Industrial Rock
tagStarted 1985Peak 1989-1999Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Distorted guitars welded to mechanized drum loops, metallic clangs, sampled noise and corroded synth bass. Vocals snarl or seethe over grinding, repetitive grooves; production is deliberately harsh and abrasive, full of compressed percussion and feedback. Bleaker and more song-shaped than its metal cousin, trading riff-walls for tension, dynamics and dread.
History
Crystallized in the mid-1980s as Chicago's Wax Trax! scene and Britain's post-industrial acts (Ministry, KMFDM, Skinny Puppy) bolted rock guitars onto tape loops and drum machines. Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine (1989) and The Downward Spiral broke it platinum; Trent Reznor's protege Marilyn Manson carried it through the late 1990s into mainstream shock-rock notoriety.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_rock
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/industrial-ma0000002601
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/nine-inch-nails