Derivative forms digital hardcore
grebo | ||
Stylistic origins Industrial
rock
post-punk
noise rock Cultural origins Late 1970s United Kingdom and United States | ||
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Like most industrial subgenres, industrial rock is generally thematically dark, and the lyrics tackle dark subjects.
Contents
Origins
Experimental '60s group Cromagnon are said to have been one of the bands that helped foresee the birth of industrial rock. Specifically, their song "Caledonia" has been noted for its "pre-industrial stomp". Industrial music was created in the mid- to late 1970s, amidst the punk rock revolution and disco fever. Prominent early industrial musicians include Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, NON, SPK and Z'EV. Many other artists have been cited as influences such as Kraftwerk and Gary Numan and Tubeway Army as well as Einstürzende Neubauten. Many other musical performers were incorporating industrial-musical elements into a variety of musical styles.
Some post-punk performers developed styles parallel to industrial music's defining attributes. Pere Ubu's debut, The Modern Dance, was described as "industrial". So was San Francisco's Chrome, who mixed Jimi Hendrix, The Sex Pistols and tape music experiments, and Killing Joke, considered by Simon Reynolds as "a post-punk version of heavy metal". According to Chris Connelly, Foetus "is the instigator when it comes to the marriage of machinery to hardcore punk."
Others followed in their wake. The New York City band Swans were inspired by the local No Wave scene, as well as punk rock, noise music (particularly Whitehouse) and the original industrial groups. Steve Albini's Big Black followed a similar path, while also incorporating American hardcore punk. Big Black has also been closely associated with post-hardcore and noise rock, though their ties to industrial music are extremely apparent. The Swiss trio The Young Gods, who deliberately eschewed electric guitars in favor of a sampler, also took inspiration from both hardcore and industrial, being equally indebted to the Bad Brains and Foetus.
Industrial rock's true commercial breakthrough took place with the rise of the industrial metal bands, Ministry, Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails.