industrial

A style of music started in the mid-1970's by the seminal "band" Throbbing Gristle. Known for the painful noise and disturbed subject matter that seemed to spring eternal from their seriously crazed leader, Genesis P-Orridge (he was once threatened by the axe-murder Ian Brady... Prompting him to write a song about Ian), TG quickly claimed a name for itself. They were often described as "the wreckers of civilization." Industrial music was further explored by synth-whatever acts Suicide and Cabaret Voltaire, from New York and Sheffield respectively. Both shared a sort of skewed love for pop music, and both had a penchant for writing seriously weird songs, in the tradition of TG. Cab Voltaire especially was an enormous influence on the scene to follow. The Cabs were soon followed by the fledgling Einsturzende Neubauten, possibly the most notorious of the well-known industrial groups. With more members, no drum set, and a hatred for the guitar, Blixa Bargeld and his band of jaded Germans unleashed a wave of broken machinery and really cool-sounding German lyrics, and throwing in danceable beats, thus giving birth to (you can't blame 'em) the Holocaust that is modern-day industrial. With very little respect for the experimentation of their forefathers but a strong desire to somehow work machinery into their music, a whole host of over (I will NOT say über)-angsty Goths turned to the new genre of Industrial for sanctuary. Bands like Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, and many other groups who wore their hair like Goths but were really, REALLY angry, started coming out of the woodwork. J.G. Thirlwell was a notable exception, bringing some seriously needed humour to the genre with his whole host of aliases (most of them containing "foetus"). Things only went downhill from there, and before you know it, BAM! the Nine Inch Nails.