Front 242 & EBM

Electronic body music, invented in Belgium. Front 242's hard sequenced rhythm and shouted vocals, the industrial scene around them, the leather and the military imagery, and the sound that Nine Inch Nails and half of techno took from them.

Part of The Belgian Sound

28 moments in this segment.

1. 1979 - Telex - "Moskow Diskow" (1979). Brussels trio Telex (Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman, Michel Moers) made deadpan, fully-electronic pop years ahead of its time. "Moskow Diskow" is a founding record of European synth music, Belgium's electronic story starts here.
2. 1979 - Telex - "Rock Around the Clock". Telex's minimalist electronic reinventions defined early Belgian synth-pop (1979).
3. 1980 - Telex - "Eurovision" (1980). Telex famously entered Eurovision with a deadpan electro song, years ahead of its time.
4. 1981 - Liaisons Dangereuses / Marc Verhaeghen. Marc Verhaeghen (The Klinik, Liaisons Dangereuses, Music Man) was a linchpin connecting Belgian EBM and techno (1981).
5. 1982 - Arbeid Adelt! / the Flemish new-wave electronic fringe. The Flemish new-wave and minimal-electronic scene of the 80s sat alongside EBM (1982).
6. 1983 - The Neon Judgement - Belgian EBM. Leuven's The Neon Judgement were pioneers of Belgian EBM/electro-punk, a key early-80s act in the lineage that runs to New Beat and techno.
7. 1984 - Parade Ground - Belgian synth/EBM. Brussels' Parade Ground were an early Belgian electronic act admired by Front 242 and the wider EBM scene.
8. 1985 - Poésie Noire - Belgian dark wave/EBM. Poésie Noire were part of the dark-electronic Belgian wave of the mid-80s, a sibling current to EBM.
9. 1985 - The Klinik - industrial/EBM. Antwerp's The Klinik (Marc Verhaeghen, Dirk Ivens) were among the darkest and most influential Belgian EBM/industrial acts of the 80s.
10. 1986 - Bene Gesserit / the Belgian experimental fringe. Belgium's electronic underground had a deeply experimental fringe in the 80s, feeding the industrial/EBM mainstream.
11. 1986 - A Split-Second - "Flesh" (1986). A Split-Second's "Flesh", played at the wrong (slower) speed by Antwerp DJs, is often cited as the spark of New Beat, the moment Belgian EBM mutated into a new genre on the dancefloor.
12. 1987 - Front 242 - "Masterhit". A Front 242 EBM classic, the Belgian machine sound at its most precise.
13. 1987 - Front Line Assembly-era Belgian EBM. The wider EBM movement that Belgium's Front 242 set in motion.
14. 1987 - A Split-Second - "Rigor Mortis". A Split-Second's harder EBM/new beat sound was a cornerstone of the early Belgian electronic body music canon.
15. 1988 - Front 242 - Headhunter (Official Video). Belgium's Front 242 pioneered EBM (electronic body music); Headhunter is one of the Belgian electronic scene's defining tracks (c. 1988).
16. 1988 - Front 242 - "Quite Unusual". A Front 242 club staple, the militant EBM sound that the Belgians invented and exported worldwide.
17. 1988 - From EBM to the dancefloor. Front 242 and the EBM pioneers gave new beat its machine-driven DNA, the bridge from industrial to the club.
18. 1989 - Front 242 - "Never Stop!". FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY THE IMAGES BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS
19. 1989 - Front 242 - "Welcome to Paradise". A Front 242 EBM anthem, the Belgian machine-gospel at full power.
20. 1989 - The Klinik - Belgian industrial. Antwerp's The Klinik, cornerstone of Belgian industrial/EBM.
21. 1989 - The Klinik - "Moving Hands". Antwerp's The Klinik, the dark heart of Belgian industrial/EBM.
22. 1989 - Snowy Red / the Belgian minimal-synth wave. Belgium's late-70s/80s minimal-synth pioneers fed the electronic lineage.
23. 1991 - Front 242 - "Rhythm of Time". ".
24. 1991 - Front 242 - "Tragedy for You" (1991). At their commercial peak, Front 242, the inventors of "Electronic Body Music", brought the militant Belgian machine sound to international audiences.
25. 1993-01-01 - Front 242 - Religion. Front 242's industrial-EBM, one of Belgium's most influential electronic exports.
26. 2009-11-11 - Gorath - Belgian black/industrial. Gorath, an experimental Belgian black-metal project.
27. 2011 - The Klinik - "Moving Hands" era. The Klinik's cold, clanking industrial-EBM from Antwerp (2011).
28. 2013 - The Neon Judgement - TV Treated. Belgian EBM pioneers The Neon Judgement (2013).