Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music aims to be a comprehensive overview of Industrial music from its earliest beginnings to its most recent manifestation. Reed aims to chart its course, providing commentary on the people, place, politics and philosophy of the genre. The book is divided into five parts, starting with the antecedents of the genre and then following its development, geographically, stylistically, politically and commercially.

Part 1 lays the groundwork for discussing Industrial music, presenting the political and philosophical forebears and inspiration for Industrial musicians. The looming spectre of the Futurists is presented, as is the almost omnipotent presence of William S. Burroughs – both as an influence on the first wave of Industrial musicians and, in the case of Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P-Orridge, as a mentor. Part 2 deals with the geographic landscape of the genre, the major centres of Northern England, Berlin and San Francisco and the dissemination of Industrial music through the Mail Art and tape scenes. How the music emanated and spread and the interconnections and isolation of the different Industrial centres is also covered. In Part 3 Reed discusses styles within Industrial music, including how the different stylistic interpretations of Industrial flourished, and how they evolved over time.

Part 4 deals with the politics of Industrial music, showing that from its very beginning the use of military and fascist imagery, as a provocation and subversion, was very evident. Reed describes how these ideas were used in the initial stages by Industrial musicians in détournement, and how, during later waves of the imagery, they were sometimes taken at face value. (An extreme example of this is gay, leftist band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft being booked to play a gig, only to realise at showtime that they had been billed as a neo-Nazi act.) The final part of the book talks more about the commercial forces that altered the genre during the 1990s. It examines the WaxTraxx record label and, using this as an example, shows how the genre went from being a subversive commentator on modern culture to being co-opted, and ultimately subsumed, by the mainstream.

Assimilate is an engrossing read and Reed's passion for Industrial music is palpable in every line. He goes to great pains to lay out the framework for looking at the different geographic and sonic scenes and gives a perspective on the ideas behind the different waves of the genre. While the sentences are saturated with the argot of the academic artist, Reed contextualises this theorisation in terms of a genre in which everyone, at least in its formative years, read books by Burroughs and were influenced by artists like Guy Debord. This illustrates how the music was as much about statement and spectacle as it was about sounds.

This might make the book less than accessible for the non-academic Industrial fan, but for those willing and able to get into Reed's hyper-descriptive and thoroughly contextualised prose about the genre there is a wealth of information to be had. The book is like a proverbial Pandora's box of information. Every paragraph seems to act as a jumping-off point to learn about the different bands, scenes and influences. The genre's influences in particular run the entire gambit of culture over the last century. I found myself seeking out Situational International and learning about the Fluxus, Mail Art and Dada movements, all the while listening to Throbbing Gristle, Clock DVA and Nine Inch Nails.

I read a physical copy of the book – it's also available as an ebook – the cover of which has a velvet-like texture to it and is a joy to hold. A lovely feature, which I'm not sure will translate to the ebook version, is the use of cogwheels within the text to indicate footnotes. On first glance I wasn't sold on the idea, thinking it a bit too literal, but it grew on me as I read the book and I think that it's a wonderful addition. It's a pleasure to see each aspect of the book thought about in such detail and, while not adding to my understand of Industrial music, it certainly added to the reading experience.

The same is true of the listening sections at the end of many of the chapters, which act as a portal of discovery and really add to the experience. Reed lists noteworthy music to listen to, in a format reminiscent of David Toop's Ocean of Sound and Exotica which make excellent starting points for the Industrial neophyte.

While it's unlikely that most reading Assimilate will be unfamiliar with the bigger names, Reed has thoughtfully included Iconic and Arcane listening examples, providing the hits and esoteric alike. Listening to the different works is a further enhancement to the historical background and also a gateway into the some of the less well known acts and works on the fringes of a genre that itself seems to be mostly fringe.

Assimilate is a veritable firehose of information about Industrial music from beginning to end and Reed has managed to provide a thorough history of the genre combined with lots of interesting asides. Each page is packed with interesting titbits that cumulate in a mosaic of the genre's history. Assimilate displays an endlessly thorough and detailed compendium of the Industrial scene, following down threads of style, geography, race, gender and art in an effort to provide a detailed sense of the music and the world from which it emerged. The density of information and Reed's verbose use of language do not make this an easy read. It is, however, a thoroughly enlightening and entertaining one.