Loads worth checking out, and all of the below are on Spotify.
You’ve got yer early industrial circa Throbbing Gristle. Relatively sparse sound and less beat-driven than later movements. Cabaret Voltaire’s Red Mecca stands alongside 20 Jazz Funk Greats as one of the early pinnacles.
For me it gets great when synths and drum machines become more of a mainstay, most importantly with Skinny Puppy, who are among my absolute favourites of all time. Their late 80s/early 90s releases are most acclaimed, but I think Bites is essential listening from back in 1985 - it’s a sprawling 72 minute masterpiece of proto-techno which sounds like Vangelis travelling through the 9 circles of hell. (Plus The Centre Bullet is pretty much the template for everything Warp were banging out in the early 90s - incredible how ahead of their time it sounds).
Pretty much all their pre-reform work is gold, but if I were pushed to pick two essential releases it would be the incongruously angry funk of VIVI Sect VI and the sonic assault of Too Dark Park - if you do nothing else, listen to Spasmolytic from the latter.
Then you’ve got various branches out from ‘skuppy’, one of which is the ‘electronic body music’ of Front 242. I love this style - it’s like the industrial answer to Eurodance with it’s rhythmic traits and the sound-palate is delightfully ‘of its time’. Front By Front is a true classic of the genre. Also worth giving Front Line Assembly’s Caustic Grip a listen which is a slightly angrier take on that vibe. And maybe dip into KMFDM’s earlier work.
In the other direction, you’ve got bands like Ministry who gradually peeled away the synths and brought in heavy guitars. Psalm 69 is their best-known and worth a listen although by that point they’d removed a lot of the rhythmic elements I love about the genre.
Then there are your cross-over successes. Clearly early NiN is heavily indebted to the industrial movement - Trent has acknowledged Skinny Puppy as influences. And later tracks like Reptile or Closer from TDS are still leaning heavily on that industrial feel. Marilyn Manson is another with similar feels at times.
