Front Line Assembly
As genre progenitors pushing beat-driven industrial, corrosive metal, and electronic body music in the late '80s and early '90s, Front Line Assembly helped formulate this hybrid style before acts like nine inch nails carried it into the mainstream. Initially, FLA dealt with the dark synth atmospherics heard on their official debut, 1987's The Initial Command. The addition of EBM dance beats followed, heard on releases such as 1989's Gashed Senses & Crossfire and 1992's Tactical Neural Implant. As the genre incorporated more metal influences, so did the band, who injected jagged guitar riffs and aggressive sampling on 1994's Millennium. After returning focus to electronic, techno-oriented beats, FLA entered the 21st century with a trio of releases that landed the group on the Billboard charts for the first time with 2006's Artificial Soldier. They repeated the feat in 2010 with Improvised. Electronic. Device. before turning their attention to video game soundtracks on AirMech (2012) and WarMech (2018). They remained active with studio efforts like 2021's Mechanical Soul.
Through various lineup shifts over the decades, the act's core duo is comprised of Bill Leeb (vocals, synthesizers) and Rhys Fulber (synthesizers, samplers). After working in the mid-'80s under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder with Skinny Puppy, the Austrian-born Leeb formed the industrial/techno-based Front Line Assembly in 1986 with Fulber -- who initially joined on as a studio assistant -- and synth player Michael Balch. After a handful of compilation appearances and cassette-only releases, Front Line Assembly issued its first three full-length efforts -- The Initial Command, State of Mind, and Corrosion -- on a monthly basis between December 1987 and February 1988. Later in 1988, Corrosion, a subsequent mini-album titled Disorder, and a number of exclusive bonus tracks were compiled and released as Convergence.
In 1989, the group returned with the album Gashed Senses & Crossfire, which contained the dance-flavored singles "Digital Tension Dementia" and "No Limit." A European tour in support of the record yielded a live album -- simply titled Live -- that was released and deleted on the same day in a limited edition of 4,000 pressings. After Balch departed Front Line Assembly in 1990, Fulber stepped in as a full partner; the streamlined duo soon released the electro-styled album Caustic Grip, while 1992's Tactical Neural Implant found the group's music moving in a harder-edged disco direction.
By 1994, their sound had evolved yet again, with the album Millennium displaying a newfound reliance on guitars; both the title track and "This Faith" scored as club hits. Fulber departed the lineup by 1997, while his replacement Chris Peterson debuted with 1998's Monument. Implode appeared one year later. Sticking with a heavy dose of synth pop trance and throbbing melodies, Leeb and Peterson issued Epitaph in fall 2001. Rhys Fulber returned for the 2001 album Civilization and remained for the 2006 release Artificial Soldier, which found guitarist/keyboardist Jeremy Inkel joining the band. The remix album Fallout followed in 2007.
The group returned in 2010 with Improvised. Electronic. Device. (Metropolis), featuring new members Jeremy Inkel and Jared Slingerland, as well as "Stupidity," with Al Jourgensen. After years of contributing previously released tracks to video game-related soundtracks, Front Line Assembly gave full focus to an entire album with AirMech, the electronic instrumental soundtrack for the video game of the same name, which was released in 2012. The next year, they returned with the dubstep-influenced Echogenetic -- the remix album Echoes a year later -- which they promoted on tour with Skinny Puppy. Echogenetic marked their highest chart success to date, topping the German Alternative Albums list and entering the top 20 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic and Heatseekers Albums charts.
In early 2018, keyboardist Inkel passed away due to asthma complications at the age of 34. The band carried on, joining Die Krupps on a spring European tour before the release of AirMech sequel WarMech. Closing out the 2010s, they issued Wake Up the Coma, which featured a cover of Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" with Jimmy Urine, as well as appearances by Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost) and Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks). A new decade in the band's catalog was inaugurated with 2021's Mechanical Soul, which recruited guests Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242) and Dino Cazares (Fear Factory). FLA was featured on Black Asteroid's 2022 single "Methane Rain."
© Jason Ankeny & Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo
Discografia
58 álbum(ns) • Ordenado por Mais vendidos
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Heatmap (Remix)
Experimental - Lançado por Artoffact Records em 01/11/2024
Disponível em24-Bit/48 kHz Estéreo -
Molotov (Remix)
Experimental - Lançado por Artoffact Records em 06/12/2024
Disponível em24-Bit/48 kHz Estéreo -
Caustic Grip
Rock - Lançado por Roadrunner Records em 01/01/1991
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Gashed Senses & Crossfire
Rock - Lançado por Roadrunner Records em 01/01/1989
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Wake up the Coma
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Metropolis Records em 08/02/2019
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Corrosion (Remastered 2022)
Experimental - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 01/07/1988
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Millennium
Rock - Lançado por Roadrunner Records em 10/10/1994
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Implode
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Metropolis Records em 27/04/1999
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Hard Wired
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Metropolis Records em 14/11/1995
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Reclamation
Rock - Lançado por Roadrunner Records em 20/10/1997
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Epitaph
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Metropolis Records em 09/10/2001
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Mechvirus (Remix)
Experimental - Lançado por Artoffact Records em 27/10/2023
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Nerve War (2022 Remaster)
Experimental - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 01/07/1986
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Force Carrier (Remix)
Experimental - Lançado por Artoffact Records em 26/01/2024
Disponível em24-Bit/88 kHz Estéreo -
Deutschland
Front Line Assembly, Dino Cazares
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 03/07/2023
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Corroded Disorder
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 21/11/1995
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
AirMech
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Metropolis Records em 13/11/2012
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
The Best Of Cryogenic Studios
Electronic - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 01/12/2010
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Complete Total Terror
Progressive Rock - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 18/04/2006
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Total Terror Part I 1986 (Remastered 2022)
Experimental - Lançado por Cleopatra Records em 01/07/1986
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Mechvirus (Remix)
Experimental - Lançado por Artoffact Records em 01/12/2023
Disponível em24-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo