What is Coldwave?
1.
Funnily enough, the name of two different genres:
French coldwave: a sort of proto-goth rock sound that developed in the late 70s.
American coldwave: guitar-driven electro/industrial music that enjoyed brief popularity in the early 90s.
To fans of both genres (author included), watching people get pissy about the difference can be very entertaining indeed.
French goth: mon amis, i hear you like ze coldwave?
US rivet head: yeah, bro, totally! just bought the new 16volt album, shit was SO cash...
French goth: qu'est-ce que c'est, 16volt? do you like trisomie 21?
US rivet head: who's that? have they remixed any Chemlab tracks?
See
2.
A subgenre of Industrial music focusing around guitar-driven composition.
Also called 'Industrial Rock'.
KMFDM, Rammstien, Ministry, 1000 Homo DJs, later Skinny Puppy