Industrial Metal

Born from the filth that coats the streets of the inner city, the same grime that plagues the backs of our minds when we're left alone for long enough to actually start thinking... exists a genre of music called industrial metal. Highlighting the psychological and sociopolitical turmoils of urban life through isolation and machination, industrial metal creates an oppressive, noisy and futuristic atmosphere. Let's talk about it.

A fusion of metal and post-industrial music, industrial metal adds elements of electronic music and instruments such as synthesizers, samplers and drum machines. Cranking levers, whirring conveyor belts, and the blasts of steam from an engine all could theoretically contribute to the cold, distant futuristic noise of industrial metal. Similarly linked to its sister genre industrial rock, industrial metal is angry and visceral, but not to the point of excluding a wider audience, and as such developed a relatively mainstream following for a fleeting moment in the 1990s with artists like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.

What most may not know about the genre is that it first developed in the mid- to late-1980s, and had a much more raw and misanthropic sound even by the more popular wave's standards. The 1980s saw bands like Ministry, Slab! and Godflesh arrive onto the scene, the former two taking the post-punk/industrial rock-based music of Killing Joke and injecting it with a hearty dose of thrash metal and/or alternative metal. Godflesh, on the other hand, was much more rooted in sludge metal and doom metal than its contemporaries, and as a result took a much more avant-garde approach to the industrial metal inception, leading directly to the development of the atmospheric sludge metal genre as well.

Recommended '80s industrial metal listening:

1. Slab! - Descension (1987)

2. Treponem Pal - Treponem Pal (1989)

3. Saw Throat - Inde$troy (1989)

4. Godflesh - Streetcleaner (1989)

5. Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989)

It wasn't until the '90s where industrial metal began to come onto its own and reach its peak. Both Godflesh and Ministry continued to put out quality material within the genre, and even Killing Joke took a turn from a rock-based to a much more metal direction in their sound. The genre started to show signs of a stylistic divide, with some bands taking influence from alternative rock, groove metal, synthpop, and other more commercially-viable styles. This resulted in a wave of popular industrial metal bands such as KMFDM, White Zombie, and Marilyn Manson, who alongside industrial rock heavyweights Nine Inch Nails, defined the seedy, leather-clad underbelly of '90s alternative music. On the other hand though, there were more industrial metal artists still looking to fuse the genre with extreme metal. Industrial thrash metal, such as Strapping Young Lad, Prong, Nailbomb and Pitchshifter began to develop. Even more extreme still were the subsequent waves of death metal-tinged industrial metal (characterized by bands such as Fear Factory, Oomph!, and Meathook Seed) and industrial black metal (such as Samael, Dødheimsgard, Aborym, and Thorns).

Recommended '90s industrial metal listening:

1. Ministry - Psalm 69 (1992)

2. Nailbomb - Point Blank (1994)

3. Fear Factory - Demanufacture (1995)

4. Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar (1996)

5. Strapping Young Lad - City (1997)

Having mentioned the band Oomph!, another key movement within '90s industrial metal was the subgenre known as Neue Deutsche Härte, translated from German as "New German Hardness," and often abbreviated to simply NDH or referred to as tanzmetall. This German-exclusive style of metal not only incorporates general electronic music aspects, but directly from electronic dance music. This provides the music with a much more pop-infused energy, and eventually gave rise to one of (if not) the most acknowledged and widespread band in industrial metal's history: Rammstein. Other bands and artists that piggyback on this style include Eisbrecher, Megaherz, ASP, and Turmion Kätilöt. This genre is where many of the now-common industrial metal tropes originated, both on a visual and sonic spectrum.

Recommended Neue Deutsche Härte listening:
1. Oomph! - Defekt (1995)
2. Rammstein - Mutter (2001)
3. Megaherz - Herzwerk II (2002)
4. Eisbrecher - Antikörper (2006)
5. ASP - Requiembryo (2007)

In the 2000s, industrial metal continued to intensify. Bands like Strapping Young Lad and Fear Factory held the helm of the genre, continuing to push it into areas of uncharted heaviness. Adding to this insane heaviness were bands such as Red Harvest and Sybreed, as well as industrial death metal bands like Scarve and industrial black metal bands like the Axis of Perdition. Devin Townsend's solo material began to combine a more dancy, campy style of industrial metal with alternative metal. Other bands like Pain, Static-X, and Zeromancer created a style of music that coexisted nicely with the height of the nu metal boom.

Recommended '00s industrial metal listening:
1. Thorns - Thorns (2001)
2. Red Harvest - Sick Transit Gloria Mundi (2002)
3. Killing Joke - Killing Joke (2003)
4. Strapping Young Lad - Alien (2005)
5. The Devin Townsend Project - Addicted (2009)

Another subgenre of industrial metal that took its first glimpse into the forefront in the 2000s was cyber metal. Originally seen in the late 1990s with bands like the Kovenant and Front Line Assembly, cyber metal (also known as futuristic metal) incorporates musical elements found in electronic music such as EBM and aggrotech. Melodic riffs, less harsh of a sound than prior industrial metal waves, and lyrical focus on technology, dystopian society, and totalitarianism are all characteristics of the subgenre. Bands such as Deathstars, Sybreed, and ...And Oceans lead the charge. Similarly, there exists a genre of metal known as trance metal, which not surprisingly is a fusion of trance and metal. It is debated as to whether or not this genre is a subgenre of industrial metal, or rather just a very niche offshoot and should be treated as such. I, for one, don't know enough (or have enough to say) about trance metal to warrant writing an entire blog post on it, so I'll include some recommendations on this entry. You can find many a pop melody in this subgenre, with bands such as Noidz, Amaranthe, Babymetal and Blood Stain Child gaining names for themselves due to their catchiness. Trance metal's tendency to involve anime culture and cross over with J-pop has led to some bands being labeled "anime metal" or "kawaii metal."

Recommended cyber metal listening:
1. The Kovenant - Animatronic (1999)
2. ...And Oceans - A.M. G.O.D. (2001)
3. Sybreed - Slave Design (2004)
4. Neurotech - Antagonist (2011)
5. Master Boot Record - Virus.DOS (2018)
Recommended trance metal listening:

1. Noidz - The Great Escape (2008)

2. 2 Times Terror - Equals One Sudden Death (2010)

3. Blood Stain Child - Epsilon (2011)

4. Babymetal - Babymetal (2014)

5. Amaranthe - Massive Addictive (2014)

In the 2010s, industrial metal was dominated by a great deal of sludgier, darker music that sometimes placed more emphasis on the industrial aspects than the metal ones. JK Flesh, Author & Punisher, Uniform, and Corrections House, among others, led this movement. Also notable in the genre's grand scheme was the implementation of industrial and cyber metal into video game music, becoming prominent in soundtracks written for games such as Doom and Metal Gear Rising. Giants from prior eras such as Godflesh, Rammstein, and Fear Factory continue to release prominent and forward-thinking music (even if some others don't... *cough* Ministry *cough*). Bands from other genres such as post-metal and blackgaze (Bliss Signal) and metalcore (Northlane) also began to flourish upon induction to the industrial fold.

Recommended '10s industrial metal listening:

1. Author & Punisher - Drone Machines (2010)

2. Corrections House - Last City Zero (2013)

3. Godflesh - A World Lit Only by Fire (2014)

4. Mick Gordon - Doom: Original Game Soundtrack (2016)

5. Uniform & The Body - Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back (2019)

Overall, industrial metal hasn't wavered in terms of consistent output, experimentation, and freshness (in my opinion). The genre will always have a basis on which to build itself, for as long as there's unrest in any sociopolitical system, there will be an industrial metal band ready to not only point out the flaws in its inner workings, but to envision the bleak, cold future ahead if certain issues are not resolved. Industrial metal, and industrial music in general, exists to shine a light on the dark side of the social game, and I applaud it for continually doing so in such an unflinching and unforgiving way.

Grindcore

Grindcore exists to both set and surpass boundaries for musical extremity. Extreme metal has existed prior to grindcore's grand appearance, sure. Death metal, black metal, and forms of thrash metal and doom metal have all firmly cemented themselves as extreme forms of music. What grindcore brought to the table to set itself apart from its genre contemporaries was a sheer sense of self-destruction; the idea that songs should collapse inward on themselves in short, violent bursts. But what exactly is grindcore? Where did it come from? And, perhaps most importantly, where is it going? Let's discuss.

Grindcore was born in the mid-1980s from the British crust punk scene, which already was bridging the gap between more extreme forms of punk and metal. Due to its origins as a hardcore punk offshoot, grindcore found itself centering around what has now been dubbed the "microsong." On most classic grindcore records, you'd be hard-pressed to find a track that surpasses the two-minute mark in length. Some, if not most, tracks don't even make it to a full minute. The ethos of grindcore revolves around powerful bursts of fiery misanthropist rage, rather than sprawling epics. Early grindcore bands like Carcass, Genocide, Napalm Death, Sore Throat, and Repulsion made very good use of this style of song. Slapping together the brevity and ferocity of hardcore with the raw, metallic edge of thrash metal and thrashcore, grindcore slammed into the underground metal and punk scenes with vigor.

Recommended '80s grindcore listening:
1. Napalm Death - Scum (1987)
2. Unseen Terror - Human Error (1987)
3. Sore Throat - Unhindered by Talent (1988)
4. Repulsion - Horrified (1989)
5. Macabre - Gloom (1989)

One of the most influential bands in the first wave grindcore scene was undeniably Carcass. So massive was their influence, that they inadvertently started a subgenre wave called goregrind as soon as they hit the ground. Goregrind is a very particular style of grindcore that makes extensive usage of medical terminologies and themes. Obviously, being an offshoot of grindcore, goregrind isn't exactly a musical rendition of a medical textbook... on the contrary. Themes of being torn apart by zombies, surgeons gone mad, or disease-ridden vermin are much more prevalent than any sort of lecture material, though the vernacular of the field is very much present. Carcass is the obvious trailblazer (and highlight) of the subgenre, but other bands of note such as Impetigo, General Surgery, and Exhumed have popped up along the way. It also spawned a sub-subgenre known as gorenoise or vomitnoise, which may tell you just by its name how insanely niche it is. It simply combines goregrind with noise music, as exemplified by bands such as Last Days of Humanity and Phyllomedusa. Some will claim that a lyrical focus on sexual content has stemmed into a subgenre known lovingly as pornogrind, though I consider most of that to just already fall under goregrind or grindcore enough. Plus bolding that word and acknowledging it as a genre just feels kinda wrong.

WARNING: When I say "recommended," I only mean for those who are legitimately interested in this music. Some of these albums and/or album artworks showcase things that may be unsettling to some. Listen/view at your own risk.

Recommended goregrind listening:
1. Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction (1988)
2. Impetigo - Horror of the Zombies (1992)
3. Dead Infection - A Chapter of Accidents (1995)
4. Exhumed - Gore Metal (1998)
5. General Surgery - Left Hand Pathology (2006)

Another stylistic change made to grindcore in the late '80s/early '90s was the implementation of death metal influence. This hybrid genre came to be affectionately known as deathgrind. I wrote a bit about this fusion in my death metal entry a while back, but it's equally (if not more) important in the context of a history of grindcore. Pioneered by the ever-amazing Terrorizer and their 1989 record World Downfall, deathgrind combines the intensity of grindcore with the technicality of death metal, resulting in songs with more lyrical and musical dynamics, longer runtimes, and more twists in style. As the 1990s and 2000s pressed on, more bands would join the genre's fold such as Brutal Truth, Dying Fetus, and Misery Index, as well as general grindcore bands like Napalm Death in their mid- to later-career. The style prevails today, with fantastic new bands and releases coming from modern artists like Cattle Decapitation and Full of Hell.

Recommended deathgrind listening:
1. Terrorizer - World Downfall (1989)
2. Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses (1992)
3. Napalm Death - Enemy of the Music Business (2000)
4. Misery Index - Heirs to Theivery (2010)
5. Cattle Decapitation - Monolith of Inhumanity (2012)

In the 1990s, grindcore was focusing on its subgenres. A handful of bands from the initial wave had either dissipated or moved onto different styles of music, such as Carcass leading the charge on the then-new melodic death metal scene. Some deathgrind bands like Brutal Truth and Assück maintained a solid backing in pure grindcore though, releasing sort of half-hybrid grind/deathgrind albums. Some bands like Naked City and PainKiller added an avant-garde, jazz-influenced sound into the grindcore fray. Other bands like Nasum, Discordance Axis, Unruh, and Excruciating Terror kept the pure grindcore flame lit. Unruh in particular began to fuse grindcore with the first wave of metalcore, another fusion genre between metal and hardcore punk.

Recommended '90s grindcore listening:
1. Naked City - Grand Guignol (1992)
2. Assück - Misery Index (1997)
3. Discordance Axis - Jouhou (1997)
4. Nasum - Inhale/Exhale (1998)
5. Unruh - Setting Fire to Sinking Ships (1999)

The 1990s brought yet another subgenre of grindcore onto the scene as well, though it didn't really take off beyond splits and demo tapes until the 2000s. Cybergrind is defined by its tendencies to include the dimensions electronic music into the grindcore sound. Computer-generated noises, drum machines, post-industrial music elements, and MIDI-based songs all contributed to this mass of oppressive sound. Grindcore was already a music for a certain type of person, but adding digitized elements to the genre only isolated it more, creating a near-impenetrable wall of underground experimentation. Agoraphobic Nosebleed is one of the most famous pioneers, but bands like Genghis Tron, Libido Airbag, and O.L.D. were significant contributors.

Recommended cybergrind listening:
1. Phantomsmasher - Phantomsmasher (2002)
2. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Altered States of America (2003)
3. Curse of the Golden Vampire - Mass Destruction (2003)
4. Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth (2006)
5. Whourkr - Concrete (2008)

The 2000s saw a massive influx of interesting and new grindcore bands, the most prevalent of which was Pig Destroyer, but also including Insect Warfare, Rotten Sound, Magrudergrind (who paired the grindcore sound with powerviolence), Wormrot, Anaal Nathrakh (adding industrial metal elements to the mix), Gridlink, and the mathcore-tinged Antigama. Existing bands flourished as well, with Discordance Axis, Nasum, Napalm Death, and many others hitting new peaks. As demonstrated by the slew of new genres included in that bands list, grindcore thrives off of experimentation. Being such a freeform and carefree genre requires that it's ever-shifting, and the 2000s revived the style by doing just that.

Recommended '00s grindcore listening:
1. Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless (2000)
2. Pig Destroyer - Prowler in the Yard (2001)
3. Nasum - Helvete (2003)
4. Rotten Sound - Exit (2005)
5. Insect Warfare - World Extermination (2007)

With the 2010s came a sort of return to form for pure grindcore. Existing bands like Wormrot and Gridlink were precursors to this pure grindcore revival, with new bands popping up like Death Toll 80k, Cloud Rat, Internal Rot, Atka, No One Knows What the Dead Think, P.L.F., Beaten to Death, Bandit, and Flouride all gushing grindy goodness. Also taking flight was the grindcore/powerviolence crossover style, with the decade's biggest band Nails sporting the crossover, as well as Dead in the Dirt, the HIRS Collective, and Full of Hell.

Recommended '10s grindcore listening:
1. Nails - Unsilent Death (2010)
2. Death Toll 80k - Harsh Realities (2011)
3. Gridlink - Longhena (2014)
4. Wormrot - Voices (2016)
5. Cloud Rat - Pollinator (2019)

As a genre sporting more fire than most others I can name, grindcore is an exhaustive force. Violent spurts of anarchistic, misanthropic, politically- and/or medically-fueled rage is not for everybody. The artists know this, and as a result have even more fun with the concept. Grindcore exists to establish itself as beyond heavy music, and to continually push itself past its own barriers; always evolving and always intensifying. That's what keeps grindcore around for so long. That's what fuels its constant experimentation. And that's what keeps the listeners listening.

Neoclassical Metal

Up until now, a good many (if not all) of the genres that I have discussed on this blog have had relatively large and devoted followings, whether in the mainstream or more of a cult-status. Thus most people, metal fans or otherwise, have at least heard of some of these types of music. Neoclassical metal, however, is another ballpark entirely. Incredibly underrated and underappreciated even within metal circles, neoclassical metal stands even to this day as a pedestal of underground musical ingenuity and fluency. So let's check it out.

To put it simply, neoclassical metal is an offshoot of heavy metal that takes major influence from Western classical music, often to the point of covering pieces by Baroque composers such as Antonio Vivaldi, George Handel, and J.S. Bach. The style of playing is mega-technical, with major emphasis on the capabilities of lead instruments; often the guitar and keyboards. The genre is characterized primarily by the presence of what are often called "guitar virtuosos." Many popular guitarists play with a neoclassical style, such as John Petrucci from Dream Theater or Randy Rhoads of Ozzy Osbourne's band and Quiet Riot. However, that does not make the band "neoclassical metal."

When looking for one of the earliest examples of a neoclassical metal artist, look no further than the guitar wizard himself, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and his band Rising Force. In heavy metal, guitar solos have almost always been a thing, and a prevalent thing at that. What Malmsteen did with Rising Force however, skyrocketed this concept to the next level. With songs that moved just as similarly to Iron Maiden as they did to Niccolò Paganini, Malmsteen's compositions mirrored that of Classical-, Baroque-, and Romantic-period music. Following suit in the 1980s were a stream of classically-influenced shredders Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Jason Becker, and Marty Friedman (as well as some bands like Cacophony and Racer X), all of whom were lumped into this new neoclassical metal genre.

Recommended '80s neoclassical metal listening:
1. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force - Marching Out (1985)
2. Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye (1986)
3. Tony MacAlpine - Maximum Security (1987)
4. Marty Friedman - Dragon's Kiss (1988)
5. Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn (1988)

Neoclassical metal, being a genre rooted in technicality and influences from art music, was destined to be linked at the hip with early progressive metal, and for good reason. As the 1990s entered the scene, neoclassical bands began to fuse their sound with the prog metal formula, leading to an influx of linked-genre bands such as Symphony X, Royal Hunt, and Concerto Moon. Symphony X in particular made huge waves in both the prog and neoclassical scene due to the incredible abilities of guitarist and founding member Michael Romeo. Also integral to the evolution of the sound was power metal, whose influence fit in greatly with neoclassical metal's flair for the grandiose. As a result, bands like Impellitteri, Cauldron Born and At Vance began to appear as well.

Recommended '90s neoclassical metal listening:
1. Impellitteri - Answer to the Master (1994)
2. Royal Hunt - Moving Target (1995)
3. Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy (1997)
4. Cauldron Born - Born of the Cauldron (1997)
5. Concerto Moon - Rain Forest (1999)

By the time the 2000s rolled around, neoclassical metal had almost become a subgenre of power metal, given how synonymous one term was with the other. The label was pressed upon just about every power metal band whose lead guitarist would duel with the keyboardist, and thus lost a bit of its weight. However, beneath the overlying power metal sound, there were legitimate neoclassical metal bands to be found, particularly in the likes of Galneryus, Space Odyssey, Iron Mask, Time Requiem, and the appropriately-named Majestic. Also still prevailing are the virtuoso solo artists the genre was initially known for, with releases from Bob Katsionis, Mark Boals, Vitalij Kuprij, Tony MacAlpine, and others.

Recommended '00s neoclassical metal listening:
1. Time Requiem - Time Requiem (2002)
2. Space Odyssey - Embrace the Galaxy (2003)
3. Iron Mask - Hordes of the Brave (2005)
4. Galneryus - Beyond the End of Despair... (2006)
5. Bob Katsionis - Noemon (2008)

In the 2010s, neoclassical metal remained a largely underground and minimally represented subgenre of metal. While the neoclassical power metal style of Galneryus still reigns as the primary incarnation of the sound, bands like Exmortus would also fuse neoclassical metal with thrash metal and speed metal, as well as an ever-increasing prevalence of symphonic metal elements. Bands like Tiluland, Magic Kingdom, Golden Resurrection, and Eihwaz lead the charge in terms of new arrivals.

Recommended '10s neoclassical metal listening:
1. Magic Kingdom - Symphony of War (2010)
2. Golden Resurrection - Glory to My King (2010)
3. Tiluland - Axes of the Universe (2010)
4. Galneryus - Under the Force of Courage (2015)
5. Exmortus - The Sound of Steel (2018)

Neoclassical metal as a whole has not made as big of a wave in the metal scene as, say, thrash metal or death metal... but it's reign of influence is undeniable. Being almost single-handedly the origin of guitar-centric metal music means that it has indirectly affected the new wave of progressive metal giants such as Animals as Leaders, Scale the Summit, and Plini. A common issue that detractors of metal music will pull is that the music sounds disjointed, angry, and uncivilized... but taking influence from Bach is just as far from that description as a metal band can get. The limits of creation are infinite.

Author's Note: Hey y'all! I'm back from the desert! Relatively short entry this time around, but still very excited to pick this little project back up. Hopefully all who read enjoyed, and stay tuned next week for another installment.