工业舞曲的主力先锋，比利时的Front 242，他们在“Play It Again Sam（再来一次，森姆）”的厂牌下发行自己的唱片。在某种意义上，他们把Cabaret Voltaire在七十年代注入“工业音乐”的旋律性东西进一步给予最大化发挥。在他们的带动下，涌现出众多新的电子舞曲类型、乐队和作品。不管怎样，刺耳的音乐结构、扭曲的嗓音、色情的造型及音色采样都鲜明地表示其“工业音乐”的特征。 也有人认为Front 242是第一支真正意义上的EBM乐队，EBM，全称Electronic Body Music（电体音乐）。从命名上分析它本身属于电子音乐的一支。最初评论界把70年代末80年代初一些电子乐队所创作的冷酷、黑暗而又极简化的电子音乐称之为EBM。他们将电子色彩浓郁的冷酷声响，单调简化的节拍和军国主义突击队造型带进了摩登的舞池，一场真正的音乐暴力革命。随后而至的一系列团体是The Klinik，Insekt，Dive，Click Click，A Split Second以及Suicide Commando。随着此类音乐本身向着黑暗和暴力的进化Digitalhardcore（数码硬核）终告出现。 但其实，EBM本身就是个和“工业”相并列的词，并不矛盾。总之一点，Front 242是这两种风格的顶尖乐队。
One of the most consistent industrial bands of the 1980s, even though they regularly pursued a more electronic variant of the sound that swept into vogue during the 90s, Front 242 were the premier exponent of European electronic body music. Initially, the group was just a duo when formed in October 1981 in Brussels; programmers Patrick Codenys and Dirk Bergen recorded Principles and released the single on New Dance Records. A year later, programmer Daniel Bressanutti (aka Daniel B. Prothese) and lead vocalist Jean-Luc de Meyer joined as well; dubbed Front 242 because of the names universal meaning and united connotations, the quartet debuted in 1982 with the single U-Men and album Geography, recorded for Red Rhino Europe Records (RRE).
Not dissimilar to Depeche Mode and other synthesizer bands at the time, Front 242 began playing live later that year, adding percussionist Geoff Bellingham but later replacing him with an ex-roadie, Richard 23 (born Richard Jonckheere). (Dirk Bergen also left the working band, but stayed on to direct management.) The groups sound began to grow more aggressive with 1984s No Comment EP, still reminiscent of synth pop but with harder-hitting rhythms and added menace from de Meyers vocals. By 1987, Front 242 had gained an American contract through Chicagos Wax Trax!, the home of a diverse group of mostly European aggressive synthesizer acts later lumped together as exponents of industrial rock. Wax Trax! reissued much of the groups recordings (including the rarities collection Back Catalogue) and released a new album, Official Version. The first Front 242 LP to coalesce as a consistent recording, the album contained several cold-wave club hits (Masterhit, Quite Unusual) and, for the time, excellent production values. Released in 1988, third LP Front by Front was undoubtedly the groups best yet, with more emphasis on song structure than loose mechanistic grooves. Besides the alternative club hits Headhunter and Never Stop, the record was Front 242s most consistent.
By the end of the decade, Front 242 had become the first Wax Trax! artist to make the jump to a mainstream label; Epic Records picked up the bands contract, reissuing each past album with new artwork and bonus tracks. The single Tragedy (For You) became another alternative club hit, and picked up rotation on MTV as well. Though the following album, Tyranny (For You), couldnt touch Front by Front in terms of quality, it made great strides for the group in the minds of audiences — by the time of its release in 1991, Front 242 was, with Ministry and Skinny Puppy, one of the most well-known industrial acts in music.
With nary a lineup change in the past ten years, however, Richard 23 finally left the group in 1993 after an American tour with the Lollapalooza festival (the trio replaced him with lyricists Jean-Marc Pauly and his brother Pierre). That same year Front 242 released two LPs, 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and 05:22:09:12 Off, the first closer to pop music than anything the group had recorded before, and the second more abrasive than previous recordings. In the wake of industrial musics unlikely mainstream success — which pushed unrestrained angst and raging guitars in the vein of Nine Inch Nails — the Front 242 LPs were not well received. Vocalist De Meyer left the group in 1995 to sing with various projects, including Cobalt 60 and Bio-Tek. Front 242 released a live LP (Live Code) and a remix album (Mut@ge.Mix@ge) but for the most part remained quiet while flocks of industrial bands invaded the mainstream charts during the mid- to late 90s. In 1997 the group again toured and issued the live album Re-Boot a year later. Pulse, a studio album of new material, was released in CD and DVD formats in 2003.