Electro-industrial is one of the Post-Industrial outgrowths of the initial industrial sound developed in the late 70's/early 80's by acts such as Throbbing Gristle, SPK & Cabaret Voltaire. Not merely bands using electronic instruments, electro-industrial specifically refers to a brooding, complex, layered sound combining synthesized choirs & strings, arpeggiated chords, media samples and often vocoded or modulated vocals. It should not to be confused with EBM which features upbeat, minimal dance-oriented structures, nor industrial rock which prominently features distorted electric guitars.

The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly and came to include notable bands such as X-Marks the Pedwalk, Leæther Strip, Mentallo & The Fixer, Haujobb, Placebo Effect, Forma Tadre and early Evil's Toy amongst many others. Record Labels associated with this genre include early Nettwerk, Wax Trax!, Antler Subway and Zoth Ommog.

In the mid-'90s, the style branched off further into the dark electro and aggrotech sub-genres. After the year 2000 the genre has largely been supplanted by it's offshoots but in addition to it's originators there are still some new bands such as Necro Facility, Dead When I Found Her and Mommy Hurt My Head that continue to make music in this style.