The first reference to industrial music as a separate genre was used in the mid-1970s when a wide variety of labels and independent musicians started to experiment with different styles of urban electronic music and alternative sounds. This epoch was fertile for the development of the industrial music genre’s origins and since those times it was transforming and divided into multiple hybrid subgenres.
Appealing to the most common definition of industrial music genre, it should be mentioned this is a broad-spectrum term including combination of different styles of experimental noise and electronic music. Industrial music genre dictates usage of socially provocative and transgressive topics in lyrics and aggressive beats in tunes. The title to this genre was given by the well-known band of 1970s – Throbbing Gristle – musicians of which also created the motto for a new genre – “industrial music for industrial people”.
Industrial genre is characterized as the most harsh and abrasive electronic music with a significant influence of modern rock and alternative sounding. Since 1970s there were contributed a lot of music experiments into the industrial genre mostly connected with noisier influences. Starting from 1990s the genre was developed into the post-industrial environment connecting electronic experiments with ambient, folk, rock and metal tendencies.
The most popular artists in the so-called industrial rock genres are Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. The other developed branch of experimental industrial music has more electronic tendencies and delivers such subgenres as Aggrotech, EBM and noise.