I was exposed to Industrial pretty heavily by the same friends who listened to a lot of hardcore punk, and punk rock. Though what is called Industrial and in this case Industrial Metal also had a lot of cross over impact, and really IS Metal.

This series is part of a large series I am doing which began with my original post which has all other episodes linked at the very bottom. It was inspired by the Metal Evolution documentary series by Sam Dunn and Banger Films. Sam made a very nice Metal Evolution tree poster. It shows a lot of branches, and names. Not all of the names are covered by him, and a large portion of the branches are not. I decided I wanted to explore this and touch on each of these branches.

As such he is the one who put what is being called Industrial Metal together. Some of these bands I would not have associated with such a label, but there is a lot of crossover between sub-genres. Some of these bands I'd likely put into Grindcore, and others like Rammstein already appeared in my post on Shock Rock. There is a lot of overlap, and this sub-genre seems to have it's share of that.

It should also be noted that not all Industrial is necessarily metal at all. I will touch on a few in this documentary for history sake that this is likely true of.

The Metal Evolution documentary series did not do an episode on this branch.

Here is a super short Industrial Music documentary:
The History And Impact of Industrial Music - Music School

Let Us Begin

Industrial used a lot of tape dubbing, and mixing tricks, along with a lot of digital effects, and other sounds that did not exist before it. Some bands that might be considered simply Industrial would often use metal tracks that they mixed into their sound via dubbing, so they could still be considered Industrial Metal. Some bands are clearly metal, and clearly also inspired by the dubbing, and interesting sound effects that appeared with the Industrial movement.

Front 242

Band First Released: 1982
Nationality: Belgium
I had a brother to one of my best friends play this a lot when it first came out. Later on he would become one of my roommates, and also a boss in a kitchen where I had a dish washing gig. He played a lot of industrial including Front 242 in the kitchen. At first I hated it, because I did not like the idea of watching someone push a few buttons when performing music. I also didn't think it was that difficult to do. One day I decided to PROVE IT. I went to my Amiga and fired up my copy of MED (before OctaMED) and I proceeded to write my own Industrial tunes. I'd end up writing over 100 of them at some point as I really got into making electronic music on my computer purely due to trying to prove a point. I learned that I can respect this music from a COMPOSITION point of view, and purely from a listening perspective. I do not respect it in a performance artist perspective. As pushing a few buttons on stage to play back compositions I made earlier is not that exciting to watch. I watch musicians to admire their skill, technique, etc. So I do not enjoy most industrial from a performance perspective. I do enjoy it from a compositional perspective. I would go on to use this TRY TO COMPOSE a style of music technique as my way of learning to appreciate music for the rest of my life. If I didn't like some form of music, I would attempt to MAKE some of that music and usually I learn to appreciate that style of music in some way or another. In only a few cases have I really nailed down why I dislike the music. Industrial Metal though would quickly solve this one PERFORMANCE issue by mixing these compositions WITH actual performance requiring kinds such as guitars, drums, etc that are performed live. This is primarily when it actually becomes Industrial Metal. With that said Front 242 is not really Industrial Metal at all. They are however, one of the earlier examples of where this Industrial sound came from. They actually made most of their music with multi-track recorders and overdubbing in the early days, though they were quite prolific.
Front 242 Belpop Documentary 2008 w/ English Subtitles - 52:14

Headhunter

Operating Tracks

Quite Unusual

Ministry

Band First Released: 1983
Nationality: United States
Ministry may be the earliest actual Industrial Metal band I can find. They were quite popular and they mixed the digital and dubbing with actual performance on the guitars, drums, etc. They also did take the energetic and powerful approach of metal, where a lot of Industrial music did not get this heavy. The vocal track on Jesus Built My HotRod is nuts and one of a kind. Once you've heard it, it is immediately identifiable. Who knew crazy nonsense vocals would be so memorable...
Jesus Built My HotRod (Video Version)

No W (Music Video)

Stigmata (Video Version)

Live Wacken Open Air 2016 (HD 720p) - 1:16:18

Skinny Puppy

Band First Released: 1984
Nationality: Canada
This is one of those that was more along the Front 242 style and not usually metal, but they could end up mixing in metal tracks into their song, so occasionally it could be pretty heavy. This is a band though like Front 242 that I would consider more Industrial than Industrial Metal. They were early in the movement though and thus, were pretty influential. Their beats could be quite heavy though so I'd say they definitely influenced a lot of Industrial Metal acts. I think the song Tin Omen sounds a lot like some later Rammstein stuff, yet they didn't really play much in the way of instruments. Most of their work is done with careful use of multi-track recorders and samples.
Pro-Test

Tin Omen

Assimilate @ Dolce Vita 1986 - 7:52 - good example of live... simple keyboard... guy pushes some buttons and jerks around and acts nutty, drinks some soda, until he needs to sing. I actually dislike this form of music a great deal from a performance perspective.

I'mmortal

White Zombie

Band First Released: 1987
Nationality: United States
White Zombie is one of those bands I learned to really like after they had been out for awhile. For me it was more about the non-standard rhythms and bass lines. The first song of theirs I really got into is Thunder kiss '65 and that is a song I actually enjoy playing on my guitar, just because I find the rhythm extremely entertaining and non-standard 4/4 feel. It is entertaining.
POST MORTEM: Rob Zombie - Part 1 - 9:44

Dragula

Thunder Kiss '65

More Human Than Human

More Human - Live On Late Show w/ David Letterman - 7/14/95

It should be noted that White Zombie as a band broke up but this style of music has continued as the band Rob Zombie while he has also become big time in making theatrical movies as well.

Nine Inch Nails

Band First Released: 1989
Nationality: United States
This band became quite big and popular due to the works of Trent Reznor. They have music that is straight up Industrial and they also have works that clearly fit into the Industrial Metal sound. They also are the original band for the song Hurt which has been covered by Johnny Cash, Eddie Veder, Sevendust and others which I actually covered in detail on a post about the versions of Hurt.
Closer - Requires clicking I Understand to watch

The Hand That Feeds

Something I can never have (still)

We're In This Together

Full Concert - August 13th, 1994 - Woodstock (Official) - 1:24:07

Fear Factory

Band First Released: 1992
Nationality: United States
This band has been around for quite awhile and was/if very much Industrial Metal. I never really paid a lot of attention to them until I happened to watch them playing the song Transgression as I was on my way through my living room and was about to go Jam with some people. I watched it for about 30 seconds, and about an hour and a half later I was standing in a garage playing the main riff. The guys I was jamming with were saying "that's cool... what is it?" I had to answer at the time "I'm not sure, it's something cool I saw on my TV as I was leaving the house." :p I started paying more attention at that time. I don't really get into this style of vocal singing. It is more annoying to me personally than Death Metal even. Though I do enjoy the music behind it.
Transgression (Live at Gigantour, 2005) - this is exactly what I saw as I was walking out of my house... and was playing from those few seconds later in a garage. :P I have a natural affinity for playing rhythms like this. I was playing it on guitar in a garage before I'd ever even heard any of the vocals. :P It is not particularly difficult but I like galloping rhythms.

Live in the Studio - same Song - Transgression

Replica (Official Video)

Powershifter (Official Music Video)

Resurrection (Official Video)

Genitorturers

Band First Released: 1993
Nationality: United States
I actually have NEVER heard of this band until today as I was making this post. I don't know much about them. This is one of two bands in this post I'd never heard of before.
Visual Disturbance promo documentary- must click I understand to proceed - 8:04

Lecher bitch

Take It

Flesh Is The Law

Strapping Young Lad

Band First Released: 1995
Nationality: Canada
I have heard of Strapping Young Lad before, but I don't know much about them. It was typically on a radio station as I was driving around in the late 90s. I don't know a lot about them, but at least I have heard the name. They sound pretty cool from the music I listened to while making this post.
Love? (Official Video) - Like the Evil Dead like intro at the beginning of this video.

Almost Again (Official Video)

Detox (Official Video)

Download Festival 2006 - Full Set - 42:14

Rammstein

Band First Released: 1995
Nationality: Germany
I covered Rammstein in an earlier post on Shock Rock, so I will only list a single video of them here. You can click on that link to Shock Rock to see more about them.
Ich Tu Dir Weh (Official Video)

Orgy

Band First Released: 1998
Nationality: United States
This was the other band I was unfamiliar with before making this post. Of course I know what an Orgy is, though I didn't know of the band by that name until now.
rare 1999 interview (Part 1)

Fiction (Dreams in Digital) (Video)

Stitches (Video)

Grime of the Century

Static-X

Band First Released: 1999
Nationality: United States
I first heard Static X thanks to the Queen Of The Damned movie soundtrack, which I thought was a pretty great sound track. Later on I would see Wayne Static touring as Wayne Static after the Static-X band disbanded. It was an interesting show. I remember them being particularly interesting to my young teenage sons who were with me and his wife doing almost strip acts on the stage and whirling things around her nipples like propellers and such. That gimic was particularly enticing to my boys. The most interesting thing to me was the use of some of that deep Dubstep WUB WUB WUB type sound mixed with a little metal. I don't know if that originated with Static-X or not as I only listened to them a little bit, and primarily due to that Queen Of The Damned soundtrack.
X-Posed (Shadow Zone Bonus DVD) - 33:33

The Only (video)

Push It (Video)

Cold (Video) - this was the song that was also on Queen Of The Damned

Live At Graspop Metal Meeting 2007

Closing

I know that I by no means covered all of the bands in this genre. I covered the ones from the Metal Evolution chart and I added a few beyond that. If you would like to add some names to this feel free to reply to this post and include a link to a video of your addition.

Steem On!