From 1988 to 1990, Controlled Bleeding made another strong stylistic shift and recorded several releases of metal-tinged industrial dance music which were released on Wax Trax! Records. Thanks to the label's large advertising budget and a favorable critical response, this material provided the highest record sales of the band's career thus far, and gave the band a worldwide reputation as an industrial dance act. The first EP in this style, "Songs from the Grinding Wall" (1989), was heavily promoted by the label, and was followed by a full-length release, "Trudge" (1989), which the label promoted further by issuing 12" singles for the album tracks "The Fodder Song" and "Words (of the Dying)".