Industrial Records is a record label established in 1976 by industrial music and visual arts group Throbbing Gristle. The group created the label primarily for self-releases but also signed several other groups and artists. The label gave a name to the industrial music genre.

Background

Artists released through the label included Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA, SPK, Thomas Leer & Robert Rental, The Leather Nun, plus outrage artist Monte Cazazza, the author William S. Burroughs' auditory works, and a solo album by Throbbing Gristle member Chris Carter.

A notable departure from the industrial form of the label was the blues standard "Stormy Weather" sung by Elisabeth Welch, taken from the soundtrack of Derek Jarman's film The Tempest.

The label's first LP was Throbbing Gristle's debut LP The Second Annual Report, which was limited to 786 copies. It came in bootleg-like packaging: a plain white card sleeve with glued-on xerox information strips.

The Industrial Records logo is a stark black and white depiction a low-definition photo of an Auschwitz crematory.^[1][2]

In 2011, the label had an official "re-activation" as Throbbing Gristle's contract with Mute Records had expired. Since the band has permanently disbanded following the "death" of Sleazy, the label's plan is to re-release the original Throbbing Gristle albums (The Second Annual Report, D.o.A: The Third and Final Report, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Heathen Earth, and Greatest Hits) on the label.^[3] Originally intended to be released all at once on 26 September 2011, the label had to delay due to a Sony DADC warehouse fire in London. The new plan was to release a new album chronologically once every week starting on Halloween 2011 with The Second Annual Report and ending 28 November with Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits.^[4]

There has been no comment on releasing any other artists' works or new content after the Throbbing Gristle releases.

Discography