They became known in the 1980s as pioneers of the industrial music genre – although by the early 1990s they had changed to a more disco-oriented sound – and as a frequent target of censorship groups, including the PMRC, which objected to the band's humorous and satirical references to Satan, Jesus and sex in their song lyrics and stage shows.
Both attracted attention from college radio stations and dancefloors, as well as religious groups who balked at the overtly occult imagery in both the music and the artwork of the releases.
Thrill Kill Kult's second album, Confessions of a Knife..., became one of the best-selling releases on Wax Trax!, and continued to goad parental groups with song titles like "A Daisy Chain 4 Satan" and "Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness".
Along with labelmates Ministry, KMFDM, and Front 242, Thrill Kill Kult helped develop the industrial music genre, but they themselves continued to evolve, creating a sound that was not easily identified or categorized.
Thrill Kill Kult reflected a shift where dance records could be ominous and aggressive, and they laced their music with riffs and references that would seem more at home in a heavy metal group.
The live act also featured female backup singers referred to as "The Bomb Gang Girlz",[4] among the first of whom were Jacky Blaque, Rhonda Bond and Kitty Killdare.
Thorn soon departed amicably from the live act to form his own band, The Electric Hellfire Club (which embraced the overtly Satanic themes that My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult had only flirted with).
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult kept adding a revolving cast of characters to their stage show that, over the years, has included No Wave chanteuse Lydia Lunch, bassist Charles Levi, guitarist William Tucker, Chris "Curse" Mackey from the bands Evil Mothers and Grim Faeries, Lady Galore from Lords of Acid (who appeared in TKK as Cherrie Blue), and a great number of artists, sound technicians, musicians, and filmmakers.
Rykodisc eventually released My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's entire back catalog, as well as a new "best-of" compilation, a non-stop megamix album featuring mash-ups of tracks from different eras called (Diamonds & Daggerz), and a long-unreleased project entitled Gay, Black & Married.
In 2009, the band's own SleazeBox Records joined forces with Italy's Rustblade label and have together released TKK's most recent CDs Blood + Dope + Sin + Gold (2008), Death Threat (2009) and Sinister Whisperz (2011).
Thrill Kill Kult has contributed songs to soundtracks of several movies, including Cool World (1992), Totally Fucked Up (1993), The Crow (1994), The Flintstones (1994), Showgirls (1995), Baseketball (1998), The Amityville Legacy (2016) and Nemesis 5: The New Model (2018).