Top 10 Death Industrial albums

Death Industrial is arguably the most bleak and morbid genre of music in the whole damn world. There's sadly very little of it being made these days (though thanks to Malignant Records, it's not completely... dead, hah): it's heyday was in the 90s when Cold Meat Industry and a few other European labels released the best stuff. The list is pretty well dominated by the two big Swedish acts in this genre, Megaptera and Brighter Death Now (the project of the legendary Roger Karmanik, who runs Cold Meat Industry, though there are definitely some other worthwhile acts. I used to be really into this stuff, then completely lost interest in it, and now I'm going on a bit of a rediscovery journey and enjoying it again. Even industrial music fanatics will probably never hear or own the re-releases of these albums, let alone the original releases (most of which are insanely rare and out of print), but nevertheless, here is my list.

10. Catharsis and Drape Excrement: Homo Homini Lupus (Malignant Records / Black Plagve, 1999). Not all Death Industrial is Swedish (though you'd think so looking at the top end of this list). US label Malignant Records put this split release by two German acts out on their Black Plague sub-label in 1999, and it's a pretty damn fine piece of work; menacing, abrasive and thoroughly unpleasant. While not completely essential, it has some strong tracks and is a good introduction to the genre.

9. Trepaneringsritualen: The Totality of Death (Malignant Records, 2013). I've very recently got my hands on this album and I'm really excited by it. Not because it's the best death industrial in the world, but because it exists; there is very little of this music around these days and to hear a new band put out some new music in this genre is definitely a good sign. Like many good death industrial albums, this is actually a compilation of rare tracks off various limited and deleted releases. Malignant were wise enough to recognise talent and inflict this madness on the world in a packaged form with the usual excellent artwork and mastering of this label.

8. Archon Satani: Of Gospels Lost and Forsaken (Cold Meat Industry, 2002). Archon Satani are one of the true pioneers in this genre: along with Brighter Death Now and Megaptera, they pretty much invented it. This is a collection released by Cold Meat of much older and rarer material. This is very minimal and bleak stuff; howling winds, broken percussion, and damned vocals paint a picture of doomed souls at the edge of madness and despair. While influential in its day, Megaptera ended up taking this ball and running with it into places Archon Satani weren't quite prepared to go.

7. MZ.412: Nordik Battle Signs (Cold Meat Industry, 1999). MZ412 apparently claim their music is "black industrial". While the jury is out on whether that is or is not a made up genre name, this is a fine piece of work, and almost certainly the best of MZ412's many albums (not to mention the endless side projects and spinoffs of the mastermind, Heinrik Bjork). It's somewhat incoherent, but that provides a variety which is exciting. Probably the least pure death industrial album in the list but definitely worth checking out. Watch out for the guest appearance by the guy from Ordo Rosarius Equillibrio.

6. Brighter Death Now: Great Death Series / Greatest Death (Cold Meat Industry, 1998). Now we're into the real stuff. Brighter Death Now released a series of albums titled Great Death volumes I, II and III, each harder to get than the last (you had to fill out a form that came with vol 2 and send it to Roger Karmanik to get vol 3, true story). Most people are exposed to the tracks via the "best of" summary, Greatest Death, which contained the best tracks from the three as voted by people who had bought them. This is classic Brighter Death Now; horribly black and venomous slabs of hatred and misanthropy. The last track, Urinited, is a masterpiece.

5. Brighter Death Now / Bomb the Daynursery: Pain in Progress (Unclean Production / Cold Meat Industry, 1988, re-released 1998). This is the album that started it all and invented the genre. The very first release was actually in 1988 on a cassette tape under the artist name Bomb the Daynursery; two years later it was released on LP as a Brighter Death Now album, and in 1998 re-released on CD by CMI (the version I have). Immensely, catastrophically dark, brutally bleak and extremely minimalist, this set new standards and became the benchmark by which all later releases can be judged.

4. Megaptera: Curse of the Scarecrow (Release Entertainment, 1998). The only band in this style that really comes close to early Brighter Death Now is their Swedish compatriots Megaptera. This is an album that really focuses on the "industrial" part of the name; it brings to mind massive machinery of pain and torture, grinding away at human remains. Listening to this through to the end alone in a dark room is not an experience you're likely to forget for a while.

3. Brighter Death Now: The Slaughterhouse (Functional Organisation, 1993). This is certainly the purest form of death industrial that has ever been recorded. I don't know how else to describe it. If you want to know what death industrial sounds like, it sounds like this.

2. Megaptera: Beyond the Massive Darkness (Cold Meat Industry, 2001). Like Archon Satani's Of Gospels Lost and Forsaken, this is a re-release of earlier work, but I'll treat it as one album, because unless you're going to spend hundreds of dollars on Ebay for the original components, this is what you'll get. And it is amazing. The first half, Songs from the Massive Darkness (actually printed on CD2 due to a production printing error) is really good minimal death industrial, bordering very closely on dark ambient. But it's the second half (CD1) that hits it out of the park, featuring the only music in this style that genuinely rivals BDN.

1. Brighter Death Now: Necrose Evangelicum (Cold Meat Industry, 1995). This is a hard album for me to talk about. A long time ago it was my favourite album of all time and I had close to a religious obsession with it. My tastes and interests have changed and I never really listen to it anymore, but it's still a masterpiece, and I'll declare to be the darkest music any humans have recorded. The other albums in this list are good, but this sits far, far above the others. The Slaughterhouse may be a more "pure" form of the style, but this is just better, in every way. The artwork (cover and inside jacket) is also perfectly suited to the album. From here on, Brighter Death Now sadly departed from death industrial and started recording a whole bunch of pretty ordinary power electronics albums. He once said about that in an interview "what, did people just want me to keep recording The Slaughterhouse and Necrose Evangelicum over and over again"? Maybe not, but I'd much rather he do that than he record Obsessis or May All Be Dead over and over again. Anyway, this album changed my life and is a more perfect example of its genre than I think any other album is of its genre.

Top industrial cover versions

OK I'm going to run through a few great industrial covers. And no I'm not going to talk about Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt". We've all heard it, we've all experienced it's power and we all know it's a lot better than NIN's version off The Downward Spiral, so I see no need to go over that ground again. Also it's a non-industrial cover of an industrial song, and this post is more about industrial covers of non-industrial songs. I'm also not going to talk about any chiptune stuff either, because that's generally a tedious road to go down (with some exceptions, like Mind.In.A.Box's amazing RETRO album).

Tankt: Passenger on the Menu (original by GBH)

Tankt are (were) a great underrated Australian electro/industrial band (though they always tried to deny it) from Melbourne. Their 2004 album Strip off the Gilt featured this great track, which is a cover of one of the original British punk bands, Charged GBH. I’m very familiar with the Tankt version, and I recently checked out the original. While it’s good, the Tankt version is a lot better, always a sign of a great cover. I miss Tankt. A lot. I can’t find their cover on the internet, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to go get the album!

Viral Millenium: Paparazzi (original by Lady Gaga)

Viral Millenium are another Aussie band, but these guys are from Newcastle and still around. I’ve seen them live a few times, and they always finish their sets with this baffling slab of madness and brilliance: an extreme industrial metal cover of pop queen Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi. Somehow… this works. It really, really works. There are surprisingly a few metal versions of this song kicking around, but none of them anywhere near as good as this. I frequently have it stuck in my head and I don’t mind that one tiny bit J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaDjDJiYffk

Coptic Rain: Sweet home under white clouds (original by The Virgin Prunes)

Coptic Rain were a Slovenian industrial-metal band who put out some great and largely overlooked albums in the 90s. The best one of those is Eleven: Eleven, and it features this staggeringly good track. Covering a cult band like old-school gothic rockers The Virgin Prunes is never going to be easy, but Coptic Rain were smart enough to not try and imitate the original but rather turn it something quite thoroughly different. The first half is slow and atmospheric, and then when the double-time kicks in… well, it has to be heard to be believed. The original is good, but the Coptic Rain version is completely off all observable charts. Go listen if you don't believe me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFhTKszoiRI

What other great industrial cover versions can people think of? (Remixes don’t count!) Rammstein’s Cover of DM's “Stripped” comes to mind, but again, everyone’s heard it a million times… haven’t they? I also didn't mentioned Ministry's version of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" because well, it's a bit shit. Also although it's not in the tiniest bit industrial, I feel I really have to mention TV on the Radio's cover of the Pixies' "Mr Grieves". Trying to cover one of the very best songs by one of the very best rock bands of all time is just madness, but like Coptic Rain, TV on the Radio wisely turned it into something completely different. Of course it's not as good as the original (what is?), but it's fascinating, catchy, and essential.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1k6dD3WAP0