Power electronics was originally coined by William Bennett as part of the sleevenotes to the Whitehouse

Whitehouse (band)

Whitehouse are a pioneering English power electronics band formed in 1980, largely credited for the founding of the power electronics subgenre.-History and personnel:...

 album Psychopathia Sexualis

Psychopathia Sexualis (album)

Psychopathia Sexualis is the seventh album by Whitehouse released in 1982 by Come Organisation.-Overview:Psychopathia Sexualis returns to the theme of serial killers, the subject of most of the songs. Every song title bearing the name of serial killer opens with a spoken introduction, detailing the...

, and is related to the early industrial records scene but later became more identified with noise music

Noise music

Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...

. It consists of screeching waves of feedback, analogue synthesizers making sub-bass pulses or high frequency squealing sounds, and screamed, distorted, often hateful and offensive lyrics. Deeply atonal

Atonality

Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...

, there are no conventional melodies or rhythms. Artists include Philip Best

Philip Best

Philip Best is a pioneer of power electronics who formed the band Consumer Electronics in 1982 at the age of 14. He joined the group Whitehouse, led by William Bennett, in 1983...

, Sutcliffe Jügend

Sutcliffe Jügend

Sutcliffe Jügend is a power electronics band, which began in early 1982 as a sub-project of Kevin Tomkins' main band, Whitehouse, and instantly gained notoriety as one of the harshest groups of the original power electronics scene.-Biography:...

, and Genocide Organ

Genocide Organ

Genocide Organ is a German death industrial group that formed in 1986. Almost all of their records are out of print except for Genocide Organ 虐殺機関, a reissue of Leichenlinie, and In-Konflikt, all three available from Tesco Organisation...

.

Death industrial can be described as having much of the same source sounds as power electronics, but with a deeper, atmospheric sound. It often features a more flowing rhythm and is less abrasive than power electronics. The Grey Wolves

The Grey Wolves

The Grey Wolves are a British Industrial music group. They were formed in 1985 by Dave Padbury and Trevor Ward.-History:The band has been credited with pioneering the 'death industrial' subgenre in industrial music. Their work has also been described as 'dark ambient' and as 'power electronics'...

 are often credited for pioneering the style, but the term was first used to describe artists such as Brighter Death Now

Brighter Death Now

Brighter Death Now is the artist name under which Roger Karmanik , the founder of the Swedish record label Cold Meat Industry, releases death industrial, power electronics and dark ambient music....

. Other artists include ABFALL, Anenzephalia

Anenzephalia

Anenzephalia is the nom-de-plume of noise musician B. Moloch, who is occasionally joined by Wilhelm Herich of Genocide Organ. Anenzephalia was one of the first projects to record for the Tesco Organisation label.-Partial discography:...

, Atrax Morgue

Atrax Morgue

Atrax Morgue was the nom de plume of Italian noise musician Marco Corbelli. Many of Atrax Morgue's early material was released on cassette, as part of the industrial/noise 'cassette underground' of the early 1990s. Often these cassettes were released on Corbelli's own Slaughter Productions label,...

, Aelia Capitolina

Aelia Capitolina

Aelia Capitolina was a city built by the emperor Hadrian, and occupied by a Roman colony, on the site of Jerusalem, which was in ruins since 70 AD, leading in part to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136.-Politics:...

, Azoikum, Con-Dom, Hieronymus Bosch, and Stratvm Terror. The Swedish label Cold Meat Industry releases in this subgenre.

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

Launched from the Lower East Side, Manhattan, in 1983 as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the Tellus cassette series took full advantage of the popular cassette medium to promote cutting-edge downtown music, documenting the New York scene and advancing experimental composers of the time...

 produced a compilation compact cassette

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

 tape called Power Electronics in 1986 that was curated by Joseph Nechvatal

Joseph Nechvatal

Joseph Nechvatal is a post-conceptual art digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses.-Life and work:Joseph Nechvatal was born in Chicago...

.

Labels

• Come Organisation (UK)
• Susan Lawly (UK)
• Broken Flag (UK)
• Freak Animal (Fin)
• Autarkeia (Ltu)