Definitions for "Coldwave"
Since the middle of the ’90s, the term “coldwave” has been used in the US to describe a primarily American style of industrial music, mainly industrial metal and industrial rock. This style has its roots in acts like the Young Gods and Ministry as well as Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP, and exploded on the American scene in the early and mid-1990s. Albums like Chemlab’s Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar exemplified the typical coldwave sound; hard rock-like guitars with prominent synthesizer accompaniment, and live or sampled drums.
Coldwave initially referred to a French style of post-punk and early Dark Wave music in the 1980s, taking its cue from bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure or Siouxsie & The Banshees and manifesting in music by those such as KaS Product, Martin Dupont, Asylum Party, Norma Loy, Clair Obscur, Opera Multi Steel and Trisomie 21.