Abrasive, aggressive, and antagonistic, Britain's Throbbing Gristle pioneered industrial music; exploring death, mutilation, fascism, and degradation amid a thunderous cacophony of mechanical noise, tape loops, extremist anti-melodies, and bludgeoning beats, the group's cultural terrorism -- the "wreckers of civilization," one tabloid called... [+] Read More

Abrasive, aggressive, and antagonistic, Britain's Throbbing Gristle pioneered industrial music; exploring death, mutilation, fascism, and degradation amid a thunderous cacophony of mechanical noise, tape loops, extremist anti-melodies, and bludgeoning beats, the group's cultural terrorism -- the "wreckers of civilization," one tabloid called them -- raised the stakes of artistic confrontation to new heights, combating all notions of commerciality and good taste with a maniacal fervor.

Formed in London in the autumn of 1975, Throbbing Gristle consisted of vocalist/ringleader Genesis P-Orridge, his then-lover, guitarist Cosey Fanni Tutti, tape manipulator Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, and keyboardist Chris Carter. A performance art troupe as much as a band, their early live shows -- each starting with a punch clock and running exactly 60 minutes before the power to the stage was cut -- threatened obscenity laws; during their notorious premiere gig, P-Orridge even mounted an art exhibit consisting entirely of used tampons and soiled diapers.

Upon forming their own label, Industrial, the group issued their introductory release, The Best of Throbbing Gristle, Vol. 2, in 1976. A full-length debut, The Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle, followed in 1977, in a pressing of only 500 copies; bowing to fan demand, the record was later reissued -- cut from a master tape played backward. The 1977 underground hit "United" marked a tiny step toward accessibility, thanks to the inclusion of a discernible rhythm. Typically, when the track reappeared on 1978's D.O.A: The Third and Final Report, it was sped up to last all of 17 seconds; no less provocative was "Hamburger Lady" (inspired by the story of a burn-unit victim) or "Death Threats" (a compilation of murderous messages left on the group's answering machine).

20 Jazz Funk Greats, a harsh electro-pop outing, followed a year later, and after 1980's live-in-the-studio Heathen Earth, Throbbing Gristle called it quits. P-Orridge and Christopherson soon formed Psychic TV (though Christopherson split again to form Coil), while the remaining duo continued on as Chris & Cosey. As Throbbing Gristle's influence swelled, a seemingly endless series of posthumous releases followed, most of them taken from live dates; among the more notable were 1981's 24 Hours of Throbbing Gristle, 1983's Once Upon a Time (Live at the Lyceum), and 1986's TG CD 1. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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Although White Zombie received most of the credit for mixing tales of sex, Satan, and gore with a rock/dance beat (although admittedly with more of a heavy metal edge), Chicago's My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult specialized in similar territory for just as long. Originally formed in 1987 by Buzz McCoy (who had recently relocated from Boston)... [+] Read More

Although White Zombie received most of the credit for mixing tales of sex, Satan, and gore with a rock/dance beat (although admittedly with more of a heavy metal edge), Chicago's My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult specialized in similar territory for just as long. Originally formed in 1987 by Buzz McCoy (who had recently relocated from Boston) and Groovie Mann, the duo sought to create a worthy musical accompaniment that could be used as a soundtrack to trashy B-movies. The duo's initial project was to make a movie (in the style of Russ Meyer and John Waters), to be named "My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult." The movie never got off the ground, but McCoy and Mann used the aborted movie's title for the name of their just-formed group, as their over-the-top stage show was best described as "sensory overload" (featuring a revolving door of weird characters, props, and intense visuals). Signing on with Chicago's renowned industrial dance label Wax Trax!, the Thrill Kill Kult issued several releases between 1989 and 1991: a self-titled EP, plus the full-lengths I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits, Kooler Than Jesus, Confessions of a Knife, and Sexplosion!

By this time, the group had attracted the attention of Interscope Records, who signed up the Thrill Kill Kult and reissued Sexplosion!, as it spawned perhaps the group's best-known song, "Sex on Wheelz" (the track would also be featured in director Ralph Bakshi's animated movie Cool World). The group only issued one more release for Interscope, 1994's 13 Above the Night, before switching to the Rykodisc label and issuing such further releases as 1995's Hit & Run Holiday (a concept album of sorts, which told the tale of a "rebellious vixen," Krystal Starlust, and her "fatal attraction" to a drifter named Apollo) and 1997's Crime for All Seasons. The Thrill Kill Kult failed to issue any new studio recordings from 1998 through 2000, while a collection of 18 remixes saw the light of day in 1999, Dirty Little Secrets. But, by 2001, the band had reappeared once more, issuing 2001's The Reincarnation of Luna and 2002's Golden Pillz: The Luna Remixes for yet another new record label, Invisible. In 2004 the Ryko label acquired most of Wax Trax!'s releases, including early albums from the Kult. That same year they reissued the band's first three albums and released a new compilation The Best of TKK along with a set of remixes named Diamonds & Daggerz. An album dedicated to the disco era that had sat on the shelves for a decade finally saw the light of day in 2005 when Gay, Black & Married hit the shelves.

In addition to their own releases, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult has contributed tracks to several movie soundtracks, including Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls, Greg Araki's Nowhere, and the hit flick The Crow (the latter of which the group made a cameo appearance in); and over the years, has toured with such renowned (and similarly styled) bands as Siouxie & the Banshees, Lords of Acid, EMF, and Marilyn Manson. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide

One of the most consistent industrial bands of the 1980s, even though they regularly pursued a more electronic variant of the sound that swept into vogue during the '90s, Front 242 were the premier exponent of European electronic body music. Initially, the group was just a duo when formed in October 1981 in Brussels; programmers Patrick Codenys... [+] Read More

One of the most consistent industrial bands of the 1980s, even though they regularly pursued a more electronic variant of the sound that swept into vogue during the '90s, Front 242 were the premier exponent of European electronic body music. Initially, the group was just a duo when formed in October 1981 in Brussels; programmers Patrick Codenys and Dirk Bergen recorded "Principles" and released the single on New Dance Records. A year later, programmer Daniel Bressanutti (aka Daniel B. Prothese) and lead vocalist Jean-Luc de Meyer joined as well; dubbed Front 242 because of the name's universal meaning and united connotations, the quartet debuted in 1982 with the single "U-Men" and album Geography, recorded for Red Rhino Europe Records (RRE).

Not dissimilar to Depeche Mode and other synthesizer bands at the time, Front 242 began playing live later that year, adding percussionist Geoff Bellingham but later replacing him with an ex-roadie, Richard 23 (born Richard Jonckheere). (Dirk Bergen also left the working band, but stayed on to direct management.) The group's sound began to grow more aggressive with 1984's No Comment EP, still reminiscent of synth pop but with harder-hitting rhythms and added menace from de Meyer's vocals. By 1987, Front 242 had gained an American contract through Chicago's Wax Trax!, the home of a diverse group of mostly European aggressive synthesizer acts later lumped together as exponents of industrial rock. Wax Trax! reissued much of the group's recordings (including the rarities collection Back Catalogue) and released a new album, Official Version. The first Front 242 LP to coalesce as a consistent recording, the album contained several cold-wave club hits ("Masterhit," "Quite Unusual") and, for the time, excellent production values. Released in 1988, third LP Front by Front was undoubtedly the group's best yet, with more emphasis on song structure than loose mechanistic grooves. Besides the alternative club hits "Headhunter" and "Never Stop," the record was Front 242's most consistent.

By the end of the decade, Front 242 had become the first Wax Trax! artist to make the jump to a mainstream label; Epic Records picked up the band's contract, reissuing each past album with new artwork and bonus tracks. The single "Tragedy (For You)" became another alternative club hit, and picked up rotation on MTV as well. Though the following album, Tyranny (For You), couldn't touch Front by Front in terms of quality, it made great strides for the group in the minds of audiences -- by the time of its release in 1991, Front 242 was, with Ministry and Skinny Puppy, one of the most well-known industrial acts in music.

With nary a lineup change in the past ten years, however, Richard 23 finally left the group in 1993 after an American tour with the Lollapalooza festival (the trio replaced him with lyricists Jean-Marc Pauly and his brother Pierre). That same year Front 242 released two LPs, 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and 05:22:09:12 Off, the first closer to pop music than anything the group had recorded before, and the second more abrasive than previous recordings. In the wake of industrial music's unlikely mainstream success -- which pushed unrestrained angst and raging guitars in the vein of Nine Inch Nails -- the Front 242 LPs were not well received. Vocalist De Meyer left the group in 1995 to sing with various projects, including Cobalt 60 and Bio-Tek. Front 242 released a live LP (Live Code) and a remix album (Mut@ge.Mix@ge) but for the most part remained quiet while flocks of industrial bands invaded the mainstream charts during the mid- to late '90s. In 1997 the group again toured and issued the live album Re-Boot a year later. Pulse, a studio album of new material, was released in CD and DVD formats in 2003. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Such industrial alt-metal outfits as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry received the lion's share of press and commercial success during the '90s, but there were a handful of other bands that were slugging it out for just as long (if not longer), including KMFDM. The band's name has been the subject of countless debates amongst fans over the years as... [+] Read More

Such industrial alt-metal outfits as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry received the lion's share of press and commercial success during the '90s, but there were a handful of other bands that were slugging it out for just as long (if not longer), including KMFDM. The band's name has been the subject of countless debates amongst fans over the years as to what it stands for (their record company even went as far as holding a contest in 1994 for fans to submit possible meanings, resulting in more than a thousand entries), but the confirmed meaning is Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit, when translated in English means No Pity for the Majority. The German band has included countless members over the years, but through it all, their leader has remained Sascha Konietzko, whose multi-tasks have included songwriter, producer, mixer, programmer, sampler, vocalist, percussionist, bassist, and electronic gadgets.

Originally formed in Paris, France, KMFDM was founded by Konietzko and German painter/multi-media performer Udo Sturm. The duo made their in-concert debut on February 29, 1984, when they performed at an opening for an exhibition of European artists at the Grand Palais in Paris (with the show consisting of Sturm playing a synthesizer that would play feedback and Konietzko playing a five-string bass). The same year, KMFDM issued its debut release, Opium, but Sturm exited the group shortly thereafter (around the same time, Konietzko was joined by drummer En Esch, who would remain with the group from then on out). With Sturm out of the picture, Konietzko and Esch put KMFDM on hold at first and joined up with New York industrialist Peter Missing to form the outfit Missing Foundations. But before the new outfit could issue any recordings, both Konietzko and Esch had dropped out and returned back to KMFDM (Missing Foundations would carry on with replacement members and go on to issue albums on their own from the late '80s through the early '90s).

KMFDM's sophomore effort, What Do You Know Deutschland?, came in 1986 and was the group's first of many for Chicago's famed industrial label Wax Trax! But instead of if being an album of all new tracks, it was comprised of selections spanning from 1983 through 1986 (in fact, several were from prior to Esch's joining). Around this time, KMFDM struck up a relationship with artist Aidan Hughues (aka Brute!), who would steadily supply cover artwork for the group the images would become synonymous with KMFDM's hard-hitting music. Konietzko and company pushed forward with such further '80s releases as 1988's Don't Blow Your Top and 1989's UAIOE, during which KMFDM found themselves in the middle of an underground industrial movement (it didn't hurt matters that Wax Trax! quickly became one of the leading industrial labels in the world, as they were the home to such other similarly styled acts as Ministry, Revco, Front 242, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, etc.).

But KMFDM had yet to tour America by 1989 (having heavily toured Europe with the likes of Einstrüzende Neubauten, the Young Gods, and Borghesia, among others), something they sought to correct when they were offered a slot opening a U.S. tour for labelmates Ministry, who at the time were readying their classic The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste release. With the tour lined up for a summer launch, it was pushed back several times (due to Ministry leader Al Jourgensen falling ill) and the tour finally got underway in December 1989. The tour successfully established KMFDM as a band to watch in the industrial underground, as they returned back to Europe after the tour's completion to work on their fifth full-length release overall, 1990's Naïve. Realizing that industrial's future lay in the U.S., Konietzko relocated KMFDM's homebase from Hamburg to Chicago during 1991. The same year, KMFDM's side-project Excessive Force was formed, issuing a debut release, Conquer Your World, in 1992, the same year that KMFDM issued a new release as well, Money.

But just as it appeared as though KMFDM was about to break through to a wider audience, Wax Trax! suddenly found itself on hard times, resulting in the label being bought out by TVT Records. What followed for KMFDM were some of its best-known and strongest releases: 1993's Angst (which earned the group their first real exposure on MTV via the video clip for the track "Drug Against War"), 1995's Nihil, and 1996's XTORT. During the same time, Excessive Force issued a second release, 1994's Gentle Death, while Konietzko relocated once more, this time to Seattle. Further releases followed in the late '90s (1997's Symbols, 1998's Agogo, and 1999's Adios), before KMFDM disbanded on January 22, 1999. In the wake of the group's split, Konietzko assembled a new outfit, MDFMK (yep, KMFDM spelled backward) and issued a lone self-titled release in 2000 before KMFDM reunited in 2002 for an all-new album, Attak, and the live album Sturm & Drang Tour 2002. 2003 saw the release of WWIII followed by WWIII Live 2003 a year later. Released on KMFDM Records, 2005's Hau Ruck was classic KMFDM with its aggressive industrial power. The Ruck Zuck EP followed in 2006. In addition to leading KMFDM, Konietzko has also worked with other artists either playing, producing, or remixing tracks/albums by Die Krupps, Front 242, kidneythieves, M People, Peter Murphy, Pig, Schwein, Sister Machine Gun, and Swamp Terrorists, among others. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide

A proper debut of sorts, Second Annual Report includes several versions each (some live) of early Throbbing Gristle standards like "Slug Bait" and "Maggot Death," as well as an "Industrial Introduction" and the soundtrack work "After Cease to Exist." The music is relentless, grinding distortion, only occasionally leavened by vocal samples and...

A proper debut of sorts, Second Annual Report includes several versions each (some live) of early Throbbing Gristle standards like "Slug Bait" and "Maggot Death," as well as an "Industrial Introduction" and the soundtrack work "After Cease to Exist." The music is relentless, grinding distortion, only occasionally leavened by vocal samples and percussion. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Having established his art on initial releases, Tibet makes a stunning declaration of purpose on Dogs Blood Rising, one of the most frightening, nerve-wracking records ever released. Interspersing quicker tracks and two lengthy evocations of destruction, Dogs Blood shows Tibet and his collaborators -- including, as always, Stapleton -- combining... [+] Read More

Having established his art on initial releases, Tibet makes a stunning declaration of purpose on Dogs Blood Rising, one of the most frightening, nerve-wracking records ever released. Interspersing quicker tracks and two lengthy evocations of destruction, Dogs Blood shows Tibet and his collaborators -- including, as always, Stapleton -- combining everything from invocations of Yukio Mishima to Christianity in a harrowing blend. Opening track "Christus Christus" sets the tone with its heavily flanged and looped vocals, chanting the title over and over again against a wash of sound, but it's the following track, "Falling Back in Fields of Rape," which truly begins to set this album apart. With guest vocals courtesy of Crass singer Steve Ignorant, who recites lyrics clearly meant to play on both senses of the word 'rape,' everything from recurrent chants of "War!" and other choral moans and varying percussion to heavily treated musical snippets and fragments loops, builds and fades throughout the mix. When a young girl's voice takes over the main lyrics after a snippet of a nursery rhyme is sung, the sheer sense of creepout grows even higher. It's even further intensified as Ignorant's rasping shouts of the main lyric start floating up through the mix like a mantra from hell. "From Broken Cross, Locusts" provides a semi-respite in ways, but only just, chanting from Tibet and others floating low in the mix as a recurrent, strange drum loop sets the overall pace before a sudden, frazzled ending. "Raio No Terrasu (Jesus Wept)" ratchets up everything to the level of apocalypse -- the music doesn't pound and explode, but the ever-more pained, wailed voices chanting the title phrase or other similarly disturbed lines, or simply calling and keening unintelligibly, becomes a disturbing, fractured and tape-treated collage of sound. "St. Peters Keys All Bloody" concludes the album on a perversely calm note, with Tibet speaking in a snarl, then softly singing "The Sounds of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel. It's a chilling coda to a striking album. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

If one needs a starting place to discover how an obscure trio of Sheffield sound experimentalists became one of the founders of industrial/EBM music, not to mention a whole range of artists interested in pushing the boundaries of recorded sound, The Living Legends is it. Conveniently collecting the series of singles the classic trio line-up... [+] Read More

If one needs a starting place to discover how an obscure trio of Sheffield sound experimentalists became one of the founders of industrial/EBM music, not to mention a whole range of artists interested in pushing the boundaries of recorded sound, The Living Legends is it. Conveniently collecting the series of singles the classic trio line-up released on Rough Trade Records, Legends makes for astonishing listening even today, alien now as it was then, and perhaps even more so. Compiled in more or less chronological order with a few exceptions, the tracks range from the quietly mysterious to astonishing, in-your-face sonics. The earliest single, "Do the Mussolini," and its various B-sides initially cast the band as gloomy, dour figures interested in fooling around with tape machines, rhythm boxes and a sense of echo that always made them sound like they were recording in the deep bowels of the earth. The Velvet Underground's "Here She Comes Now" gets an intriguing revamp here, Kirk's guitar buzzing the main riff in the background. After that, things really kick in with the groundbreaking "Nag Nag Nag," brilliantly coproduced by Rough Trade boss Geoff Travis and Red Krayola bandleader Mayo Thompson. Mallinder's abstract aggression as his electronically treated voice roars the title line is breathtaking enough, but the combination of heavily treated guitar and keyboard noise over the basic but effective rhythm pulse adds to the fantastic effect. Many other standouts follow from here, including the lengthy drone/groove of "Walls of Jerico" and the near-clinical push of "Second Too Late," with a gripping duet between a distanced Mallinder vocal and an upfront, vocodered and dead sounding voice. The sense of how the Cabs used everything from the more chaotic end of Krautrock to dub techniques surfaces throughout, capturing the sense of how they at once synthesized past approaches and created new ones. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Easily one of the most anticipated albums from that year, especially after Nine Inch Nails had helped bring industrial metal to the mainstream with the success of the overtly Ministry-worshipping Pretty Hate Machine, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed & the Way to Suck Eggs represented the high point of Alain Jourgensen and Paul Barker's incarnation... [+] Read More

Easily one of the most anticipated albums from that year, especially after Nine Inch Nails had helped bring industrial metal to the mainstream with the success of the overtly Ministry-worshipping Pretty Hate Machine, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed & the Way to Suck Eggs represented the high point of Alain Jourgensen and Paul Barker's incarnation as loud-as-hell electro-thrashers. The pump had been primed the previous year with the fierce "Jesus Built My Hot Rod," featuring Gibby Haynes from Butthole Surfers on vocals ranting over a galloping molten explosion of beats and feedback. Presented in a slightly edited version here, it's still the high point of the album, while a reworked version of its B-side, "TV Song" (here called "TV II" and with Jourgensen on vocals instead of Chris Connelly), also makes for some good noise. Throughout, however, Ministry as a unit shows their facility for straightforward, brutal noise crossed with clinical, on-the-money arrangements, whether it's the collage of crowd-riot samples bubbling throughout "N.W.O." or the chantings of Christian praise on the title track. As a role model for any number of nu-metallers down the road, Psalm 69 is often terribly underrated, but where Ministry succeeds while so many failed easily has to do with sheer vitriol only slightly tempered by the overwhelming hugeness of the songs. Consider the massive impact of the drums on "Just One Fix" as they lead into tightly wound, downward-spiral riffing or the hyper-speed clatter of "Hero" and "Corrosion." Jourgensen's rasped lyrical visions of a corrupt America, drug addiction, mindless patriotism, and religious hypocrisy aren't per se revelatory, but anyone who lived through the Bush years -- either father or son -- might find plenty to sympathize with. Secret highlight: "Scarecrow," which takes the massive slow pound of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" and takes it to a strung-out, harrowing new location. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Stripped down to the core duo of Görl and Delgado and with Conny Plank again behind the boards with crisp, focused production, with Alles Ist Gut ('everything is fine') DAF turned into an honest-to-goodness German hit machine, as detailed in the 1998 Mute reissue's liner notes by Biba Kopf. Even more important and impressive was how they did it... [+] Read More

Stripped down to the core duo of Görl and Delgado and with Conny Plank again behind the boards with crisp, focused production, with Alles Ist Gut ('everything is fine') DAF turned into an honest-to-goodness German hit machine, as detailed in the 1998 Mute reissue's liner notes by Biba Kopf. Even more important and impressive was how they did it - keeping the electronic brutality that characterized them, but stripped down to nothing but Görl's massive drumming, electronic bass and synth tones and Delgado's deep, commanding singing. The result was and remains massively influential - Nitzer Ebb, to mention one later industrial disciple, would be nothing with this album as a template, while the genre of electronic body music, or EBM, got its undisputed start with the doomladen death disco here. It isn't all just because of machines and politics either. Delgado's lyrical fascination seems to be as much with sex as with power, thus the grunting sounds throughout "Mein Herz Macht Bum" ('my heart goes boom'), to pick one point. Add to that the striking, simple cover design - Delgado on the front, Görl on the back, stripped to the skin and covered in sweat - and maybe Wax Trax never needed to exist in the first place. "Der Mussolini," DAF's breakthrough hit, still sounds fantastic years later. A perfect case could be made for it as the ultimate industrial music song, with Delgado's at once insistent and sensual singing, lyrics referencing not just Mussolini but any number of fascist figures (as titles of dance crazes, no less!), and Görl's astonishing percussion crunch and bassline. DAF wisely vary things at points, thus the slow, deliberate pulse of "Rote Lippen" or the twinkly keyboard line throughout "Der Räuber Und Der Prinz." With songs like "Als Wär's Das Letzte Mal" and "Alle Gegen Alle" leading the way, though, DAF mainly concentrate on head-on assaults to brilliant effect. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide