Chemlab is an American

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubaute ...

band formed in Washington D.C. in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank, and Jared Louche (then known as Hendrickson). Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evolv ...

, Chemlab mixed experimental sounds with rock and

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...

within an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

framework. They released their first EP '' 10 Ton Pressure'' (1990), parted ways with Frank and moved to New York City, their base for the duration of their career. Chemlab released their debut album '' Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar'' in 1993 and toured with acts such as White Zombie,

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

16volt 16volt is an American industrial rock band featuring Eric Powell, with other performers added for live shows. History 16volt was formed in Portland, Oregon by composer and vocalist Eric Powell. Powell recruited musicians drummer Joel Bornzin, g ...

, and

GWAR Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After the ...

History

Initial releases (1990–2004)

Chemlab's first release was the EP '' 10 Ton Pressure,'' in 1990. Chemlab toured as opening acts for

from 1990 to 1991 for the Sin tour, which was a part of the greater Pretty Hate Machine Tour . After releasing the albums '' Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar'' (1993) and '' East Side Militia'' (1996) on

Fifth Colvmn Records Fifth Colvmn Records was a record label based in Washington, DC. The label was founded in 1990 by Zalman Fishman, owner of the nightclub FIFTH COLVMN, located in Washington D.C. The label's first release was Chemlab's debut EP Ten Ton Pressure. J ...

, Chemlab broke up in 1997 and then later reformed in 2004 to release an album entitled '' Oxidizer (album)'' with Jared as the only original member.

Intermittent touring (2004–2012)

After a seven-year hiatus from the stage, Jared recreated Chemlab and, with a backing band composed of the members of electro-industrial group mindFIELD performed a one-off show in Boston, Massachusetts in August 2005. The band played another one-off show, this time in New York City on January 7, 2006. A third show in San Francisco on March 17, 2006, saw the band joined by fellow coldwave bands

Babyland Babyland was an American performance-based independent electronic junk punk band from Los Angeles, California, featuring Dan Gatto performing vocals and electronics and Michael Smith on percussion. The band released six studio albums before di ...

and Deathline International. The band played at the

Detroit Electronic Music Festival Movement Electronic Music Festival is an annual electronic dance music event held in the birthplace of Techno, Detroit, each Memorial Day weekend since 2006. Previous electronic music festivals held at Hart Plaza on Memorial Day weekend inclu ...

and the Blacksun Festival. In late 2007, the band toured the US for the first time in eight years, with the supporting line-up of multi-instrumentalist/programmer Gabriel Shaw (mindFIELD), Wade Alin (Christ Analogue) and Jason Bazinet (

SMP SMP may refer to: Organisations * Scale Model Products, 1950s, acquired by Aluminum Model Toys * School Mathematics Project, UK developer of mathematics textbooks * '' Sekolah Menengah Pertama'', "junior high school" in Indonesia * Shanghai Mun ...

). During the spring of 2010, Chemlab toured North America with

and

Left Spine Down Left Spine Down (LSD) is a Canadian band based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that plays what they call "cyberpunk": a mixture of electronica, metal, punk, and drum & bass. History The group formed in Vancouver in 2001 with Matt Girvan, Frank ...

. Jared Louche announced on stage during a performance on September 7, 2012 in Chicago, that it would be the band's final show.

Later years (2012–present)

In the spring of 2018, it was announced that Chemlab would return for Cold Waves VII in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles to perform '' Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar'' in its entirety to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the album's release. The band also performed at Cold Waves VIII, along with a number of other standalone shows. The band later released the compilation '' Tape Decay'' in 2019. This release includes unreleased tracks from the ''East Side Militia'', ''Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar'' and ''10 Ton Pressure'' cassette demos as well as new songs. The band performed at the Oriental Theater in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

with

Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorp ...

and Scifidelic from September 21 to 22, 2019.

Other past members and contributing artists

*John "Servo" DeSalvo (16 Volt/

/Bile) *Mark Kermanj *

Geno Lenardo Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component th ...

( Filter) *

Charles Levi My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley) ...

(

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley) ...

) *Greg Lucas ( The Final Cut) *James McAndrew (Milquetoast & Co.) *Regan Miller (mindFIELD) *Gabriel Shaw (mindFIELD) * William Tucker *Kraig Tyler ( 16 Volt/

Crazy Town Crazy Town (sometimes abbreviated as CXT) is an American rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. Crazy Town is best known for their 2000 hit single " Butterfly", which reached number one on the US ''Billboard ...

) *Ned Wahl (The Deadly Nightshades) *F.J. DeSanto (The Aggression, Hypefactor) *members of Acumen Nation *Steve Watson *Paula "Shark" Wood

References in popular culture

*In the 1995 movie ''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film '' La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in sup ...

'', a Chemlab poster can be seen during an exterior shot of a sidewalk and building. *In the Aerosmith video for "Amazing", a similar Chemlab poster can be seen at the end of the video. *In season 3, episode 1 of MTV's ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

'' opening sketch, a Chemlab / Sister Machine Gun Psych Fest poster hangs above

Michael Ian Black Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including '' The State'', '' Viva Variety'', ''Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: F ...

's bed.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar'' (1993) *'' East Side Militia'' (1996) *''

Oxidizer An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxid ...

'' (2004)

Compilations albums

*'' Suture'' (2001) *'' Tape Decay'' (2019)

Remix albums

*''

Rock Whore vs. Dance Floor ''Rock Whore vs. Dance Floor'' is a remix album by Chemlab, released on March 14, 2006, by Invisible Records and Underground, Inc. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Rock Whore vs. Dance Floor'' liner notes. Chemlab * F.J. DeSanto&nb ...

'' (2006)

EPs

*''

Ten Ton Pressure ''10 Ton Pressure'' is the debut EP of the industrial rock band Chemlab, released in 1990 by Fifth Colvmn Records. The duo of Dylan Thomas Moore and Joe Frank on synthesizers later teamed up with Jared Hendrickson (now known as Jared Louche) to ...

'' (1990) *''

Magnetic Field Remixes ''Magnetic Field Remixes'' is a compilation album by Chemlab, released on October 11, 1994 by Fifth Colvmn and Metal Blade Records. It served as a way for the band to reissue their 1990 debut EP ''10 Ton Pressure'' with an expanded track listin ...

'' (1994) *''

The Machine Age The Machine Age may refer to: * ''The Machine Age'' (film), a 1977 Canadian short television film * ''The Machine Age'' (EP), a 2003 EP by Chemlab See also * Machine Age, an era that includes the early-to-mid 20th century {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma ...

'' (2003)

Singles

*" Exile on Mainline" (1996) *" Electric Molecular" (1996)

References

External links

Official Chemlab website
(archived)
Official FacebookChemlab Interview on a local NYC comedy TV show
{{Chemlab Musical groups established in 1989 Cyberpunk music American industrial rock musical groups Musical groups disestablished in 2012 Fifth Colvmn Records artists Invisible Records artists Underground, Inc. artists