innovate and test musical limits. That is particularly noticeable with the band, Neurosis, which is a musically diverse band that has based much of their music around doom metal. Doom metal is a respected genre in the heavy metal community, and has a very large underground following today.

Power metal

For this week’s entry, we will discuss the most uplifting and somewhat cheesy subgenre of heavy metal known as power metal. Power metal essentially combines characteristics of traditional heavy metal and speed metal while occasionally adding symphonic elements into the mix in order to create a unique style of metal that sounds very “epic.”

There are various recurring musical qualities of power metal. Power metal is characterized by having very slow guitar and bass chord changes, in contrast with subgenres such as thrash metal that feature very rapid changes. Guitar players of the subgenre are also usually very technical and skilled musicians, and are known for demonstrating their musical prowess through complex lightning fast guitar solos. Bass guitarists often aren’t featured very much in power metal, in order to allow for a heavy emphasis on the guitar-playing. The vocals of power metal are also very highly emphasized throughout the music. The vocals are usually soaring and operatic, with many of vocalists able to hit notes in a high register. Drummers usually use double bass pedals or two bass drums. Power metal bands also frequently feature keyboardists, which isn’t typically common in most of the other heavy metal subgenres.

There are two different “scenes” of power metal. The first is American power metal. American power metal began to take shape in the early 1980s, drawing influences from speed metal and the NWOBHM. American power metal is very riff-driven, and doesn’t feature keyboards often. Some examples of American power metal bands include Kamelot, Manowar, and Jag Panzer. American power metal never really took off or gained much popularity.

However, European power metal, the second of the two power metal scenes, did experience quite a bit of popularity. European power metal took more direct influence from the NWOBHM and less from speed metal. European bands used keyboardists heavily and focused on melody and positive lyrical themes through their music. Some popular European power metal bands include Blind Guardian, Firewind, Helloween, Stratovarius, HammerFall, Dragonforce, and Sonata Arctica.

Today power metal has a strong following of devoted fans and many power metal bands experience much success, particularly in Europe.