Music like Stabbing Westward

Stabbing Westward is an American industrial rock band. Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band in 1985 in Macomb, Illinois. The band released an extended play in 1992, followed by four studio albums: Ungod (1994), Wither Blister Burn & Peel (1996), Darkest Days (1998), and Stabbing Westward (2001). The band announced a dissolution on February 9, 2002. Two compilation albums were later released in 2003. Stabbing Westward reunited in 2016 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its formation and continued to perform live shows. The band's first new album in 21 years, Chasing Ghosts, was released in 2022.

Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band Stabbing Westward when they were in college. They came up with the name while working at the college radio station WIUS-FM. It was allegedly from a 1950s speech regarding political fears of Communism "stabbing westward." During an interview in 1996, Hall stated, "Since we went to Western Illinois University, Stabbing Westward had a certain 'kill everybody in the school' vibe to it! The school's way out in farm country and the country is really close minded. I was walking around like Robert Smith with real big hair, big baggy black clothes, black fingernail polish and eye makeup. They just didn't get it. We hated the town."