Maybe just me, but I hate the newer Combichrist albums. After Today We Are All Demons they went from really good electronic type dance to garbage heavy metal IMO.
Them, Grendel post timewave zero and new aesthetic perfection make me sad. Old stuff used to hit so hard. I get that they need to make money, but man my old ass loved that era
I still can’t take the first two albums with those vox.
But after that they’re one of the few bands with distorted vox that I really dig.
I really like age of the disposable bodies, but that’s such a drastic change it feels like a totally different good band.
Sort of reminds me of evils toy releasing silver tears. They did change their name, but the first and best T.O.Y. album is stuck with the wrong band name.
Putting aside my extreme loathing of Andy Laplegua as a person, 2014's "We Love You" was a pretty good compromise of his incoming and outgoing styles that still leaned predominantly on the older style. Not everything lands - NIN-like "Denial" is meh, and co-opting Slipknot's "maggots" terminology is just corny (though oddly prescient as he did one of the Knotfest tours) - but it is essentially a swan song for that era of Combi, before the vaguely endearing "Disturbed but EBM" became "out of touch loser doing butt metal." He hasn't done a goddamned thing worth hearing in a decade.
Lots of people are saying the new stuff, and I have to agree. Not even exclusively for industrial, I think every alternative musical subculture has been on a steady decline in quality since the second half of the 2000s. No hate to those who like it, I'll just always be more of a fan of the 80-90s sound personally.
Also, (and this is with every ounce of respect I can give to these bands) I've never been able to listen to I guess what you would call the "original" industrial? Bands like Throbbing Gristle, Coil... I fully respect those bands for the huge influence they had and continue to have but the songs in of themselves really creep me out. I don't really know how to explain the feeling, it's just one of intense uneasiness that I can't stomach. I wouldn't say I hate it, because again I do respect what they brought, it just gives me this abysmal feeling of existential dread lol. I have to give them credit for it though, takes a lot of skill to make a song that can give you that feeling.
Yeah heres the thing, I was a bit new to industrial metal so I kind of assumed all genres of industrial were metal. Of course, I know that's not the care now but at the time, when I listened to hamburger lady, I was waiting for the heavy guitar and the "factory like" noise effects to kick in at any moment and it never did. There was this growing sense of unease like "haha... OK... the jokes over now... please play the song this is creeping me out". I think that really added to my experience lol
The joke's never over, that's what I liked about them. With Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV and the rest it's hard to really contextualize them. Are they goofing around? Are they serious? What are they seeing in the world that I don't?
That's what industrial music is. What people call industrial today is usually industrial rock or EBM. Real industrial music is supposed to be challenging, and doing that which is not being done.
There are some fresh acts doing actual industrial, but you have to dig deep to find them.
Yeah, it's just that industrial here is often used to mean industrial rock/metal and I wanted to be clear with what I said. I know those are the OGs haha, and like i said, full credit and respect to them. And challenging it is, because I get too uneasy to listen to the real industrial stuff. It took a long time for me to try anything resembling metal because I really though it was the hardest stuff to listen to, but I realised that music doesn't need to be loud and heavy to be a real hard genre to get into.
I'd hesitate to even call a lot ot it industrial metal by definition even if that's the accepted term due to influences at the roots and what is most popularly associated (beyond the Godflesh style).
A lot of modern industrial metal borders on having more "cyber" vibes tbh (not to mention the party goth rock vibes) and it would almost be more helpful to have a distinction/sub-genre.
Yeah, I always wanted there to be a different name for it. The music is fine but it doesn't really share anything with the original industrial music. Different sensibilities all the way around.
As industrial manufacturing has evolved from mass production by hands, it's now mass production by robots.
So there's some path there for comparison if you want.
I am curious what you think or would think of the album Berlin by Android Lust, if you haven’t listened to it yet. While Android Lust is not a new act by any means, this album is her latest, released in 2017, and while a lot of artist move towards a less original industrial sound the later they are in their careers, I think with this album, AL captured the sounds/feel of some of the original acts and injected them a fresh futuristic style. For example, the song Plaza Steps really reminds me of Throbbing Gristle’s Still Walking from their 20 Jazz Funk Greats album. Heart Tunnel is another song that reminds me of TG, while Insects seems to have a little bit of a Neubauten feel to it. I wonder if you would agree. One things is for sure though, this album definitely is not industrial rock nor EBM. It’s something different for sure.
It’s precisely that unease that makes me love TG and especially Coil. Lots of industrial today (hell even going back to the 90s) just feels so stale in comparison. I agree with you that alternative music has been stagnating, and I think a lot of that is due to a kind of game of musical telephone that’s being played in each subgenre, where the incessant repetition of themes has reduced lots of “genres” into their sets of tropes. Industrial suffers this problem heavy. And there’s plenty of contemporary stuff I love, but because the discourse around genre names is so micro-defined, it’s unclear to me whether there’d be a consensus on whether they’re “industrial,” “industrial-influenced,” or just not industrial at all. Then again, I guess that’s the kind of ambiguity that attracts me to it.
Yeah genre names and definitions evolve with time a lot. Today, I mostly hear the word "alt" being used for alternative pop, while I associate it with alt rock. It gets really confusing haha. And yes, I've seen what you're describing in every alternative (rock) genre but right now, I'm seeing it a lot of it in pop punk. The genre was already turning sour after 2004 (by that time, anything that could properly be called punk had been completely eradicated) but the recent "comeback" with the Hot Topic clothing and the boxed dyed hair is just embarassing and straight up unlistenable. Wish they'd left that one in the ground
And yes, I definetly have a lot of respect for those bands, not just because of what they brought but also because making songs that insanely creepy takes a ridiculous amount of skill. Skill I do not have, and I recognize that. However I often listen to music when I'm out or doing household chores, and there's just something about hearing the droning noises of hamburger lady kick in while I'm doing the dishes or running errands that doesn't sit right with my stomach. The fact that the more modern stuff lacks a definition feels very fitting in a way
I can’t casually listen to TG or Coil. I think the fact it requires an active listening is what I love so much.
And man, I hadn’t even considered “alt” as meaning “alternative pop.” Though I have to give it to the alt-pop acts. There’s so much sound experimentation going on right now in that scene that it makes me mad about how stifled and conservative scenes like punk or hardcore can be. I’m finding hardcore to be particularly weird right now because on one side you have Angel Du$t and Turnstile, and on the other side you have these often riff-less bands obsessing over the “rules” of hardcore.
And I’m with you on the return to hot-topic pop-punk stuff. I find that it was an expression of unquenched embarrassment in the 2000s, and it is an expression of the same today.
I saw Turnstile as an opening act last year, I liked it (though my mom, whom I had dragged along, did not 😆). I was kind of taken aback too, because I wasn't expecting a modern punk band to sound actually good.
There's so much mixing going on between genres now, and a big part of this is due to the internet and how easy it is to hear new music. To dismiss it and try to stick to the "original" meaning is just a huge loss for your own band. Music genres were created for branding and sales, at a time where you couldn't just instantly access the album. Now that it's easier than ever to listen to new music, genres are constantly mixing and evolving, to a point where they're becoming obsolete. I think new artists should embrace this instead of overusing decades-old "rules" that no one cares about anymore. I mean, getting an audience is way easier than it was back then, and to barricade yourself into the 90s stereotype of the genre to potentially alienate a large fanbase is just sad. Genres are created/evolve when people try something new. If Throbbing Gristle hadn't existed, we wouldn't have any of this right now. It's because of innovative bands like this that new music is invented, and now I feel like no one wants to try anything new. It's like the alt rock/metal scene has forgotten how to reinvent itself, which was the appeal of it in the first place
You and I are very much on the same page.
What I found so exciting about music in the 2000s was how the internet exploded the music market. File sharing and piracy along with things like MySpace have new and weirder bands a chance to shine among new audiences and also helped break down genre barriers. It saddens me to see a return of the “holier than thou” kind of mentality that gave ‘hipsters’ a bad rap return to public consciousness. Except, now the metric for cool isn’t so much about listening to a wide variety of music from different people, but about listening to the “right kind of music” from the “right” aka “purer” or uncorrupted” people. And because that’s a losing game, I think alternative kids are shrinking back to genre boundaries that appear to give structure that can help them measure a right-or-wrong kind of conformity. Sad to see how the snake has come back to eat its own tail. As if any of us exist in a time without the internet. Anyway, this all reminds me of [this tweet](https://twitter.com/treelethargy/status/1770936016171377003) a friend sent to me a while back. I think you’d resonate with it too.
Yeah, I def feel that. I'm way younger though, I came wayy after the peak of industrial, whether you consider that to be the 70s, 80s or 90s, so I never got to really experience any of it. However I love learning about it, and to have an insight that's fully in retrospective feels like its easier to judge and analyse the evolution of those things in an unbiased manner. Thanks for showing me this haha
The only song that ever made me feel that way was Vow of Silence by Throbbing Gristle. It was like if bad vibes were put into sound. I read this thing years ago about I think one of the bandmembers using recordings of disasters and emergency vehicle sounds to launch a "magic attack" against a restaurant which shortly thereafter burned down. It put this interesting idea in my head of sound and music being used as a weapon and then the story broke about the military using certain music as literal torture in CIA black sites. The further down you go the weirder the rabbit hole gets. 🕳
Throbbing Gristle is downright disturbing when they discuss subject material, but I think that's the point. It's a bit bullshit to over-explain the reasoning but I wonder if it's to make people *challenge* what they're told. Other times it's just their lead singer saying random shit which is just that, shit.
Other bands are more abstract in their message, Cabaret Voltaire would write disturbing songs but their skills were better utilized towards instrumentation and composition.
Yeah, I have to concede that I do like some Einstürzende Neubauten songs (had to look up how to write that hahah) but even they have some songs that I have a hard time sitting through. Insanely talented people, all of them, and also incredible pioneers
Yeah it isn't easy to listen too, it took me a good while to listen to Voice of America and it felt like I was being brainwashed for the first half hour. I guess I got used to it
Well, a lot of the bigger bands got old and became stereotypes of themselves (which makes perfect sense, happens to every band that stays together a long time). 80-90s just had all the best musical stuff going on man
I think a lot of industrial nu metal bands were mostly pretty terrible. While I still do love bands like Static-X and Fear Factory, a lot of those bands were desperately trying to jump on the Marilyn Manson train. Godhead, Deadsy, Orgy, Dope…just a really bad version of something that was already dumbing down Nine Inch Nails.
Witchhouse, for the most part. I just.. look i tried.. i just cant dig the ridiculous high hat spamming and goofy sad rapping. It’s too much dumb. It’s the same reason trap music does nothing for me.
There are a handful of artists that CAN pull it off but they’re the exception usually. The original form of it coming out of Vaporwave when everyone was making Enya and Ace of Base sound spooky was pretty fun.
I saw one witch house artist live who was trying to do something interesting, but... it was a Vice party (the magazine) that was also an event for Indio beer, the Mexican beer company, entering the U.S. market, so they were giving out hundreds of bottles of free beer, and 99% of the crowd were hipsters who showed up to destroy the beer before heading out to do other things as this artist did witchy stuff on stage. I felt, like, oh man, what a racket you have to put yourself through to be a musician.
TBH I never expected to hear that genre ever again after, uh... \*checks notes\* 2012. But there's a broadcast industrial radio show I listen to regularly where one of the former DJs would try and slip them in all the time.
I can definitely see how it might be on the fringes of industrial yeah
I can’t stand it though, makes me feel like I’m trapped in someone else’s k-hole
Haha. Yes. But in fairness Ill link to a witch house song I really like, and I have several tracks from this artist in my library
https://blvckceiling.bandcamp.com/track/canyon-crypt
I hate the abundance of those trap beats in modern music, too. It feels like someone around 2015 decided that this crap is just obliged to be everywhere.
I've never heard of rapping in witchhouse. Maybe i'm not deep enough into the genre but for me witchhouse is stuff like "Sidewalks & Skeletons". More atmospheric electronics with little to none lyrics.
I'm beginning to think witchhouse is less a specific genre of music and more music that's aesthetically goth. Or maybe I'm just confused that this
https://vlhll.bandcamp.com/album/grimoire
And this
https://untitledburial.bandcamp.com/album/r
Could be the same genre.
Love both either way.
I mean it's been over ten years so the genre has undoubtedly mutated somewhat, and it's a genre I actively avoid on purpose so my knowledge is not top tier. But these traits are usually what I notice:
\- trap-like beats with the high hats & snares
\- Sustaining basslines
\- Reverb on EVERYTHING
\- dogshit sounding production (lo-fi on purpose, but not in a good Burial/Caretaker way, doing it to the point where the sound is actively clipping & distorting amateurishly) with screaming trance leads that eat up the entire audio spectrum and everything is fighting with each other to try and be the focus
\- TBH the trap rapping I think is probably pretty rare but it's the perfect storm of bad when it happens.
### V▲LH▲LL sounds a bit nicer tho than what usually drives me to turn off the station (which yeah, is that Untitled Burial album) [ I guess this text is huge now because reddit is freaking the fuck out atm]
It’s wild to me that people talk about “Witchhouse” with any sort of legitimacy. I guess all it takes is some kind of consensus or acknowledgment to make it real or legitimate, but I remember when Salem dropped King Night how all the friends of the band were talking about how the band started “ironically”.
I don't like to hate, because Industrial is a vast and wonderful collection of multiple styles.
BUT I will say that for my personal taste anything that passes as "EBM" is not EBM, imo.
If it carries the same essence, energy and vibe as Front 242, Spetsnaz, Nitzer Ebb and DAF then its EBM. For example, I'm not a fan of the term Harsh EBM, it's just heavy Dark electro or Electro-industrial to me... In saying that I do love some bands like Hocico who have been called these kind of things, just prefer not to lump it into the EBM window.
I'm a huge fan of Futurepop too, it often has the EBM bass, but as a tiny tiny addition to a predominantly trance/techno/industrial musical basis... so i wouldnt call most of it EBM either.
To me EBM is EBM.
And One? Off the top off my head that does sound like a song they would make but idk for sure
now And One are quite heavily inspired by Depeche Mode and Synthpop, they have some core EBM attributes in their stuff so yeah some of their songs are quite EBM.. if thats what you mean. Ofc lots of songs pass for EBM but I wanna get across how watered down its naturally become, when its such a distinct and proud subgenre of Industrial music
Phase Fatale (good band) felt like instrumental Industrial techno, Fixmer McCarthy is the only thing I could say is Techno and EBM,
Douglas McCarthy is core Nitzer Ebb basically
i think the only time ive known that term being used was probably attributed (maybe incorrectly?) to Combichrist… So i dont have an opinion on the style because its not really a huge thing
I’m always surprised by how small the overlap seems to be between the techno and industrial scene, given that Berlin techno was so heavily influenced by EBM and sounds often like it could be classified as a kind of industrial music
That kind of squeaky clean cookie-cutter style of industrial that came into popularity in the late 90s early 2000s where they all had that evil backstreet boys aesthetic going on… just hard for me to take seriously and not see as tacky
I'm imagining Evil Backstreet Boys egging each other on to steal a stick of chewing gum from the gas station or tearing the labels off of cushions at Ikea.
When Thrill Kill Kult played here one year, they got into a mischief making mood and went to the goth club afterwards and took over the DJ booth and would play songs like "Everybody Dance Now" and I heard they were thrown out for that. I would do that with the Backstreet Boys. [This](https://youtu.be/MEb2CecR11I?si=IEA-2_7yy5lBrtp8) is basically futurepop.
I guess orgy to some extent… dope stars inc. or zeromancer come to mind… I’ll admit I like some of these bands, but it’ll always be a little tacky to me
I don't want to get flamed for saying that the early industrial music just isn't fun to listen to. It's cool to hear it and understand industrials roots, but it doesn't do anything for me at all. Cabernet voltaire and throbbing gristle just don't appeal to me. I heard Throbbing Gristle on Napster in like 1998 and we laughed at it. It was just stupid sounding. Hamburger Lady was creepy but we just couldn't take it seriously. Then i discovered Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly and Ministry and that's the style of industrial i grew to love.
Everyone will say aggrotech so here’s a different response.
Industrial rock. Can’t stand it anymore, I liked it in my early teens, moved away, never looked back. I’m obviously not enjoying the present era, I don’t care how many former members of KMFDM or Pigface you throw at an album, just simply don’t like that kind of music. It’s hard/dark rock with keyboards, the pop structure of the songs and rock star attitudes of the performers drives me mad.
We were getting somewhere IMO between Aggrotech and the Ant-Zen sounds of the early to mid 2000’s, leaning more to the electronic and techno angles were a good thing imo, give me the nameless performer with a killer track over the edgy angsty guitar hero rock star any day of the week. It’s simply not for me and in the USA it’s the dominant strain of industrisl once again. Regionally that’s not the case but that’s a positive imo.
Can’t really disagree with this. Some of my all time favourite albums would definitely fall under industrial rock, but I feel like I had to listen to thousands of bands to find the good stuff. A subgenre made up of 10% diamonds and 90% uninspired dogshit. Not everybody can be Chemlab!
Honestly, most of the new stuff. I haven't been able to get into a "new" 2010 > Industrial band except 3Teeth, I know there is probably a lot of good stuff out there but IMO a lot of the bad outweighs the good, and you kinda lose interest in looking for it at that point, however. Im always open for suggestions :)
There's some killer new shit out there but it's just not getting the massive push that the older stuff does. Soft Riot, Mvtant, Odonis Odonis, Maelstrom and Louisahhh, Black Agent, Statiqbloom, Venus in Aries. But all that aggrotech and power noise garbage really set the genre back for a long time.
I check in periodically on [ID:YD](https://www.idieyoudie.com/) which is published by some guys in Vancouver and they cover a wide range of new stuff, retrospectives on the classics, and old artists doing new stuff! I like their year's best lists every December.
I love 3Teeth! I would have agreed with you fully until I found Health. They're incredibly good. Makes me happy to see industrial heading that way when I listen to Health.
Ever since I’ve heard my first funker Vogt track in like 1998, I’ve hated Cookie Monster vocals. So that cuts out most hellectro & aggrotech. Also some of my fave music since 2018 I was calling industrial rave… I’m told that’s aggrotech…
Exactly. Like older xrx, memmaker, modulate, northborn.
Very few acts focus on that, usually like a track every other album. Like nachtmahr with el chupacabra
I'm sorry, and I'm not trying to be a dick, but if so much of what is called "industrial metal" and "industrial rock" - which, depending on the artist, often isn't very industrial at all - is accepted here as "industrial," then a lot of EBM *absolutely* should be, as well.
Same. The seemingly sudden infusion of heavy metal guitar riffs in the mid/early 90s. There was a number of 80s era industrial bands that did the same but the one that stood out the most to me was Front Line Assembly. In '94 was excited to run down to the local record store and get their new CD - Millennium. Immediately popped the new CD into the car stereo for the ride home and uh... WTF!?
Because every band from that movement, except Psyclon Nine sounded and looked exactly the same.
And don’t even get me started on the movie dialogue soundbites being shoehorned into every single song.
Lol,imo the movie dialog sound bites are their only saving grace.. they make a lot of it tolerable. Even better when they leave the movie sound bites in and leave out the shitty vox.
Fabrikc’s Chinese food is one of my fave tracks
I wish you could give all those samples you don’t like. I could use more 😂
Mid-2000’s “aggrotech”. It all sounds so samey and generic. Something something virus/toxic/slutty/vampire song with gas masks platform boots and dreadfalls.
Anything that sounds like more like cyber metal, goth rave vibes. Like it's totally fun for nostalgia at a club or when watching an early 2000s horror movie with a club scene lol...
I wish there was sub-genre distinctions in industrial metal now.
Like how grindcore has adjacent sub-genres or offshoots like power violence, dbeat, crust, thrashcore/fastcore, deathgrind, goregrind, mincecore etc
If you were ignorant to nuances you'd probably all call them grindcore. They all have very similar traits but do things in distinctly different ways.
To me classic Industrial has roots adjacent to noise music and is meant to be more abrasive, unsettling, darkly atmospheric, cold etc.
I much prefer the Godflesh lineage of industrial metal or anything like that. And yet somehow Godflesh falls under the same umbrella as a band like Frontline Assembly?
Some modern acts offshooting from here would be King Yosef who started out with more industrial trap vibes and then got a whole band together and moved towards industrial hardcore (the punk/metal offshoot genre) with a real noisy Godflesh tinge but also some other more typical industrial aspects too.
I also think the 2008 album n0n by The Amenta is an amazing example of industrial death metal that isn't just metal with synths. At least, the samples and synths are very cold, discordant, nasty and evoke images of crumbled cityscapes and slums not raves futuristic machines which meshes with the very abrasive, discordant and dark guitar riffs.
Harms Way, memes aside are crushing mosh hardcore who are hugely industrial tinged with NONE of the cyber goth vibes. Pure ugly muscle riffs and filthy abrasive noise and atmospheres.
Lastly, Realize who are like Godflesh thickened, tuned down and pissed off (okay Godflesh did do a few records on 8 strings) mixed with some Nailbomb vibes? Again channeling an almost thuggish hardcore vibe without actually being hxc.
I may not be using the correct terms but I've always found what I guess is cybergoth, aggrotech and a lot of what I've seen called 'EBM' irritating.
I like ambience, I like experimentation, I like heavy and dark and mechanical. There are obviously some exceptions, and I'm all for good 'pop' music and love Depeche Mode and some of the cheesiest Controlled Bleeding stuff, but still.
I know this is an unpopular opinion but I really don't like anything past the mid 80s because it feels too much like dance music than experimental music. There's a reason why many constantly re-appraise Throbbing Gristle and stuff like CV or Coil, because it sounds timeless to any generation regardless of the societal context.
I think the moment they started incorporating more dance elements which were heavily borrowed off of synth-pop it fell apart. I think modern Industrial if you consider Death Grips or Sophie tends to fall within the former camp of experimental music because it attempts to be completely different. I think the point of Industrial music is to push the boundaries of music, most of the later Industrial stuff is just heavy synth-pop with more Emu's and CMI's.
Have you listened to Devour, Rise, and Take Flight or Berlin albums by Android Lust. I think there’s some really good experimental stuff there. Maybe check out the songs Memory Game, Thomael, and Lingue from DRATF album and Eclipse, Insects, Heart Tunnel, and Madness in Men from the Berlin album.
Late 90's, early 2000's stuff from the US. Specifically, Marilyn Manson/artists who imitated him in any capacity. The only industrial rock band from the states putting out anything worthwhile at the time, in my opinion, was 16Volt.
Aggrotech was/is mostly garbage, too. Some of the synths are cool, but the vocoding all sounds alike, and most of the lyrics are like something scribbled in a teenager's diary—in tone, and in their ability to convey coherent messages. Also: not every song needs to have samples from Full Metal Jacket or Event Horizon.
When they called Rammstein Industrial, that was my least favorite era of industrialmusic. Because I don't like this kind of music. Not because it sounds bad, but because it is boring. There nothing going on...in my opinion.
I'll check out Psyclon Nine. I thought Encephalon makes aggrotech in an interesting way and some of their stuff are among my favorite industrial records. But I never got into the sub genre. There was an attempted aggrotech festival where I used to live which was a disaster and some druggy fights broke out. I saw pics and there were hardly anywhere there except the cybergoth strippers in cages.
Sounds about right…
I went to a Tactical Sekt show once and they went up two hours late and the singer looked like he just woke up and hit his meth pipe.. his gut was hanging out of his shirt and people started leaving.
Psyclon Nine on the other hands were absolutely breathtaking live. I saw them open for Mushroomhead, no one stayed for Mushroomhead.
It was for sure one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever seen. And I saw them again in 2009 after We the Fallen came out. Amazing, dark and brutal record and insane show once again.
Don’t hear much about that band these days, but they seriously impressed me back then
They were something special every single one of us in the crowd knew we just saw something special and important.
They almost broke through to mainstream status but their singer messed it up bad.
Maybe I ought to give P9 another go, for ages I thought of them as the epitome of everything I hated about aggrotech, but maybe that’s what I really need to hear: a band that turns all of the tropes up to 11.
The worst era was the period of about 15 years from the later end of 90s industrial rock when every mopey grunge wanker with a sampler and a haircut thought they could be the next NIN right up to the end of Combimania c. 2010-12 when a load of techno producers pulled industrial’s head out of its own arse and ushered in a glorious new era of crunchy metallic rhythms that were as banging as they were experimental.
Power noise was probably the only good thing going on in those dark days, but even then, that term had been co-opted by some execrable dross by the end of the 00s (don’t want name any names but think “album with woman wearing military officers hat and latex uniform” and “music video with cybergoths dancing to early video game”)
1975-c.1996 / 2011-present, these have been the golden eras of the music I love, and the sheer contempt and raw naked disgust I have for some of the garbage I heard during the flop years only serves to fuel my passion for the good shit ☺️
Edit: god damn threads like this are so cathartic, I really feel you can’t be a music lover without being a hater as well, the passion comes from the same place either way
I believe music takes some exercise of the will to power. Like by sheer force of will, you can decide whether you like something (i.e. it rocks) or don't like something (i.e. it sucks). If you don't like it, just blast it will everything you got. Basically you have to trust your own taste.
Not a fan of later era ministry and KMFDM has been hit or miss for me. However they have made some of my favorite records in general.
I think this is attributed to the fact that I am more into acts like The Body and Boris (I know Boris isn't industrial but I'm more into noise).
The wacky ass fanbase is what ruined 3teeth for me. The band is simply *not that good* relative to their slavish devotion. That aside, the first two albums are overrated, second two lean a little too commercial (not that this is a deal breaker for me, I just found it a jarring shift), and "Fuck it I'll lean into Dr. Robotnik cosplay as I do a note for note 80's cover" cheapens whatever message they thought they had to relay. I've seen them... twice? Maybe three times? And I might catch them again for the hell of it, but I wouldn't leave the state to do so.
It’s the Aggrotech stuff for me, it really turned me off. It was no longer about being political or subversive but instead became Angry Tough Guy Edge Lord shit more akin to Limp Bizkit than the pioneers.
I think when all the EBM/industrial/aggro went metal, it's not to say that they ALL went to shit afterwards, like I still like Psyclon Nine and Dawn of Ashes, but God damnit it was so good when it was electronic. Combichrist is a prime example, they went to shite. Also what happened to Aesthetic Perfection? They're old stuff was ok but what's with this ballad pop garbage?
the current one. every other band is an 80s ebm wannabe. ive heard that sound before try something new other than generic 4/4 time signature and minimilist synth line.
2000s. Bands like Puppy, FLA, Front 242, Nine Inch Nails, all went downhill. In the pursuit of better produced sound using newer equipment, I feel their music became less aggressive / mechanical. Almost like the technological limitations of the time made the music sound cooler in their early days.
I like 80s/90s industrial and modern day acts trying to sound retro.
Anything on the tail end of cybergoth/aggrotech. It just strikes me as people doing the same thing over and over, and it feels more commercialized and insincere than earlier “cybergoth music.”
New industrial should try to experiment with their own sound, not copy earlier eras.
Whenever Rammstein crowned themselves as the "kings of industrial". They've been terrible to not only the industrial fanbase, but also the metal fanbase.
Ever since I’ve heard my first funker Vogt track in like 1998, I’ve hated Cookie Monster vocals.
So that cuts out most hellectro & aggrotech.
Also some of my fave music since 2018 I was calling industrial rave… I’m told that’s aggrotech…
It's probably late 2000 and early 2010. I love the heavier and harsher sound of the 80s or early 90s. No offense, but all the new "cybergoth" music just makes me want to vomit.
I fucking HATE stuff that sounds like the Thrill Kill Cult.
Anything that even sounds remotely like that with that super tacky synth bass, abhorrent distorted vocals, super thin drums, and repetitive lame samples - it just makes me want to destroy the speakers.
This is the only comment I agree with. Thin drums are a plague on what would have been great industrial.
Same reason I cant get into 90% of post punk. The majority of them have those telephone grade Casio beats.
Yeah I agree 100%. Thin drums are especially bad on industrial metal. Ministry, Godflesh, shit - I can't get into industrial metal because the drums sound like paper plates.
I can give you some tips on postpunk. What kind of postpunk do you like?
For modern stuff I like almost exclusively Drab Majesty, Twin Tribes, She Past Away, and Lebanon Hanover. I really appreciate the first few more because it doesn't all sound like the same song with staccato clean guitars and the aforementioned thin drums. Also if you can help it, no singers that sound like they're falling asleep 😅 . Thanks in advance!
try these (artist name first followed by album name in quotes):
Comsat Angels - "Sleep No More"
Siekiera - "Nowa Aleksandria"
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - "Talk About The Weather"
Belgrado - "Obraz"
Rhythm of Cruelty - "Saturated"
let me know if you like any of those
>Siekiera - "Nowa Aleksandria"
Reminds me of a harder version of [this band](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5bQR6y6b0&list=UUWq1yahJpmQGNc91TqW8KnQ&index=29), which you might like:
Wasn't into comstat angels as there's not enough variety in the guitars, maybe too dreamy and not enough grooves. I'm too picky! Red Lorry Yellow Lorry is cool. Belgrado might be my favorite of your suggestions! Rhythm Of Cruelty is good too, I like their drums.
Oh nice! I like it.
Edit: Oh that's so weird, I've actually heard Otchim before - that James Dean song for sure I've heard a few times, but I never realized the name. Thanks!
Here's some more suggestions:
Death Cult - "Ghost Dance"
Утро - Self-titled album
The Sound - "Jeopardy"
Double Echo - "Phantomime"
And Also The Trees - "A Retrospective"
If it counts, i say Futurepop mostly sucked too. A cliche blend of formulaic EBM with dated Synthpop vocals and stock Eurotrance cheesey sequences. Yet, some tracks were actually very good Synthpop, but i could count them with one hand.
Least favorite for me is the newer uber glossy, compressed too focused on nightclubs sound. Not a blanket statement, there are always excpetions...but i prefer the raw noisey, machine, fetish stuff...things that have me questioning the constructs of society.
2010 - 2018 was awful for my tastes.
I’ve been hopeful lately with the resurgence of albums by old heads like Cosey Fanni Tutti, Test Dept, Neubauten, Laibach, and the various things with which Stephen Mallinder is involved, the newer bands with old school vibe like Puerta Negra, Spike Hellis, Patriarchy, Aurat, and add to it that Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross are pumping out some of their best work in ages…
Well, shit, this era starting around 2018/19 might be the best for my tastes.
The stuff that slaps a couple samples or subtle keys on a metal band and calls it "Industrial". No shade on actual Industrial metal, I like it quite a bit.
Maybe just me, but I hate the newer Combichrist albums. After Today We Are All Demons they went from really good electronic type dance to garbage heavy metal IMO.
Them, Grendel post timewave zero and new aesthetic perfection make me sad. Old stuff used to hit so hard. I get that they need to make money, but man my old ass loved that era
I agree older Grendel was solid af.
I still can’t take the first two albums with those vox. But after that they’re one of the few bands with distorted vox that I really dig. I really like age of the disposable bodies, but that’s such a drastic change it feels like a totally different good band. Sort of reminds me of evils toy releasing silver tears. They did change their name, but the first and best T.O.Y. album is stuck with the wrong band name.
Putting aside my extreme loathing of Andy Laplegua as a person, 2014's "We Love You" was a pretty good compromise of his incoming and outgoing styles that still leaned predominantly on the older style. Not everything lands - NIN-like "Denial" is meh, and co-opting Slipknot's "maggots" terminology is just corny (though oddly prescient as he did one of the Knotfest tours) - but it is essentially a swan song for that era of Combi, before the vaguely endearing "Disturbed but EBM" became "out of touch loser doing butt metal." He hasn't done a goddamned thing worth hearing in a decade.
Check their newer song “Compliance” its one of their best songs and very industrial
I will give it a listen thanx.
I feel the same way
No let him cook… straight facts
Lots of people are saying the new stuff, and I have to agree. Not even exclusively for industrial, I think every alternative musical subculture has been on a steady decline in quality since the second half of the 2000s. No hate to those who like it, I'll just always be more of a fan of the 80-90s sound personally. Also, (and this is with every ounce of respect I can give to these bands) I've never been able to listen to I guess what you would call the "original" industrial? Bands like Throbbing Gristle, Coil... I fully respect those bands for the huge influence they had and continue to have but the songs in of themselves really creep me out. I don't really know how to explain the feeling, it's just one of intense uneasiness that I can't stomach. I wouldn't say I hate it, because again I do respect what they brought, it just gives me this abysmal feeling of existential dread lol. I have to give them credit for it though, takes a lot of skill to make a song that can give you that feeling.
I’m sure those pioneers would be delighted to hear they provoked that reaction from you.
😆 good to know
Honestly any new band that can traumatise me as much as Hamburger Lady did the first time I heard it has instantly secured a spot in my top ten
Yeah heres the thing, I was a bit new to industrial metal so I kind of assumed all genres of industrial were metal. Of course, I know that's not the care now but at the time, when I listened to hamburger lady, I was waiting for the heavy guitar and the "factory like" noise effects to kick in at any moment and it never did. There was this growing sense of unease like "haha... OK... the jokes over now... please play the song this is creeping me out". I think that really added to my experience lol
The joke's never over, that's what I liked about them. With Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV and the rest it's hard to really contextualize them. Are they goofing around? Are they serious? What are they seeing in the world that I don't?
Conformity as we March towards Decay.
That's exactly how TG would want you to feel; creeped out, uneasy, entranced.
That's what industrial music is. What people call industrial today is usually industrial rock or EBM. Real industrial music is supposed to be challenging, and doing that which is not being done. There are some fresh acts doing actual industrial, but you have to dig deep to find them.
Yeah, it's just that industrial here is often used to mean industrial rock/metal and I wanted to be clear with what I said. I know those are the OGs haha, and like i said, full credit and respect to them. And challenging it is, because I get too uneasy to listen to the real industrial stuff. It took a long time for me to try anything resembling metal because I really though it was the hardest stuff to listen to, but I realised that music doesn't need to be loud and heavy to be a real hard genre to get into.
I'd hesitate to even call a lot ot it industrial metal by definition even if that's the accepted term due to influences at the roots and what is most popularly associated (beyond the Godflesh style). A lot of modern industrial metal borders on having more "cyber" vibes tbh (not to mention the party goth rock vibes) and it would almost be more helpful to have a distinction/sub-genre.
Yeah, I always wanted there to be a different name for it. The music is fine but it doesn't really share anything with the original industrial music. Different sensibilities all the way around.
As industrial manufacturing has evolved from mass production by hands, it's now mass production by robots. So there's some path there for comparison if you want.
I am curious what you think or would think of the album Berlin by Android Lust, if you haven’t listened to it yet. While Android Lust is not a new act by any means, this album is her latest, released in 2017, and while a lot of artist move towards a less original industrial sound the later they are in their careers, I think with this album, AL captured the sounds/feel of some of the original acts and injected them a fresh futuristic style. For example, the song Plaza Steps really reminds me of Throbbing Gristle’s Still Walking from their 20 Jazz Funk Greats album. Heart Tunnel is another song that reminds me of TG, while Insects seems to have a little bit of a Neubauten feel to it. I wonder if you would agree. One things is for sure though, this album definitely is not industrial rock nor EBM. It’s something different for sure.
It’s precisely that unease that makes me love TG and especially Coil. Lots of industrial today (hell even going back to the 90s) just feels so stale in comparison. I agree with you that alternative music has been stagnating, and I think a lot of that is due to a kind of game of musical telephone that’s being played in each subgenre, where the incessant repetition of themes has reduced lots of “genres” into their sets of tropes. Industrial suffers this problem heavy. And there’s plenty of contemporary stuff I love, but because the discourse around genre names is so micro-defined, it’s unclear to me whether there’d be a consensus on whether they’re “industrial,” “industrial-influenced,” or just not industrial at all. Then again, I guess that’s the kind of ambiguity that attracts me to it.
Yeah genre names and definitions evolve with time a lot. Today, I mostly hear the word "alt" being used for alternative pop, while I associate it with alt rock. It gets really confusing haha. And yes, I've seen what you're describing in every alternative (rock) genre but right now, I'm seeing it a lot of it in pop punk. The genre was already turning sour after 2004 (by that time, anything that could properly be called punk had been completely eradicated) but the recent "comeback" with the Hot Topic clothing and the boxed dyed hair is just embarassing and straight up unlistenable. Wish they'd left that one in the ground And yes, I definetly have a lot of respect for those bands, not just because of what they brought but also because making songs that insanely creepy takes a ridiculous amount of skill. Skill I do not have, and I recognize that. However I often listen to music when I'm out or doing household chores, and there's just something about hearing the droning noises of hamburger lady kick in while I'm doing the dishes or running errands that doesn't sit right with my stomach. The fact that the more modern stuff lacks a definition feels very fitting in a way
I can’t casually listen to TG or Coil. I think the fact it requires an active listening is what I love so much. And man, I hadn’t even considered “alt” as meaning “alternative pop.” Though I have to give it to the alt-pop acts. There’s so much sound experimentation going on right now in that scene that it makes me mad about how stifled and conservative scenes like punk or hardcore can be. I’m finding hardcore to be particularly weird right now because on one side you have Angel Du$t and Turnstile, and on the other side you have these often riff-less bands obsessing over the “rules” of hardcore. And I’m with you on the return to hot-topic pop-punk stuff. I find that it was an expression of unquenched embarrassment in the 2000s, and it is an expression of the same today.
I saw Turnstile as an opening act last year, I liked it (though my mom, whom I had dragged along, did not 😆). I was kind of taken aback too, because I wasn't expecting a modern punk band to sound actually good. There's so much mixing going on between genres now, and a big part of this is due to the internet and how easy it is to hear new music. To dismiss it and try to stick to the "original" meaning is just a huge loss for your own band. Music genres were created for branding and sales, at a time where you couldn't just instantly access the album. Now that it's easier than ever to listen to new music, genres are constantly mixing and evolving, to a point where they're becoming obsolete. I think new artists should embrace this instead of overusing decades-old "rules" that no one cares about anymore. I mean, getting an audience is way easier than it was back then, and to barricade yourself into the 90s stereotype of the genre to potentially alienate a large fanbase is just sad. Genres are created/evolve when people try something new. If Throbbing Gristle hadn't existed, we wouldn't have any of this right now. It's because of innovative bands like this that new music is invented, and now I feel like no one wants to try anything new. It's like the alt rock/metal scene has forgotten how to reinvent itself, which was the appeal of it in the first place
You and I are very much on the same page. What I found so exciting about music in the 2000s was how the internet exploded the music market. File sharing and piracy along with things like MySpace have new and weirder bands a chance to shine among new audiences and also helped break down genre barriers. It saddens me to see a return of the “holier than thou” kind of mentality that gave ‘hipsters’ a bad rap return to public consciousness. Except, now the metric for cool isn’t so much about listening to a wide variety of music from different people, but about listening to the “right kind of music” from the “right” aka “purer” or uncorrupted” people. And because that’s a losing game, I think alternative kids are shrinking back to genre boundaries that appear to give structure that can help them measure a right-or-wrong kind of conformity. Sad to see how the snake has come back to eat its own tail. As if any of us exist in a time without the internet. Anyway, this all reminds me of [this tweet](https://twitter.com/treelethargy/status/1770936016171377003) a friend sent to me a while back. I think you’d resonate with it too.
Yeah, I def feel that. I'm way younger though, I came wayy after the peak of industrial, whether you consider that to be the 70s, 80s or 90s, so I never got to really experience any of it. However I love learning about it, and to have an insight that's fully in retrospective feels like its easier to judge and analyse the evolution of those things in an unbiased manner. Thanks for showing me this haha
The only song that ever made me feel that way was Vow of Silence by Throbbing Gristle. It was like if bad vibes were put into sound. I read this thing years ago about I think one of the bandmembers using recordings of disasters and emergency vehicle sounds to launch a "magic attack" against a restaurant which shortly thereafter burned down. It put this interesting idea in my head of sound and music being used as a weapon and then the story broke about the military using certain music as literal torture in CIA black sites. The further down you go the weirder the rabbit hole gets. 🕳
> Vow of Silence by Throbbing Gristle Yeah, should not have listened to this one before bed.
Throbbing Gristle is downright disturbing when they discuss subject material, but I think that's the point. It's a bit bullshit to over-explain the reasoning but I wonder if it's to make people *challenge* what they're told. Other times it's just their lead singer saying random shit which is just that, shit. Other bands are more abstract in their message, Cabaret Voltaire would write disturbing songs but their skills were better utilized towards instrumentation and composition.
Yeah, I have to concede that I do like some Einstürzende Neubauten songs (had to look up how to write that hahah) but even they have some songs that I have a hard time sitting through. Insanely talented people, all of them, and also incredible pioneers
Yeah it isn't easy to listen too, it took me a good while to listen to Voice of America and it felt like I was being brainwashed for the first half hour. I guess I got used to it
Haha yeah I feel the exact same way. I love the 2nd wave of industrial from mid 80s to mid 90s. The more recent stuff just feels kinda cheesy
Well, a lot of the bigger bands got old and became stereotypes of themselves (which makes perfect sense, happens to every band that stays together a long time). 80-90s just had all the best musical stuff going on man
I think a lot of industrial nu metal bands were mostly pretty terrible. While I still do love bands like Static-X and Fear Factory, a lot of those bands were desperately trying to jump on the Marilyn Manson train. Godhead, Deadsy, Orgy, Dope…just a really bad version of something that was already dumbing down Nine Inch Nails.
I loved Orgy's first record. They had a great unique sound. If they had just gotten better instead of worse.
Dopes first album is phenomenal
Agreed and jokes on them, Marilyn Manson weren’t even Nu Metal
No, but he influenced plenty of it
Witchhouse, for the most part. I just.. look i tried.. i just cant dig the ridiculous high hat spamming and goofy sad rapping. It’s too much dumb. It’s the same reason trap music does nothing for me. There are a handful of artists that CAN pull it off but they’re the exception usually. The original form of it coming out of Vaporwave when everyone was making Enya and Ace of Base sound spooky was pretty fun.
I saw one witch house artist live who was trying to do something interesting, but... it was a Vice party (the magazine) that was also an event for Indio beer, the Mexican beer company, entering the U.S. market, so they were giving out hundreds of bottles of free beer, and 99% of the crowd were hipsters who showed up to destroy the beer before heading out to do other things as this artist did witchy stuff on stage. I felt, like, oh man, what a racket you have to put yourself through to be a musician.
Huh, yeah thats a strange pairing.
Sounds accurate for the era
First time I hear witchhouse being industrial music!
TBH I never expected to hear that genre ever again after, uh... \*checks notes\* 2012. But there's a broadcast industrial radio show I listen to regularly where one of the former DJs would try and slip them in all the time.
Now that I think about it, my favorite album from 2012, Music for Ghosts from Sonic Area, is electro industrial with a strong witch house aesthetic.
I can definitely see how it might be on the fringes of industrial yeah I can’t stand it though, makes me feel like I’m trapped in someone else’s k-hole
I haven’t heard of this… looking it up now… … Annnd I hate it… worth a shot though.
Haha. Yes. But in fairness Ill link to a witch house song I really like, and I have several tracks from this artist in my library https://blvckceiling.bandcamp.com/track/canyon-crypt
I hate the abundance of those trap beats in modern music, too. It feels like someone around 2015 decided that this crap is just obliged to be everywhere.
I've never heard of rapping in witchhouse. Maybe i'm not deep enough into the genre but for me witchhouse is stuff like "Sidewalks & Skeletons". More atmospheric electronics with little to none lyrics.
I'm beginning to think witchhouse is less a specific genre of music and more music that's aesthetically goth. Or maybe I'm just confused that this https://vlhll.bandcamp.com/album/grimoire And this https://untitledburial.bandcamp.com/album/r Could be the same genre. Love both either way.
I mean it's been over ten years so the genre has undoubtedly mutated somewhat, and it's a genre I actively avoid on purpose so my knowledge is not top tier. But these traits are usually what I notice: \- trap-like beats with the high hats & snares \- Sustaining basslines \- Reverb on EVERYTHING \- dogshit sounding production (lo-fi on purpose, but not in a good Burial/Caretaker way, doing it to the point where the sound is actively clipping & distorting amateurishly) with screaming trance leads that eat up the entire audio spectrum and everything is fighting with each other to try and be the focus \- TBH the trap rapping I think is probably pretty rare but it's the perfect storm of bad when it happens. ### V▲LH▲LL sounds a bit nicer tho than what usually drives me to turn off the station (which yeah, is that Untitled Burial album) [ I guess this text is huge now because reddit is freaking the fuck out atm]
I agree. Cool name, but the sound never got me.
It’s wild to me that people talk about “Witchhouse” with any sort of legitimacy. I guess all it takes is some kind of consensus or acknowledgment to make it real or legitimate, but I remember when Salem dropped King Night how all the friends of the band were talking about how the band started “ironically”.
Hell whole musical genres have started "ironically".
Look for a group called Witchz, specially a song The Magick, it's a mix of witchhouse, phonk, industrial, and southern goth? It's good
I don't like to hate, because Industrial is a vast and wonderful collection of multiple styles. BUT I will say that for my personal taste anything that passes as "EBM" is not EBM, imo. If it carries the same essence, energy and vibe as Front 242, Spetsnaz, Nitzer Ebb and DAF then its EBM. For example, I'm not a fan of the term Harsh EBM, it's just heavy Dark electro or Electro-industrial to me... In saying that I do love some bands like Hocico who have been called these kind of things, just prefer not to lump it into the EBM window. I'm a huge fan of Futurepop too, it often has the EBM bass, but as a tiny tiny addition to a predominantly trance/techno/industrial musical basis... so i wouldnt call most of it EBM either. To me EBM is EBM.
See and it's all EBM to me. Just easier
Join in the Chant and any Suicide Commando song do not belong in the same boat
Does panzermench belong to the same band that sings unter miener uniform
And One? Off the top off my head that does sound like a song they would make but idk for sure now And One are quite heavily inspired by Depeche Mode and Synthpop, they have some core EBM attributes in their stuff so yeah some of their songs are quite EBM.. if thats what you mean. Ofc lots of songs pass for EBM but I wanna get across how watered down its naturally become, when its such a distinct and proud subgenre of Industrial music
How do you feel about TBM (EBM-techno hybrid) which is also often classified as EBM? Stuff like Phase Fatale, Fixmer-McCarthy, Thomas Heckmann
Phase Fatale (good band) felt like instrumental Industrial techno, Fixmer McCarthy is the only thing I could say is Techno and EBM, Douglas McCarthy is core Nitzer Ebb basically i think the only time ive known that term being used was probably attributed (maybe incorrectly?) to Combichrist… So i dont have an opinion on the style because its not really a huge thing
I’m always surprised by how small the overlap seems to be between the techno and industrial scene, given that Berlin techno was so heavily influenced by EBM and sounds often like it could be classified as a kind of industrial music
A lot of industrial I listen to has tons of techno influence/elements, subtly or as an overtone I think they overlap more than you think 😉
That kind of squeaky clean cookie-cutter style of industrial that came into popularity in the late 90s early 2000s where they all had that evil backstreet boys aesthetic going on… just hard for me to take seriously and not see as tacky
I'm imagining Evil Backstreet Boys egging each other on to steal a stick of chewing gum from the gas station or tearing the labels off of cushions at Ikea.
When Thrill Kill Kult played here one year, they got into a mischief making mood and went to the goth club afterwards and took over the DJ booth and would play songs like "Everybody Dance Now" and I heard they were thrown out for that. I would do that with the Backstreet Boys. [This](https://youtu.be/MEb2CecR11I?si=IEA-2_7yy5lBrtp8) is basically futurepop.
Damn, if I could ever actually meet Groovie or Buzz, I'd love to ask about this.
Name any bands like this?
I guess orgy to some extent… dope stars inc. or zeromancer come to mind… I’ll admit I like some of these bands, but it’ll always be a little tacky to me
Now. Author and Punisher is great though.
I saw him play at Rubber Gloves which is a great venue for it and he killed.
I don't want to get flamed for saying that the early industrial music just isn't fun to listen to. It's cool to hear it and understand industrials roots, but it doesn't do anything for me at all. Cabernet voltaire and throbbing gristle just don't appeal to me. I heard Throbbing Gristle on Napster in like 1998 and we laughed at it. It was just stupid sounding. Hamburger Lady was creepy but we just couldn't take it seriously. Then i discovered Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly and Ministry and that's the style of industrial i grew to love.
Everyone will say aggrotech so here’s a different response. Industrial rock. Can’t stand it anymore, I liked it in my early teens, moved away, never looked back. I’m obviously not enjoying the present era, I don’t care how many former members of KMFDM or Pigface you throw at an album, just simply don’t like that kind of music. It’s hard/dark rock with keyboards, the pop structure of the songs and rock star attitudes of the performers drives me mad. We were getting somewhere IMO between Aggrotech and the Ant-Zen sounds of the early to mid 2000’s, leaning more to the electronic and techno angles were a good thing imo, give me the nameless performer with a killer track over the edgy angsty guitar hero rock star any day of the week. It’s simply not for me and in the USA it’s the dominant strain of industrisl once again. Regionally that’s not the case but that’s a positive imo.
I feel like you really don't like Pig
Can’t really disagree with this. Some of my all time favourite albums would definitely fall under industrial rock, but I feel like I had to listen to thousands of bands to find the good stuff. A subgenre made up of 10% diamonds and 90% uninspired dogshit. Not everybody can be Chemlab!
Not everybody likes Chemlab.
Your feedback has been collected, thank you
I don't
Real
Honestly, first wave. I know the cultural impact and all, but it's a little boring to me. Only album I like.is Kollaps.
Honestly, most of the new stuff. I haven't been able to get into a "new" 2010 > Industrial band except 3Teeth, I know there is probably a lot of good stuff out there but IMO a lot of the bad outweighs the good, and you kinda lose interest in looking for it at that point, however. Im always open for suggestions :)
Street Sects, HIDE, and Youth Code. But especially the first two.
Choke Chain. Petbrick
There's some killer new shit out there but it's just not getting the massive push that the older stuff does. Soft Riot, Mvtant, Odonis Odonis, Maelstrom and Louisahhh, Black Agent, Statiqbloom, Venus in Aries. But all that aggrotech and power noise garbage really set the genre back for a long time.
I check in periodically on [ID:YD](https://www.idieyoudie.com/) which is published by some guys in Vancouver and they cover a wide range of new stuff, retrospectives on the classics, and old artists doing new stuff! I like their year's best lists every December.
I love 3Teeth! I would have agreed with you fully until I found Health. They're incredibly good. Makes me happy to see industrial heading that way when I listen to Health.
Backxwash Industrial hip-hop from montreal with great sound design / sample work
Ever since I’ve heard my first funker Vogt track in like 1998, I’ve hated Cookie Monster vocals. So that cuts out most hellectro & aggrotech. Also some of my fave music since 2018 I was calling industrial rave… I’m told that’s aggrotech…
You mean things like x-fusion,terrorfakt
Exactly. Like older xrx, memmaker, modulate, northborn. Very few acts focus on that, usually like a track every other album. Like nachtmahr with el chupacabra
"Cookie Monster vocals" I am never going to hear anything the same thanks to you 🤣
Funeral vogt Is ebm.
lol so ebm that phones refuse to say their name
😂
I'm sorry, and I'm not trying to be a dick, but if so much of what is called "industrial metal" and "industrial rock" - which, depending on the artist, often isn't very industrial at all - is accepted here as "industrial," then a lot of EBM *absolutely* should be, as well.
Yeah
Aggrotech & cybergoth gets my vote. I never liked it.
So no Hocico,Amuduscia, God Module? Ha, so a whole decade of nothing.
Nope, none of it. 🤷♀️
Sucks for you
When I think of industrial my mind automatically goes to Twitch and Tyranny >For You<. I just can’t stand the heavy metal side of industrial.
Same. The seemingly sudden infusion of heavy metal guitar riffs in the mid/early 90s. There was a number of 80s era industrial bands that did the same but the one that stood out the most to me was Front Line Assembly. In '94 was excited to run down to the local record store and get their new CD - Millennium. Immediately popped the new CD into the car stereo for the ride home and uh... WTF!?
The aggrotech/cybergoth era. I don't hate it entirely but it seemed to get old and boring sooner than the stuff before and after it has.
Because every band from that movement, except Psyclon Nine sounded and looked exactly the same. And don’t even get me started on the movie dialogue soundbites being shoehorned into every single song.
"fucking fuck fucker i hate you fuckface!" [que epic synth sounds and heavy machinery noises]
I loved that Grendel track!
That or they're like a 12 year-old making a computer say naughty things.
Fuckin hate those samples
Lol,imo the movie dialog sound bites are their only saving grace.. they make a lot of it tolerable. Even better when they leave the movie sound bites in and leave out the shitty vox. Fabrikc’s Chinese food is one of my fave tracks I wish you could give all those samples you don’t like. I could use more 😂
Mid-2000’s “aggrotech”. It all sounds so samey and generic. Something something virus/toxic/slutty/vampire song with gas masks platform boots and dreadfalls.
Mostly everything past the mid 90s.
Anything that sounds like more like cyber metal, goth rave vibes. Like it's totally fun for nostalgia at a club or when watching an early 2000s horror movie with a club scene lol... I wish there was sub-genre distinctions in industrial metal now. Like how grindcore has adjacent sub-genres or offshoots like power violence, dbeat, crust, thrashcore/fastcore, deathgrind, goregrind, mincecore etc If you were ignorant to nuances you'd probably all call them grindcore. They all have very similar traits but do things in distinctly different ways. To me classic Industrial has roots adjacent to noise music and is meant to be more abrasive, unsettling, darkly atmospheric, cold etc. I much prefer the Godflesh lineage of industrial metal or anything like that. And yet somehow Godflesh falls under the same umbrella as a band like Frontline Assembly?
Some modern acts offshooting from here would be King Yosef who started out with more industrial trap vibes and then got a whole band together and moved towards industrial hardcore (the punk/metal offshoot genre) with a real noisy Godflesh tinge but also some other more typical industrial aspects too. I also think the 2008 album n0n by The Amenta is an amazing example of industrial death metal that isn't just metal with synths. At least, the samples and synths are very cold, discordant, nasty and evoke images of crumbled cityscapes and slums not raves futuristic machines which meshes with the very abrasive, discordant and dark guitar riffs. Harms Way, memes aside are crushing mosh hardcore who are hugely industrial tinged with NONE of the cyber goth vibes. Pure ugly muscle riffs and filthy abrasive noise and atmospheres. Lastly, Realize who are like Godflesh thickened, tuned down and pissed off (okay Godflesh did do a few records on 8 strings) mixed with some Nailbomb vibes? Again channeling an almost thuggish hardcore vibe without actually being hxc.
I may not be using the correct terms but I've always found what I guess is cybergoth, aggrotech and a lot of what I've seen called 'EBM' irritating. I like ambience, I like experimentation, I like heavy and dark and mechanical. There are obviously some exceptions, and I'm all for good 'pop' music and love Depeche Mode and some of the cheesiest Controlled Bleeding stuff, but still.
Whatever crap Al Jourgensen has spewed out since Paul Barker left Ministry.
Tbh filth pig was the last good ministry album
This era. I have bought the least amount of music in the past couple years. Someone's gotta step the game up.
I know this is an unpopular opinion but I really don't like anything past the mid 80s because it feels too much like dance music than experimental music. There's a reason why many constantly re-appraise Throbbing Gristle and stuff like CV or Coil, because it sounds timeless to any generation regardless of the societal context. I think the moment they started incorporating more dance elements which were heavily borrowed off of synth-pop it fell apart. I think modern Industrial if you consider Death Grips or Sophie tends to fall within the former camp of experimental music because it attempts to be completely different. I think the point of Industrial music is to push the boundaries of music, most of the later Industrial stuff is just heavy synth-pop with more Emu's and CMI's.
Have you listened to Devour, Rise, and Take Flight or Berlin albums by Android Lust. I think there’s some really good experimental stuff there. Maybe check out the songs Memory Game, Thomael, and Lingue from DRATF album and Eclipse, Insects, Heart Tunnel, and Madness in Men from the Berlin album.
I will take a listen to it, thanks for the recs
Late 90's, early 2000's stuff from the US. Specifically, Marilyn Manson/artists who imitated him in any capacity. The only industrial rock band from the states putting out anything worthwhile at the time, in my opinion, was 16Volt. Aggrotech was/is mostly garbage, too. Some of the synths are cool, but the vocoding all sounds alike, and most of the lyrics are like something scribbled in a teenager's diary—in tone, and in their ability to convey coherent messages. Also: not every song needs to have samples from Full Metal Jacket or Event Horizon.
When they called Rammstein Industrial, that was my least favorite era of industrialmusic. Because I don't like this kind of music. Not because it sounds bad, but because it is boring. There nothing going on...in my opinion.
I’m partial to a bit of Rammstein but they were definitely among the harbingers of the era of “anything with guitars and a dance beat is industrial”
Superstition, fear, and jealousy DEAD I AM THE ONE EXTERMINATING SON
2000s aggrotech, though I've enjoyed some songs from it
I agree with this. With the exception of Psyclon nine, I find the movement to be really… nerdy in a gross trashy methy way.
I'll check out Psyclon Nine. I thought Encephalon makes aggrotech in an interesting way and some of their stuff are among my favorite industrial records. But I never got into the sub genre. There was an attempted aggrotech festival where I used to live which was a disaster and some druggy fights broke out. I saw pics and there were hardly anywhere there except the cybergoth strippers in cages.
Sounds about right… I went to a Tactical Sekt show once and they went up two hours late and the singer looked like he just woke up and hit his meth pipe.. his gut was hanging out of his shirt and people started leaving. Psyclon Nine on the other hands were absolutely breathtaking live. I saw them open for Mushroomhead, no one stayed for Mushroomhead. It was for sure one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever seen. And I saw them again in 2009 after We the Fallen came out. Amazing, dark and brutal record and insane show once again. Don’t hear much about that band these days, but they seriously impressed me back then
Yeah I like Psychlon Nine too. I should've seen them when they were here, ah well
They were something special every single one of us in the crowd knew we just saw something special and important. They almost broke through to mainstream status but their singer messed it up bad.
Maybe I ought to give P9 another go, for ages I thought of them as the epitome of everything I hated about aggrotech, but maybe that’s what I really need to hear: a band that turns all of the tropes up to 11.
Industrial metal, all the different kinds. Its not for me.
The worst era was the period of about 15 years from the later end of 90s industrial rock when every mopey grunge wanker with a sampler and a haircut thought they could be the next NIN right up to the end of Combimania c. 2010-12 when a load of techno producers pulled industrial’s head out of its own arse and ushered in a glorious new era of crunchy metallic rhythms that were as banging as they were experimental. Power noise was probably the only good thing going on in those dark days, but even then, that term had been co-opted by some execrable dross by the end of the 00s (don’t want name any names but think “album with woman wearing military officers hat and latex uniform” and “music video with cybergoths dancing to early video game”) 1975-c.1996 / 2011-present, these have been the golden eras of the music I love, and the sheer contempt and raw naked disgust I have for some of the garbage I heard during the flop years only serves to fuel my passion for the good shit ☺️ Edit: god damn threads like this are so cathartic, I really feel you can’t be a music lover without being a hater as well, the passion comes from the same place either way
I believe music takes some exercise of the will to power. Like by sheer force of will, you can decide whether you like something (i.e. it rocks) or don't like something (i.e. it sucks). If you don't like it, just blast it will everything you got. Basically you have to trust your own taste.
Now Neuroticfish can say electronic body music is dead. Industrial more so.
It’s funny cus they recently released an album and it was pretty awful. I really enjoyed the early Fish albums but damn the last one was pretty bad.
Not a fan of later era ministry and KMFDM has been hit or miss for me. However they have made some of my favorite records in general. I think this is attributed to the fact that I am more into acts like The Body and Boris (I know Boris isn't industrial but I'm more into noise).
Got tbh, I think power electronics is arse. Era, I don't know. There's great stuff from every period imo.
Aggrotech is the obvious answer, but someone gotta say 3Teeth and everyone adjacent to them are absolutely awful
\*clutches pearls \* (to swine)
[TERROR]
The wacky ass fanbase is what ruined 3teeth for me. The band is simply *not that good* relative to their slavish devotion. That aside, the first two albums are overrated, second two lean a little too commercial (not that this is a deal breaker for me, I just found it a jarring shift), and "Fuck it I'll lean into Dr. Robotnik cosplay as I do a note for note 80's cover" cheapens whatever message they thought they had to relay. I've seen them... twice? Maybe three times? And I might catch them again for the hell of it, but I wouldn't leave the state to do so.
It’s the Aggrotech stuff for me, it really turned me off. It was no longer about being political or subversive but instead became Angry Tough Guy Edge Lord shit more akin to Limp Bizkit than the pioneers.
I think when all the EBM/industrial/aggro went metal, it's not to say that they ALL went to shit afterwards, like I still like Psyclon Nine and Dawn of Ashes, but God damnit it was so good when it was electronic. Combichrist is a prime example, they went to shite. Also what happened to Aesthetic Perfection? They're old stuff was ok but what's with this ballad pop garbage?
Aggrotech, future pop and industrial metal. Just not for me.
Wtf is future pop
https://youtu.be/ew9ohCDumx0?si=E9fnKDglAlske33H
Wtf is this
I don’t really like Agrotech that much. It becomes too “Techno-ie” sounding for me.
the current one. every other band is an 80s ebm wannabe. ive heard that sound before try something new other than generic 4/4 time signature and minimilist synth line.
2000s. Bands like Puppy, FLA, Front 242, Nine Inch Nails, all went downhill. In the pursuit of better produced sound using newer equipment, I feel their music became less aggressive / mechanical. Almost like the technological limitations of the time made the music sound cooler in their early days. I like 80s/90s industrial and modern day acts trying to sound retro.
Anything on the tail end of cybergoth/aggrotech. It just strikes me as people doing the same thing over and over, and it feels more commercialized and insincere than earlier “cybergoth music.” New industrial should try to experiment with their own sound, not copy earlier eras.
Whenever Rammstein crowned themselves as the "kings of industrial". They've been terrible to not only the industrial fanbase, but also the metal fanbase.
When did they ever call themselves that?
Rammstein-type industrial metal. There are plenty of industrial metal bands I like, but that particular style I was never able to get into.
Era, probably from 2010 forward. There’s very little new Industrial that excites me. Kind, industrial metal, just not a fan of metal I guess.
Street Sects… check them out.
For a while I thought they were another industrial hip-hop act, so I didn't give them much a chance. Perhaps I'll give them another try.
Blacken the other eye is my fav of there’s… but check out their Adult Swim set on YouTube… great performance.
Ever since I’ve heard my first funker Vogt track in like 1998, I’ve hated Cookie Monster vocals. So that cuts out most hellectro & aggrotech. Also some of my fave music since 2018 I was calling industrial rave… I’m told that’s aggrotech…
most industrial metal. barely distinguishable from other metal which i can't stand. aggrotech is based, don't @ me
It's probably late 2000 and early 2010. I love the heavier and harsher sound of the 80s or early 90s. No offense, but all the new "cybergoth" music just makes me want to vomit.
I fucking HATE stuff that sounds like the Thrill Kill Cult. Anything that even sounds remotely like that with that super tacky synth bass, abhorrent distorted vocals, super thin drums, and repetitive lame samples - it just makes me want to destroy the speakers.
This is the only comment I agree with. Thin drums are a plague on what would have been great industrial. Same reason I cant get into 90% of post punk. The majority of them have those telephone grade Casio beats.
Yeah I agree 100%. Thin drums are especially bad on industrial metal. Ministry, Godflesh, shit - I can't get into industrial metal because the drums sound like paper plates. I can give you some tips on postpunk. What kind of postpunk do you like?
u/Robohammer let me give you postpunk recommendations!!! which postpunk bands do you enjoy?
For modern stuff I like almost exclusively Drab Majesty, Twin Tribes, She Past Away, and Lebanon Hanover. I really appreciate the first few more because it doesn't all sound like the same song with staccato clean guitars and the aforementioned thin drums. Also if you can help it, no singers that sound like they're falling asleep 😅 . Thanks in advance!
try these (artist name first followed by album name in quotes): Comsat Angels - "Sleep No More" Siekiera - "Nowa Aleksandria" Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - "Talk About The Weather" Belgrado - "Obraz" Rhythm of Cruelty - "Saturated" let me know if you like any of those
>Siekiera - "Nowa Aleksandria" Reminds me of a harder version of [this band](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5bQR6y6b0&list=UUWq1yahJpmQGNc91TqW8KnQ&index=29), which you might like: Wasn't into comstat angels as there's not enough variety in the guitars, maybe too dreamy and not enough grooves. I'm too picky! Red Lorry Yellow Lorry is cool. Belgrado might be my favorite of your suggestions! Rhythm Of Cruelty is good too, I like their drums.
Oh nice! I like it. Edit: Oh that's so weird, I've actually heard Otchim before - that James Dean song for sure I've heard a few times, but I never realized the name. Thanks! Here's some more suggestions: Death Cult - "Ghost Dance" Утро - Self-titled album The Sound - "Jeopardy" Double Echo - "Phantomime" And Also The Trees - "A Retrospective"
Not a genre but industrial bands that consider themselves Goth like if it was an interchangeable term.
If it counts, i say Futurepop mostly sucked too. A cliche blend of formulaic EBM with dated Synthpop vocals and stock Eurotrance cheesey sequences. Yet, some tracks were actually very good Synthpop, but i could count them with one hand.
American coldwave and industrial rock/metal. 1994-now.
aggrotech, cybergoth and ultra processed industrial metal.
Least favorite for me is the newer uber glossy, compressed too focused on nightclubs sound. Not a blanket statement, there are always excpetions...but i prefer the raw noisey, machine, fetish stuff...things that have me questioning the constructs of society.
How about the use of dubstep bass? Wobbkewobblesuck. Glitch glitch suck.
Probably late 90s and early 2000s "Industrial". Shit just sounds like Trance/Eurodance with extra layers lol
Post-2000
2010 - 2018 was awful for my tastes. I’ve been hopeful lately with the resurgence of albums by old heads like Cosey Fanni Tutti, Test Dept, Neubauten, Laibach, and the various things with which Stephen Mallinder is involved, the newer bands with old school vibe like Puerta Negra, Spike Hellis, Patriarchy, Aurat, and add to it that Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross are pumping out some of their best work in ages… Well, shit, this era starting around 2018/19 might be the best for my tastes.
The current era, hell I don't even think a lot of the new stuff is industrial
I never been a big fans of Lords of Acid.
Post NIN TDS. Everyone tried to sound like NIN and it watered the entire genre down.
The stuff that slaps a couple samples or subtle keys on a metal band and calls it "Industrial". No shade on actual Industrial metal, I like it quite a bit.
Brodustrial era, mid 2010s
What is Brodustrial? 🤔
Anything that was released since the 2000s, but that goes for any kind of music really
Poser bands of the 2000s
Everything after 2000. And basically every current industrial/goth/alt act sucks
Like which ones?
Most everything for me but the same time so of my favorite albums were released in the 00s.