Einstürzende Neubauten

More than any other group, Einstürzende Neubauten embody industrial music in its most literal sense. The German band helped pioneer the genre with an avant-garde mix of white-noise guitar drones, abrasive vocals, and a clanging, rhythmic din produced by a percussion section consisting of construction materials, power tools, broken glass, and various metal objects. Taking Luigi Russolo's Futurist manifesto, The Art of Noises, to its logical extreme, the group began assaulting their audience's senses in the early '80s, attacking the stage with jackhammers and occasionally causing property damage. Neubauten's radical performances and recordings attracted controversy, but their anarchic spirit and sheer innovation inspired countless musicians (particularly Henry Rollins and Ministry's Al Jourgensen, both of whom infamously sport tattoos of the band's petroglyph-like logo).