While EBM was experiencing a surge in popuarlity in Europe in the early 1980s, electronic bands in North American such as Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly were establishing a far more experimental sound. Now known as electro-industrial, the genre is defined by harsh, distorted and complex rhythms and synth lines.

Early electro-industrial made use of analog synthesizers popular at the time such as the Korg MS-20 and Sequential Circuits Pro-One. Other important pieces of equipment included early samplers like the Ensoniq Mirage as well as the Emulator and Emax from E-mu. Distortion was achieved through the use of various hardware effects processors and sampling techniques.

Today virtual analog synthesizers such as the JP-8000 from Roland and Clavia Nord Lead are also used. Software synthesizers, effects and samplers have also taken on an imporant role in the creation of modern electro-industrial music.

The table below shows gear most used by electro-industrial bands. Click the name of a piece of music equipment to read more about it.