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.