Electronic body music

Electronic Body Music, more commonly known by its acronym EBM, is a musical genre combining elements of Industrial music and Electronic dance music. There was also a strong influence from the Radical Dance scene and bands like Portion Control, 23 Skidoo or 400 Blows appart from classics such as Kraftwerk, Yello or DAF and Die Krupps. The term was coined by the Belgian band Front 242 in the early 1980s to describe their music, and they are considered the first EBM band. Through the 1980s and early 1990s the style was characterized by harsh and often sparse electronic beats and became popular in the underground club scene, particularly in Europe. In this early stage the most important labels where the european Pias, Antler and and the north american Wax Trax. Early bands who forged the style where Front 242 (they created the style), Nitzer Ebb, Borghesia, Neon Judgement, A grumph, Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads and Front Line Assembly.

By the mid 1990s EBM began to borrow more and more heavily from synthpop, with the early releases of such bands as Covenant, Wumpscut, VNV Nation, and Funker Vogt combining harsh industrial beats with synthesizer-driven melodies. By the late 1990s many of these middle-era EBM bands (notably VNV Nation and Covenant) were moving more and more towards synthpop, leading to some confusion and debate over the meaning of the term "EBM." While the term is still debated between "purists" who prefer to apply it to music more reminiscent of 1980s-era Front 242 and fans of a more modern style who allow for less adherence to its industrial heritage, today the term typically is used to refer to a sound similar to that of the middle-era bands. In any case, the genre is distinguished from plain synthpop and from futurepop by the retension of some degree of harshness and industrial elements. Notable among current EBM bands are Wumpscut, Funker Vogt, E-Craft, Bio-Tek, Suicide Commando and Ionic Vision.