Die Krupps (DE)

About

Also known as: Krupps, Krupps, Die, The Krupps

Few bands have reinvented themselves as dramatically as Die Krupps. Formed in Düsseldorf in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, and Bernward Malaka, they started with the clanging factory noise and metallic percussion of Stahlwerksynfonie, shifted into synth pop territory in the early 1980s, and then in 1992 strapped on guitars and essentially helped invent industrial metal. Their Tribute to Metallica EP and the run of four numbered albums through the 1990s set a template that countless electronic and metal acts borrowed from. A collaboration with Nitzer Ebb around that same period also made them central figures in the development of EBM across Europe. After disbanding in 1997, they eventually returned and have kept busy ever since. The Machinists of Joy in 2013 leaned into electro industrial while V, Metal Machine Music in 2015 went back to heavy guitars. They also revisited their origins with Stahlwerkrequiem in 2016, a sequel to that very first album, and put out Vision 2020 Vision in 2019. If you want to trace where the meeting point of electronics and metal began, Die Krupps is a very good place to start.