| Instructor: Dr Ho Chee Kong |
The Impact of Technology on the Music of Industrial Metal
Adrian Kang, USAR02 ["Music And Technology"], University Scholars Programme, National University Of Singapore.
Contents:
- Introduction
- Defining the Industrial Sound
- Sensing the Impact
- Genre Crisis
- The Drum Machine Culprit
- Conclusion
- References
Initially I had wanted to do a study on the "Impact of Technology on the Genres of Heavy Metal Music". However, there are so many sub-genres in Heavy Metal music (i.e. Death, Black, Grindcore, Thrash, Doom, etc) that it would be impossible to produce a detailed and accurate report without exceeding the length constraint of this paper. I wanted to produce an informative and concise report that both the layman and advanced reader to the subject matter will find interesting. In order for me to achieve my objective, I would need to narrow my area of interest and focus on a specific aspect. I could easily have chosen any sub-genre of Heavy Metal such as Thrash or Death which I am more familiar with, but I wanted to utilize the purpose of doing the essay such that I will learn from the research carried out and be more informed after writing. Hence, I had chosen the sub-genre of Industrial Metal which I have almost nil experience with. In addition, the musicians or performers of Industrial Metal have utilized more of technology on the production of their music as relative to musicians of other sub-genres.
In order to fully appreciate the impact of technology on the aesthetics of a music composition, research by pure reading will never be sufficient. A professional may described a piece of music having a "chaotic polyrhythmic and ambient melody" but unless I have listened to the particular composition, I may not even know what it actually means or whether to agree or disagree. Hence, I would need to obtain sound samples for listening. I feel that to have a good understanding and well-balanced opinion of the genre, I need to impose certain criteria to my selection of music or sound samples. The criteria which I drew up includes:
- The compositions selected should be from the more prominent and influential musicians in the genre.
- I should to listen to three representative compositions by each musician or group.
- The three representative works must be from at least from two different albums produced at different time periods.
The rationale behind the criteria is that musicians may choose to employ different styles and techniques for different albums or their styles could change over time. It is also unfair to claim that a band is an industrial metal outfit simply because one album or one composition belongs to the genre. As I am new to the genre, I have consulted all the musicians' or bands' official websites, fan websites and online retailers to determine which are the works which are most representative of the artistes. The following table shows the representative works from different albums of the respective artistes and the year which the albums were released.
| Artiste |
Title |
Album |
Year Released |
| Godflesh |
Like Rats |
Streetcleaner |
1989 |
| Christbait Rising |
| Don't Bring Me Flowers |
Pure |
1992 |
| Ministry |
Thieves |
The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste |
1989 |
| New World Order |
Psalm 69 |
1992 |
| Lay Lady Lay |
Filth Pig |
1995 |
| Nine Inch Nails |
Sin |
Pretty Hate Machine |
1989 |
| Wish |
Broken |
1992 |
| Closer |
The Downward Spiral |
1994 |
| Fear Factory |
Zero Signal |
Demanufacture |
1995 |
| Replica |
| Edgecrusher |
Obsolete |
1998 |
Table 1: Information of song samples used in study.
I have also conducted interviews with people who are familiar with the genre or have experience with Heavy Metal music to determine how people view the influence of technology on the genre.
In order to categorize music into their respective genres, we need to identify each particular musical style through the tempo, melodic structure and the way in which the composition is produced. Similar to other genres, I believe that Industrial Metal should have a distinct music style. I sounded my opinion to a Heavy Metal music enthusiast, JL during an interview and his response was:
"You really should not be looking at musical characteristics through individual genre in Heavy Metal. For most bands, it is almost impossible to identify a band or musician as singularly belonging to a particular sub-genre. Some bands like Carcass may be viewed as a Death Metal band but for those who considers their playing style may feel that it resembles Grindcore. As many bands have members who practice the 'rotating-door policy', the musical style will be dependent on the current lineup of the band."
(Author's note: This means that individual members may leave or join the band for various reasons. It is a common phenomenon in the Heavy Metal music industry and there are times where the latest lineup of the band may be entirely different from the original lineup. One such example would be a Grindcore band from the United Kingdom called Napalm Death)
It is definitely a valid point that JL had made. It would be unfair to claim that a certain band belongs or does not belong to the Industrial Metal genre simply because it has or has not fulfilled all the characteristics of the music genre. Instead of describing the musical style, I will attempt to identify the common characteristics and traits of the genre.
First of all, it is important to note that the genre name consists of the two words "industrial" and "metal". We have already established that Industrial Metal is a sub-genre of Heavy Metal but there has been no mention that it is also a sub-genre of Industrial music.
Industrial music as a whole comprises of Industrial Dance, Industrial Metal and various forms of ambience music. Industrial music is often characterized by repetitive heavy percussive rhythms, synthesized electronic melodies and distorted or manipulated vocals with cut-and-paste construction. From the 12 sample songs which I have listened to, the most noticeable element is the heavy percussion which is consistent and very fast. In fact, this is also the characteristic which segregates the genre from other genres of heavy metal. To produce such an effect, many Industrial Metal bands uses a drum machine instead of a human drummer. A drum machine is similar to the Digital Signal Processor of an electric guitar except that it produces only different percussion beats. Examples of drum machines available in the market are the DR-770 manufactured by BOSS and the SP-808 manufactured by Roland. This technological enhancement allows the percussive beats to have split second precision, near perfect consistency and a very fast tempo over an extended time period which could not be achieved by a human drummer. This could be heard throughout the song sample, "Thieves" by Ministry.
Secondly, Industrial Metal bands incorporate electronic elements into significant parts of the composition which are repeated throughout. The music may include melodies produced by the electronica or have dialog samples taken from movies. "Industrial sounds" such as noise produced colliding metal objects or machinery movements can also be commonly heard in the music. This could be heard at the intro of the song, "Zero Signal" by Fear Factory. Third, the use of technology involved in the production of the music has resulted a very "layered" feel. Apart from the utilization of drum machines and "industrial sounds" effects, other components are interwoven into the music via sampling and "cut-and-paste" during production and sound editing. For example, the song may begin with an "industrial sound" sample to create an atmospheric effect followed by the percussion and throughout the song, different sampled sounds are repeated over the guitars and vocals. The many different layers combined to give a structured and layered effect.
In the lyrical sense, Industrial Metal is similar to other genres of Heavy Metal such that it depicts the dissatisfaction with the social norms and outbursts of frustrations. However, there is an emphasis on the discontent of the musicians with industrialization and modernization of the world. The following lyrics of the song "Self Bias Resistor" by fear Factory highlights this point.
"Persists for resistance
Resist their insolence
You are a dissident
Burn away conformity"
The above descriptions and explanations illustrate the common characteristics and traits found in Industrial Metal music and it will better enable us to appreciate the music of the genre. However, these are only personal interpretations based on experience and research and the aesthetics of the music should not be restricted or limited to this discussion.
Due to the necessity to furnish the reader with sufficient background and other technical information, there is yet any explicit mention of the impact of technology on the music of Industrial Metal albeit earlier discussions hinted possible consequences. In this section, we will look at the impact from various perspectives.
When record shops in Singapore started importing albums by artistes belonging to Industrial Metal in the eighties, people who bought the albums were usually the commercial mainstream audience. It seems strange that the typical Heavy Metal diehard fan whom usually buy anything associated with Heavy Metal are not too supportive of Industrial Metal music. An interviewee, ME explained:
"I don't understand why it is called Industrial Metal in the first place. With all the keyboard sounds and techno rhythm, it does not sound the least bit Heavy Metal. These bands are influenced by too much technology and they are deviating from the original school of Heavy Metal. What they should do is keep the instruments traditional and avoid technological enhancements."
However, such an explanation seems to be self-contradicting. From the artistes in the seventies like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple to the present artistes such as Pantera and Sepultura, all utilizes technology in their production of music. Each Heavy Metal band usually comprises of a vocalist, a drummer and guitarists who play the lead, rhythm and bass parts. It is still arguable that the vocalist and the drummer do not use technology to produce their respective parts but this argument cannot be applied to the guitarists. Almost all the guitarists use electric solidbody guitars for their parts. When the guitarist strums or plucks the guitar strings, from the moment vibrations from the strings are detected by the pick-ups and send as signals through cables to the amplification by the amplifiers and speakers, every step consists of the utilization of technology to produce the sound. We are not even bringing in the extra components like the simple stomp boxes which distort the sound signals before amplification and the more complicated Digital Signal Processors which converts the analogue signals to digital signals to be sampled over before being re-converted to analogue signals to be amplified. For the latter case, there is hardly any difference between the production of electric guitar sounds and the production of electronica sounds. From this perspective, it does not seem cogent to claim that technology is changing the genre of the music.
Earlier, we have established that most industrial bands utilize the drum machine for its precise, consistent and fast percussive beats. It is also because of this convenience that the human drummer was either omitted or replaced with a drum machine. This move has led many debates within the Heavy Metal music community involving several issues. Firstly, although the drum machine was much appreciated for its capabilities and benefits and most Industrial Metal musicians do a pretty good job of incorporating it into their music, there are many enthusiasts who feel that the percussion sounds too unnatural. Another interviewee, JT shares his sentiments:
"I am sure that there are many fans out there really enjoys the fast tempo of the music made possible by the fast percussion beats, but it just does not feel right. Even if the album sleeve does not state that the band uses a drum machine, it becomes pretty obvious in the music. Even though there are still the vocals and guitars which clearly exhibit attributes of your usual Heavy Metal music, the drum beats seems to say otherwise and it cannot not be ignored."
Another issue involves the musicians or performers behind the production of Industrial Heavy Metal. Possibly because of the convenience enabled by technology such as the sampling of sounds and creating the repetitions via cut-and-paste method, it becomes apparent that you do not really need the usual number of musicians or performers in a band. After all, a single performer can player individual parts separately and use layering to produce the final product. The Industrial Metal band, Ministry consists of only two members, namely, Al Jourgensen who does not only sing, but also plays guitars, keyboards, mandolin, banjo, saxophone and harmonica with a bassist, Paul Barker. Similarly, Trent Reznor has always been viewed as a one-man-band for Nine Inch Nails. He wrote the lyrics, composed and arranged the songs, programmed many of the instruments in computers, and did all the vocals. The fact that there were only one or two persons behind a band made many people uncomfortable because Heavy Metal bands have always consisted of four or more members. The idea of one person behind all the drums, keyboards, guitars and vocals were simply inconceivable. There is no doubt that everyone can accept technological advancements which made this scenario possible, what they really could not accept was that this is Heavy Metal music.
The notion of a band was totally deconstructed and seemingly replaced by a producer or Disc Jockey spinning records. There is an uncanny resemblance to Techno or Trance music where a single person would be doing sound sampling, layering and playing an ensemble of instruments using the computer and electronica. We could hardly blame the Heavy Metal fanatic having attended countless concerts and seeing a band of guitarists, drummer and vocalist suddenly looking at the stage with one performer manipulating an assortment of gadgets.
For a time, it would appear that Industrial Metal musicians were causing much controversy and perpetually losing their audience for the wrong reasons. There is nothing wrong with the music that they are producing and they have only brought their genre of music into greater heights made possible by technology. Other sub-genres of Industrial music such as Ambience and Industrial Dance do not seem to be facing the same problems. The only reason was that the audience were unable to accept the much increased amount of technology which was previously not present in their genre of music. The situation was so bad that earlier Industrial Metal bands refused to acknowledge that they belong to the genre and musicians used the drum machine at a minimal level. Industrial Metal music seems to be succumbing to the audience pressure and the utilization of technology unappreciated. In short, the Industrial Metal music scene appears to be set for doom.
In the mid nineties, with the accelerated industrialization and modernization of the world, there was a sudden demand for music that propagated anti-modernization. Death Metal, Grindcore and Black Metal bands were incapable of filling up this vacuum entirely because their lyrics were usually expressions of discontent with society, government or religion. The masses started to appreciate the "industrial sounds" produced by sound sampling. The percussions produced by the drum machine emphasized the industrialization effect. The distinct atmosphere created by Industrial Metal draws a sudden appeal to the frustrated and disillusioned audience. The notions of sound sampling and utilization of the drum machine was viewed in a different light. This led next generation Heavy Metal bands like Fear Factory and White Zombie to simulate the precise and consistent percussion beats of the drum machine and there are also instances where the musicians interweave both human drumming and machine drumming into a single composition to great effect. Sound sampling is also common in the music of such bands. Early generations bands like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails became more popular. It seems somewhat ironic that the trend of Heavy Metal initially ostracized the technologically produced music but yet embraced it later even to the extent that human drummers attempt to simulate the percussive capabilities of the drum machine.
The above study has illustrated the impact of technology on the music of Industrial Metal and highlighted several resulting effects and consequences. We can see that there is instances where technology is viewed as an entity separated from music and also where technology blends in and it becomes almost invisible to the audience. In the case of the drum machine, it influences and affects the aural perception of the audience and its very presence determines the aesthetic appreciation of the music. Alternatively, the presence of technology in electric guitar amplification and sound distortion is so taken for granted that the audience ignores the fact that very single note produced is enabled by technology. It is evident that technology plays an important role in music regardless of the resulting consequences.
We know that technological advancements has the capability of creating new musical possibilities through increasing tonal variation, tempo speeds and structuring compositions; and in turn, expanding the creative horizons for musicians. The conservative audience may think that the music is manipulated and to a certain extent controlled by technology. However, I feel that we should view the music and technology relationship in a positive light rather than a vicious cycle. Technology opens up a whole new world of possibilities and stretches the creativity of musician and at the same time this force of creativity will accelerate the progression of technology. The ongoing cycle will produce new music (may it be tone, rhythm tempo or sound) which we could not envisage and bring future generations of musicians and audience alike to greater heights of aural ecstasy.
I end this report with a quotation from the frontman of Industrial Metal band Ministry, Al Jourgensen:
"I don't know if I want to hide as much as to keep you guessing...We can be ourselves, we'll let you pigeonhole us. You go ahead. We're gonna get slotted, no matter what, because that is the nature of the press, they have to explain, have to simplify things for people, so they have a concept of what kind of music it is...And so we'll let everyone stereotype us and, meanwhile, what they're having a go at is an illusion...The whole thing is stupid. In the 12th century, if musicians didn't play in front of the king correctly, we would have been beheaded. We were minstrels and fools. Now we're icons and deities and demi-gods."
- Dark Legions Archive: An online archive of descriptive reviews covering the extreme music spectrum from Death Metal to Black Metal to Grindcore to other underground genres of excess and alienation, written by a metal DJ of six years experience.
http://www.anus.com/metal/
- Godflesh Official Website
http://www.avanlancheinc.co.uk/godflesh1.html
- Ministry Official Website
http://www.darkspoon.com
- www.MINISTRY.nu: A fan website providing comprehensive information of the band Ministry.
http://www.ministry.nu
- Nine Inch Nails Official Website
http://www.nin.com
- Painful Convictions: A fan website of the band Nine Inch Nails with archives of many articles written about the band.
http://www.9inchnails.com
- Fear Factory Official Website
http://www.fearfactory.com
- Crumbling Flesh: A comprehensive fan website of the band, Godflesh including a detailed poll of favorite albums and songs of the band.
http://www.godflesh.com
- CDNow: Online music retailer of records and compact discs offering artistes biography and albums recommendations and in depth reviews.
http://www.cdnow.com
- Chronicles of Chaos: Online Magazine featuring all varieties of chaotic music ranging from Black, Doom and Death Metal to electronic/noise to dark and ambient forms.
http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com
- Drum Machine Museum: Online exhibition of electronic musical instruments with archives and documentation serving as a comprehensive exploration into the socio-cultural influence technologically produced music and digitally inspired art has had on fashion, trends and media.
http://www.drummachine.com
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