Remember that mid-era of industrial/ebm? Before the trance invasion? Before the tyranny of the Mexican bassline? Before saw-wave leads became a standard in every song. Before every track on an album had to be a club hit? I’m thinking of the first few Haujobb releases, Individual Totem, early Mentallo and the Fixer, and maybe even mid-era Skinny Puppy. While many of the tracks were club friendly, they weren’t necessarily written for the dance floor.

As of late there have been quite a few new bands trying to work with the older EBM sounds, with a slightly more updated feel. Here are some of my favorites:

Necro Facility (http://www.myspace.com/necrofacility): A small Swedish bands that managed to flawlessly emulate Skinny Puppy, but with much stronger basslines.

Object (http://www.myspace.com/objectger): Uses a lot of sounds which are reminiscent of 80s synth-programming, and still manages to have a well layered and complex sound.

Neon Cage Experiment (http://www.myspace.com/neoncageexperiment): Slow moving and well textured soundscapes reminiscent of Haujobb’s best work.

Disharmony (http://www.myspace.com/disharmonydarkelectro): Lately moving towards more of an IDM direction, having recently releasing an amazing collection of remixes on Tympanik Audio.

Collapse Project (http://www.myspace.com/collapseproject): Have released their first CD on small but ambitious German label Klangdynamik Records.