Industrial techno
Musical subgenre
title: "Industrial techno" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-music-genres", "techno-genres", "industrial-music", "british-styles-of-music"] description: "Musical subgenre" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_techno" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Musical subgenre ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox music genre"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Industrial techno |
| stylistic_origins | |
| cultural_origins | Late 1980s to early 1990s, |
| UK, US, Japan | |
| other_topics | |
| :: |
| name = Industrial techno | other_names = | image = | alt = | caption = | stylistic_origins = | cultural_origins = Late 1980s to early 1990s, UK, US, Japan | derivatives = | subgenres = | fusiongenres = | regional_scenes = | local_scenes = | other_topics = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Jeff_Mills_2010.jpg" caption="Jeff Mills"] ::
Industrial techno is a subgenre of techno and industrial dance music that originated in the 1990s. Characteristically, it incorporates influences from the bleak, noisy sound and aesthetics of early industrial music acts, particularly Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle. American industrial music label Wax Trax! also had a profound influence over the genre's development.
History
The origins of industrial techno date back to the early 1980s with the work of Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, then a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. According to Fact and Louder Than War, Sakamoto's solo album B-2 Unit (1980) anticipated the sounds of industrial techno.
Some of the earliest musical projects in the genre include the band Final Cut, formed by Jeff Mills and Anthony Srock in Detroit during the late 1980s. Their 1989 debut industrial-techno album Deep into the Cut was described by The Wire as "a significant moment in the convergence of the classic industrial aesthetic and the emerging sound of Detroit techno".
The genre has seen a resurgence in the 2010s, spearheaded by acts such as Adam X, Orphx, and Ancient Methods, and others later like Blawan and Karenn. Other artists associated with industrial techno include Cut Hands, Helena Hauff, Forward Strategy Group, Surgeon, Michael Forshaw, Jeff Mills, Regis, Dominick Fernow and Mike Banks. Perc Trax record label has been credited with the revival of the genre in the UK, with artists such as Perc, Truss, Happa and Ansome. Some revival artists have subsequently been criticized for making the new music in the genre that "sounds old, that it's overly indebted to a sound invented and thoroughly exhausted in the '90s", but despite this, innovation derived from the post-dubstep and garage scene have been highlighted. As a result, it has gained a significant fanbase from the post-dubstep audience.
References
References
- Finlayson, Angus. (13 February 2013). "The industrial techno revolution". [[Resident Advisor]].
- Lien, James. (January 1995). "Various artists - Blackbox". [[CMJ]].
- (22 January 2015). "The Essential... Yellow Magic Orchestra".
- (3 April 2023). "Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer and producer, RIP". [[Louder Than War]].
- (2016-02-17). "Stream Jeff Mills And Anthony Srock's 1989 Industrial Techno Album".
- Cardew, Ben. (2022-04-14). "How Jeff Mills' 'Waveform Vol. 1' started a new era of techno".
- Lobenfeld, Claire. (2016-02-16). "Listen to early Jeff Mills project Final Cut's 1989 debut".
- Carroll, Jim. (18 September 2015). "Helena Hauff: Discreet Desires". [[The Irish Times]].
- Muggs, Joe. (19 February 2014). "There Is No "Revival", Industrial Techno Has Always Been Banging Party Music". [[Vice (magazine).
- (2013). "Electronic Music". Cambridge University.
- Turner, Luke. (8 June 2012). "The new wave of British industrial techno … and you can dance to it". [[The Guardian]].
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