Five genres of industrial you may not know about

OK here I’m going to talk about five little-known cousins of the big happy family of industrial music.

1 - Found Sounds
Now some snotty-nosed industrial purists might insist that Found Sounds (aka Field Recordings) is in fact a sub-genre of ambient music, or experimental. But we know what I think of industrial purists. Anyway, Found Sounds is music constructed entirely from sounds recorded in the surrounding environment, as opposed to made on a synthesizer, guitar or whatever. These people usually then distort, effect, and re-sample the material until it sounds totally unlike the original source, but they'll be fanatical about not introducing any other “artificial” sounds into the mix. It’s a philosophical thing I guess. They can thus produce albums sounding dark and creepy, harsh and noisy, or something in between, but generally it just sounds kinda weird (and often quite good).
Notable albums: Notime’s “Living Planet” and “Dying Planet” (side project of power noise legend Converter!), Wilt’s “Radio 1940” (good double cd of music made from broken radio sounds), Sleep Research Facility’s “Dead Weather Machine” (made entirely from the sounds of a broken air conditioner).

2 - Breakcore
Another genre that will be claimed by people from other camps (mainly techno and drum’n’bass), breakcore is techno or power noise having an epileptic fit. Forget four to the floor, in fact forget structures, bars, time signatures, or having some clue where the next beat is going to fall, this music is all over the place. You can’t even give it a BPM (at least I certainly can’t). Some call it random button mashing on a drum machine, some call it high art, some just like to take drugs and dance around in a crazy fashion to it. Personally, it doesn’t do a whole lot for me, and smacks of elitism and being cool for its own sake; nevertheless, there are some interesting or fun moments to be found here. Surprisingly, quite a few of the respected breakcore artists are from Australia, though it doesn’t have much of a following (I think some of their shows have as many punters as performers). Breakcore had a very brief moment in the spotlight when a video of someone jumping around to Venetian Snare’s “Dance like you’re selling nails” went somewhat viral.

Notable albums: Venetian Snares’ “Meathole” (this guy is considered the best in show), Xanopticon’s “Luminal Space” (or is this glitchcore? Bah who knows or cares), anything by Enduser (he’s not bad).

3 - Power Electronics
OK this is truly crazy stuff. Out of all the forms of music humans have made through the ages, Power Electronics is bested only by Japanoise in its outright insanity, abrasiveness and aggression. The formula is pretty simple; one very angry man (it’s always a man), screaming about terrorists, murder, or murdering terrorists, through about 12 distortion and delay pedals, over a blistering, grinding wall of noise. Fun stuff! There was a point around 2002 - 03 when there were some genuinely good people doing this music, but it quickly became overpopulated with feeble imitators and stupid fat serial-killer fetishists. There was a point in my life when this music made sense to me. I’m since a happier and more well-adjusted person so it doesn’t do much for me anymore, but I dust off my NTT or Propergol albums every now and then.
Notable albums: Strom.Ec’s “Neural Architect” (very good and underrated, excellent production!), Propergol’s “United States”, “Renegade” or “Program Vengeance” (legendary French act, still going strong), Navicon Torture Technologies’ “Church of Dead Girls” (mind-shattering, relentless, the final word in power electronics; nothing will probably ever beat this).

4 - Death Industrial
If Power Electronics is the torture chamber of industrial music, Death Industrial is the dungeon underneath where they throw the bodies after they’re finished with them. This music comes almost exclusively from Sweden, is released almost exclusively on the cult Swedish label Cold Meat Industry, and is a dark pit of despair. Sonically, it is a combination of the abrasiveness of power electronics with the grim atmosphere of dark ambient. There are rarely vocals or samples used however, and pretty much everything is drenched in reverb for that genuine catacomb feel. There are very few people making this music anymore (its brief heyday, if it could be said to have one, was in the late nineties / early noughties); even the undisputed king of death industrial, Brighter Death Now (aka Roger Karmanik, who runs Cold Meat Industry) now produces music that is basically power electronics.
Notable albums: Brighter Death Now’s “Necrose Evangelicum”, “The Slaughterhouse”, “Pain in Progress” (all classics), Archon Satani’s “Of Gospels Lost and Forsaken” (double cd of this pioneering group), Megaptera’s “Curse of the Scarecrow” (awesome).

5 - Tribal Industrial
The new and not very popular style is one of the most interesting and enjoyable things happening in music at the moment; the unlikely wedding of industrial with tribal beats. The cult Belgian artist Ah Cama Sotz had been toying with this stuff for years, but things really took off when fellow Belgian loon This Morn Omina released “Seven Years of Famine” on Ant-Zen, including its unlikely club hit, One Eyed Man.

Both of these artists have continued to put out excellent releases, but very few have followed in their footsteps. Maybe that’s a good thing? Power Electronics got swamped by shitty unoriginal bands trying to be the next Slogun or Propergol and failing miserably. It’s probably for the best that the number of bands doing this style you can count on one or two hands, because they’re all awesome.
Notable albums: This Morn Omina’s “Seven Years of Famine” (or pretty much anything else; this guy is the man), Ah Cama Sotz’s “La Procesion de la Sangre” (or just about anything else), Tzolk'in’s “Haab”.

Top 10 EBM albums of all time

Here is my list of the top 10 EBM albums ever. Well, up until October 2009, at least. Putting together this list wasn’t easy. There were a lot of good bands who got left off (Haujobb, S.I.T.D., Klinik, Cesium 137). There were a lot of really good albums who didn’t squeeze in because they didn’t fit a (fairly strict) definition of EBM, like Mentallo and the Fixer’s “Revelations 23” or NCC’s “Seven Steps of Nervousness”. Anyway here it is.

10. Front 242: Front by Front (1988)
This classic is worthy for inclusion just by virtue of having “Headhunter” on the tracklisting, probably the most famous and popular industrial song ever recorded. The album starts off a little slow with “Unto Death Do Us Part” but ramps up the energy and doesn’t stop. This is pure, simple and dynamic EBM by the people who invented the genre and the term. The 1992 reissue includes some solid bonus tracks, especially the awesome “Never Stop”.
9. Nitzer Ebb: That Total Age (1987)
This British group certainly attracted attention with this debut. They produced EBM that was stripped down to bare essentials, with a startling aggression, speed and youthful energy. Join in the Chant may be their best known song, but there are plenty of other solid tracks here. Nitzer Ebb are still touring and astonishingly have lost none of their energy.
8. Front Line Assembly: Caustic Grip (1990)
What? Not Tactical Neural Implant? No! This album demolishes it’s much better known younger brother. This is Bill Leeb’s most direct and aggressive work, and the one most closely matching the style of the EBM pioneers Front 242, Nitzer Ebb and the Klinik. There may have been only half a dozen drum samples used on the whole record, but who cares when it sounds so good? Highlights are Provision and Iceolate.
7. Leather Strip: Solitary Confinement (1992)
An enormously influential album, this disc went on to spawn entire genres of music. When this came out it hit the industrial music scene like a bombshell; nobody had heard anything as dark and angry as this. The production quality and composition surpassed any of Claus Larsen’s previous works (and subsequent, many would say). A true milestone.
6. Seabound: Double-Crosser (2006)
Picking one Seabound album was extremely difficult. They have put out three and they are all excellent. The first however was probably more on the synthpop side of the fence rather than EBM (it can be a fine line). Beyond Flatline was a little darker, and Double Crosser more so. Seabound craft very clever and emotional songs like few people on the planet can, and their production skills are second to none. Domination stands out, but the closer Breathe is just jawdropping.
5. Mind.In.A.Box: Crossroads (2007)
As someone who tries their hand at music production, listening to this Austrian duo would be demoralising and frustrating, if it wasn’t the best music being made in the world today, since their skill embarrasses just about everybody else around. Crossroads doesn’t quite have the consistency of Dreamweb, but it has some standout tracks that are about the best thing in this style ever recorded, including the opening intro, which has to be heard to be believed.
4. Neuroticfish: Les Chanson de Neurotiques (2002)
Some may think of this band as a bit cheesy who had a few catchy club hits like Velocity. This is however a genuinely excellent album, solid from start to finish, with great vocals and lyrics, brilliant songwriting and a wide range of emotional content. The only downside is following what should have been a brilliant album closer, Need, with a feeble and misplaced remix of Velocity. Apart from that, this is a flawless album and essential listening.
3. Covenant: Sequencer (1996)
Many may be surprised not to see this album even higher, given its critical reception and cult status. And it is a classic; the opening track, Feedback, hits the listener like a blast of icy wind, with snarling synths and frozen commanding vocals. The whole album clocks in at only eight tracks (though varying depending on which of the many reprints you might have), but is just superb. The only downside is the predictable “club / dancefloor” track Stalker. The rest is solid gold.
2. Zero Defects: Non-Recyclable (1994)
Everyone (or at least all of the crusty old industrial fans, like me) know this band only for their 90s club hit, Duracell. Yes, the cool one with the Duracell battery ad samples. But this album has 10 tracks, all absolutely killer, every single one. This is EBM at its very best; cold, yet emotional; precise, yet human; dark, yet uplifting. I’ve listened to this album literally hundreds of times, and not only am I not sick of it, it gets better every time I hear it.
1. Mind.In.A.Box: Dreamweb (2005)
Two entries in the top 10 (top 5 even) gives you an idea how good this band is. Not only is every track perfect, but they all fit together into a seamless whole, an unfolding story. Synths, vocals, even occasionally guitars weave in and out of each other effortlessly. Emotions from hope, fear, love, despair and everything in between are traversed. The production quality isn’t quite as good as on Crossroads, and there may not be many “club tracks” here, but who cares? It’s EBM in my books and the best thing anyone’s ever done, and maybe ever will do.