Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound with a more experimental ^[1] approach. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy , Front Line Assembly , Numb , and other groups, either from Canada or the Benelux . In the early 1990s, the style spawned the dark electro genre, and in the mid-/late-1990s, the aggrotech offshoot. ^[2] The fan base for the style is linked to the rivethead ^[2] subculture.

Characteristics [ edit ]

After the EBM 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 ", ^[3] and Numb on songs like "God Is Dead". ^[4]

Electro-industrial was anticipated by 1980s groups such as SPK , ^{[2] [5]} Die Form , Borghesia , Klinik , Skinny Puppy , ^{[6] [7]} Numb , ^[4] and Front Line Assembly . ^{[7] [8]}

Prominent electro-industrial groups of the 1990s include Mentallo and the Fixer , Yeht Mae , Velvet Acid Christ , and Pulse Legion (U.S.); ^[9] Numb and Decoded Feedback ^[10] (Canada); X Marks the Pedwalk , Plastic Noise Experience, Wumpscut , ^{[11] [12] [13]} Haujobb , ^[14] Forma Tadre , KMFDM , Putrefy Factor 7, and Abortive Gasp ^[15] (Germany); Leæther Strip ^[16] (Denmark); ^[17] 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 [ edit ]

Electro-industrial groups tend to feature themes of control, dystopia , and science fiction . Electro-industrial groups sometimes take aesthetic inspiration from horror films , including The Exorcist ^[18] and the work of Roman Polanski , ^[19] and the science fiction films Blade Runner and Alien .

Derivatives [ edit ]

Dark electro [ edit ]

Dark electro is a similar style, developed in the early 1990s in central Europe. The term describes groups such as yelworC ^[20] and Placebo Effect , ^[2] and was first used in December 1992 with the album announcement of Brainstorming , yelworC's debut. ^[21] 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 aggrotech and futurepop . ^[2] 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 [ edit ]

Aggrotech (also known as hellektro ) ^[2] is a derivative form of dark-electro with a strong influence from industrial hardcore (straight techno bassdrum from Roland TR-909 and oscillator sounds, especially Supersaw leads from Roland JP-8000 ) that first surfaced in the mid-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 [ edit ]

• List of industrial music festivals
• List of electro-industrial bands

References [ edit ]