Ministry broke ground for industrial music's sludgy, grinding assault thanks to Al Jourgensen's combination of the intense riffage of metal groups such as Black Sabbath and Sepultura with the robotically precise synth-pop of Gary Numan and The Human League. Along the way, he looked to Kraftwerk and Can for hints on how to build tension via repetition, and Swans and Big Black for how to create a storm of intimidating noise.