Electro-industrial is a subgenre of post-industrial music that emerged in the early 1980s. It was originally pioneered by acts such as Front 242, Cabaret Voltaire, Front Line Assembly, Klinik, Numb, as well as groups from Canada and the Benelux.
Other influential acts included Canadian band Skinny Puppy, who signed to label Nettwerk, which served as a central hub that helped proliferate the style. By the early 1990s, electro-industrial spawned the dark electro genre, and later the aggrotech offshoot. The fan base for the style is linked to the rivethead subculture.[Interview with Axel Machens, Vendetta Music, 23 April 2007. [1] Access date: 23 December 2008.]
Characteristics
After the
EBM music (electronic body music) movement faded in the early 1990s, electro-industrial increasingly attained popularity in the international club scene. In contrast to the straight EBM style, electro-industrial groups use harsher beats and raspy, distorted, or digitized vocals. In contrast to
industrial rock, electro-industrial groups mostly avoided guitars, other than Skinny Puppy, who used electric guitar elements since the mid-'80s in songs like "
Testure" or "Dig It",
and Numb on songs like "God Is Dead".
[Explore Music: Pop/Rock » Alternative/Indie Rock » Electro-Industrial @ AllMusic. RhythmOne Group. Retrieved 8 February 2021.] While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound with a more experimental approach.
Electro-industrial was anticipated by 1980s groups such as SPK,[Adem Tepedelen, "Skinny Puppy Bark Back", Rolling Stone, 20 May 2004. [3] Access date: 24 October 2008.]
Prominent electro-industrial groups of the 1990s include Mentallo and the Fixer, Nine Inch Nails, Yeht Mae, Velvet Acid Christ, and Pulse Legion (U.S.);[Metropolis Records, Velvet Acid Christ bio. [4] Access date: 24 October 2008.] Numb and Decoded Feedback[Nick Britten, "Finland school killings: Profile of Wumpscut", Daily Telegraph, 23 September 2008. [5] Access date: 24 October 2008.][Jez Porat, Chain D.L.K., 21 June 2005. [6] Access date: 24 October 2008.] Haujobb,[Inklupedia, Abortive Gasp. [7] Access date: 23 July 2020.] (Germany); Leæther Strip[Michael Wozny, interview with Claus Larsen, ReGen Magazine, 22 June 2008. [8] Access date: 24 October 2008.] (Denmark);["Claus Larsen fronts one of Europe's leading Electro-Industrial bands." Mick Mercer, The Hex Files: The Goth Bible, Woodstock: The Overlook Press, 1997, p. 24.] and early Hocico, Cenobita, and Amduscia (Mexico).
Since the mid-1990s, some electro-industrial groups added guitars and became associated with industrial metal; other groups, e. g. Skinny Puppy, Download, Gridlock, and Haujobb, have incorporated elements of experimental electronic music styles like drum and bass, IDM, glitch, and other electronica genres.
Conceptual elements
Electro-industrial groups tend to feature themes of control,
dystopia, and
science fiction. Electro-industrial groups sometimes take aesthetic inspiration from
, including
The Exorcist[Tim DiGravina, Mind review, Allmusic. Access date: 23 December 2008.] and the work of
Roman Polanski,
[Tim DiGravina, Bites review, Allmusic. Access date: 23 December 2008.] and the science fiction films
Blade Runner and
Alien.
Derivatives
Dark electro
Dark electro is a subgenre of electro-industrial, developed in the early 1990s in central Europe. The term describes groups such as
yelworC[Metropolis Records, yelworC bio. [9] Access date: 24 October 2008.] and Placebo Effect,
and was first used in December 1992 with the album announcement of
Brainstorming, yelworC's debut.
[Zillo Music Magazine · Issue No. 12/92 · Album announcement of "Brainstorming" · Pages 43 · Germany · December 1992. The term was repeated in a review of the same album in Zillo Music Magazine · Issue No. 2/93 · Review of the album "Brainstorming" · Pages 49 · Germany · February 1993.] The style was inspired by the music of
The Klinik and
Skinny Puppy. Compositions included gothic horror soundscapes, occult themes, and grunts or distorted vocals. yelworC were a music group from
Munich, formed in 1988. They laid the foundations of the dark electro movement in the early 1990s, and were the first artist on the German label Celtic Circle Productions. In subsequent years, dark electro was displaced by
techno-influenced styles such as
Aggrotek and
futurepop.
Other groups to practice the style included amGod, Trial, early Evil's Toy, Mortal Constraint, Arcana Obscura, Splatter Squall, Seven Trees, Tri-State, and Ice Ages.
Aggrotech
Aggrotech (also known as
hellektro and
aggrotek)
is a derivative form of dark-electro with a strong influence from
hardcore techno (straight
techno bassdrum from Roland TR-909 and oscillator sounds, especially
Supersaw leads from Roland JP-8000) that first surfaced in the mid- to late-1990s.
Aggrotech typically employs aggressive beats, prominent lead synth lines, and lyrics of a dark nature. Often, vocals are distorted and pitch-shifted to sound harsh and synthetic; static and glitching effects are also added. Aggrotech musicians include Agonoize, Amduscia, Bestias De Asalto, Combichrist, Dawn of Ashes, Detroit Diesel, Feindflug, God Module, Grendel, Hocico, iVardensphere, Nachtmahr, Panic Lift, Psyclon Nine, Reaper, Suicide Commando, The Retrosic, Ritual Aesthetic, Unter Null, Virtual Embrace, and X-Fusion, among many.
See also
-
List of industrial music festivals
-
List of electro-industrial bands
