Dark Electronic Music: The Underground’s Dark Alternative: Industrial

Dark electronic music encompasses many sub-genres. The largest, and most well known is industrial. It has evolved a lot since the term “industrial” was coined in the 1970’s. And for the sake of argument, the music I’m describing is the industrial of today. The Allmusic website describes industrial as “the most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music”. I couldn’t agree more. More and more industrial bands are veering away from heavy guitar riffs. They are instead utilizing pounding drum beats, and electronic sounds. Some bands use “real” instruments, such as drum kits and synthesizers; however, the use of sequencers and software such as Reason, Ableton, and Acid is becoming increasingly popular. Many industrial songs use sound clips, or samples, often from movies or television. For example: one of my favourite songs, “Exterminate, Annihilate, Destroy”, by Germany’s, Rotersand, uses samples of the Daleks from the original Dr. Who series. Most industrial songs have lyrics. Industrial’s sound is characterized by distorted, crunchy, mechanical sounds, laced with electronic dance beats.

One of the most important things about industrial music from its fans point of view is that it is underground. Were it to go mainstream, it would lose its credibility to many people. That being said, despite its underground status, industrial manages to have an impressive following. The largest industrial event in North America, Kinetik, held in Montreal, Canada, saw almost 900 people a night for four consecutive nights this past May.

So, are you itching to hear this hard-hitting, relentless, dark alternative?
Here are some of my favourite bands, to get you started:

Memmaker (Denmark):

Angelspit (Australia):

Combichrist (USA)

Grendel (Holland)

Unter Null (USA)

DYM (Canada)

Noisuf-X (Germany)

Terrorfakt (USA)

Rotersand (Germany)

SAM (Germany)

Zombie Girl (Canada)

Wumpscut (Germany)

S.I.T.D (Germany)

Dark Electronic Music

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Underground’s Dark Alternative: Industrial

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