Ministry (band) in the context of Bill Rieflin

Industrial music (or simply industrial) is a subgenre of experimental music inspired by post-industrial society, initially drawing influences from avant-garde and early electronic music genres such as musique concrète, tape music, noise and sound collage. The term was coined in 1976 by Monte Cazazza and Throbbing Gristle, with the founding of Industrial Records. Other early industrial musicians include NON and Cabaret Voltaire. By the late 1970s, additional artists emerged such as Clock DVA, Nocturnal Emissions, Einstürzende Neubauten, SPK, Nurse with Wound, and Z’EV, alongside Whitehouse who coined the subgenre "power electronics".

During the 1980s, industrial music splintered into a range of offshoots collectively labelled "post-industrial music", these included, EBM, new beat, hard beat, dark ambient, neofolk, power noise, industrial dance, electro-industrial, dark electro, aggrotech, industrial rock, industrial metal, cyber metal, Neue Deutsche Härte, martial industrial, industrial hip-hop and industrial techno. By the 1990s, elements of industrial music were made accessible to mainstream audiences through the popularity of acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Rammstein, and Marilyn Manson, all of whom released platinum-selling records.

Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. Originally emerging in the late 1970s to early 1980s, pioneered by artists such as Chrome, Killing Joke, Swans, Big Black and Skinny Puppy, the movement was further proliferated in the late 1980s by Wax Trax! Records in Chicago, with artists like Front 242, Front Line Assembly, KMFDM, and Sister Machine Gun.

Subsequently, the movement would lead to the emergence of genre fusions and subgenres like electro-industrial, industrial metal, martial industrial, industrial hip-hop, industrial dance and industrial techno. By the 1990s, broader industrial music genres were made accessible to mainstream audiences through the popularity of acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, all of whom released platinum-selling records.

Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory, Rammstein, KMFDM, and Godflesh.

Industrial metal developed in the late 1980s, as industrial and metal began to fuse into a common genre. Industrial metal did well in the early 1990s, particularly in North America, with the success of groups such as Nine Inch Nails, but its popularity began to fade in the latter half of the 1990s.