Industrial Music is music that draws on transgressive or provocative sounds and themes, devised in the early 1970s by bands like throbbing gristle this was a new wave of new sounds that could be taken from anywhere, from the sound of a train crashing to a nuclear explosion, all sounds can be used. In general Industrial is harsh and challenging, it is the most abrasive and aggressive fusion of metal and electronic music and to this day continues that way, but now with innovation in both sides of this combo genre, it has seen a massive intake and improvement on its sound and its talent in the past 5 years.
I’m sure most of you have heard of bands like Godflesh, Nine inch Nails, Throbbing Gristle and the Body. Well these are industrial artists on the more metal/rock side of things. I am a new addition to the team at cvltnation, and what I want to bring to the table is the more electronic side of industrial music, with its roots in post-punk, noise, drone and ambient and its derivatives in drone metal, dark ambient, industrial metal and techno, I want to showcase this sound.
To introduce this sound to the readers I have picked 11 songs that I am listening to at the minute that will lay the roots for the music I will cover.
First off is a song from an elusive producer from france, his alias is SLYRS, in which he makes industrial techno, usually bass heavy and abrasive, an impacting and dark sound and “End” is no exception.
SLYRS – END
Watch and Punish by DSCRD is the song I chose next, this is a great example of how guitars and their distortions can be used for all kinds of things, DSCRD or Discordance are a french electronic group that use their bands skills in software based and hardware based production to make all sorts of deep, dark and weird incantations.
DSCRD – Watch & Punish
https://youtu.be/km2H1_TNrHE
TRN5 By Samuel Kerridge is a very interesting piece of industrial techno, it is slow and filled with post punk affluences, the bleak distorted bass morphs round the slow drums of the track to create a post apocalyptic soundscape that sounds like your eternal demise is right around the corner.
Kerridge – TRN5
The gallows by the body and Krieg is another nightmare in industrials progress, this track is searing with noise, cries from kriegs singer like a necromantic slave, undying, full of pain and hate. This track is lead by a distorted kick drum beating at the pace of the unyielding march of the undead. This is a masterpiece in Blackened Industrial Doom Metal music.
The Body & Krieg – The Gallows (Begins at 23:40)
Next up is a track I have fucking loved for a long time, wolf at the door by greymachine, a collobaritive project with godflesh and some other artists Justin K Broadrick has worked with, but to me, this is proof that Justin never lost his ability to push raw, destructive angry music, at the time he was releasing with jesu and it seemed like he had lost touch with his heavy industrial based side, THIS ALBUM, prooved EVERYONE wrong.
Some of the heaviest, noisiest, most raw and violent industrial metal that can be found. And I am its scholar, lost, still waiting for another album…
Greymachine – Wolf at the Door
Ugandan Methods, a joint project by Ancient Methods and Regis, two big producers in the industrial techno scene, came together with ‘She Belongs to Eternity’ with the same kind of mental electronic noise/scream that vintage Throbbing Gristle would choose with a huge kick drum to back up the noisey mayhem and it has made this track one of my favourite.
Ugandan Methods – She Belongs to Eternity
https://youtu.be/HENkXs2tE70
This is a remake of a noise/power ambient track by prurient by me and a friend under our alias Paragon, we didn’t have to do much to remix this track, hence why its labelled as an edit. This is a great example of how the genres surrounding the metal/industrial bracket can all link together. Powerful kicks and an irregular rhythm just give prurients track new found power as is evident when we play this track live.
Dragonflies to sew you up – Prurient (Paragon Edit)
As above, so below, this is a great track and one of the best to come from the British Murder Boys, a project by techno forefathers Surgeon and Regis. Just recently back making music and doing live sets, I look forward to seeing these guys live very soon. This track has live vocals and guitar from Regis while Surgeon holds power over the electronic drums and samples they use, taking obvious influence from post punk and noise genres these two are some of the most forward thinking techno heads alive.
As Above, So Below (31:58)
https://youtu.be/YWz9wNAfhiI?t=1918
This track is filled with industrial sounds which builds into a disorientating synthline and drum combo that is certain to bring the headbanger out in you. Ayarcana is one of the people behind the resurgance in metal influenced techno in the scene at the minute, harsh, hard hitting, abrasive techno. MAKE TECHNO METAL AGAIN.
Ayarcana – You are not Perfect
This is an epic piece of industrial techno, on one of the oldest and best techno labels, R & S records. Screaming synths and pads build into this tracks relentless drumming only to break down and become even darker, more intimidating and
a fucking indcredible listen, you’ll know when it hits, the deathvox.
Paula Temple – Deathvox
And finally, the last song I chose for this introduction is by Samuel Kerridge again, this time with an eerie approach… Something that could be likened onto a black metal intro for a masterpiece of an album like Burzum’s from the depths of darkness, this song uses a horrific melody to come from a bassline, drowned by the sounds of a discordant wind and reverberated atmospheres to send chills down your spine. It feels like you are standing in an endless void, trapped and surrounded by darkness…
Kerridge – From the Shadows that Melt the Flesh 4
All of these and more are to come. Industrial, ambience, power ambient, noise, techno and the odd forward thinking band. As there are a lot of people more suited than me to cover heavy metal, I won’t delve too deeply into their territory, but rest assured I will show you tracks that you didn’t think would exist.
There is a new found darkness in electronic music and I will proove it to you cvltists!