Front Line Assembly

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Front Line Assembly
Origin Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genre(s) post-industrial
EBM
industrial metal
electronica
Years active 1986–present
Label(s) Metropolis
Associated acts Conjure One
Delerium
Left Spine Down
Members
Bill Leeb
Rhys Fulber
Chris Peterson
Jeremy Inkel
Jared Slingerland
Former members
Michael Balch

Front Line Assembly (sometimes written as Frontline Assembly, also known by the acronym FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in 1986 by Bill Leeb and Michael Balch after Leeb left Skinny Puppy.

Contents

[edit] History

Following the two demo tapes Nerve War and Total Terror, Front Line Assembly released their first album The Initial Command in 1987. Soon Rhys Fulber joined the band. The album State of Mind (1988) was the first to be released worldwide.

In 1989 Michael Balch left Front Line Assembly, and joined Ministry. The album Gashed Senses and Crossfire was released in 1989, and the track "Digital Tension Dementia" caught the attention of many underground music fans and DJs. Caustic Grip was released in 1990, and became an instant classic with underground fans. In 1991, the stand-alone single Virus (and also the music video) won extensive play in industrial and dance clubs world wide. The album Tactical Neural Implant in 1992 was next, and with it Front Line Assembly became one of industrial music's most popular bands. The next album Millennium (1994) featured a combination of metal guitars, electronic music, and media sampling (much of which was taken from the Michael Douglas film Falling Down), which had become one of the characteristics of industrial rock and industrial metal during the 1990s. Hard Wired (1995) and the world tour following the release was Front Line Assembly's most successful period.

[edit] Rhys leaves

In 1997, Rhys Fulber left the band to concentrate on producing Fear Factory and other bands. Replacing Fulber was Chris Peterson, who had already supported the band on their live shows. Soon after Fulber quit, the 1997 album FLAvour of the Weak was released, making a complete turn in Front Line Assembly's musical style. The metal influences were subdued and instead electronica dominated the band's new sound. Front Line Assembly made somewhat of a return to their former sound with the album Implode (1999), followed by Epitaph (2001). Chris Peterson left Front Line Assembly in 2002, and through most of that year it was rumored that the band had essentially broken up.

[edit] Soy Leeb

Front Line Assembly's performance at the 2002 Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival, which at the time was widely rumored to be their last show, caused a scandal[1] within the industrial music community after pictures [1][2][3] of FLA's performance circulated the internet. Many believe that Leeb had an impersonator perform for him. This stand-in came to be known to some of the online fan base as "Soy Leeb".

[edit] Rhys Returns

However, in 2003, Rhys Fulber rejoined the band. The single Maniacal was released in October 2003, launching a new phase in the band's career, and the album Civilization followed in early 2004. Chris Peterson later rejoined the band, and the trio of Leeb/Fulber/Peterson released Artificial Soldier in 2006. The support tour has been cut short due to a problem with the company supplying the tour bus, and the band acknowledged that they were returning home to Vancouver earlier than planned after playing roughly half of their scheduled tour in the United States (dates in New York and Canada were canceled). The band toured in Europe in August 2006 covering 18 cities.

[edit] Recent

In 2006 the band submitted tracks from their Artificial Soldier to the soundtrack for the horror film FrightWorld, slated for a 2007 release.

Out in April 2007 via Metropolis was the Frontline Assembly remix album Fallout. The album was released in a 4-panel digipak and featured three brand new tracks ("Electric Dreams", "Unconscious" and "Armageddon") and nine remixes by (among others) Combichrist, Covenant, Portion Control, Sebastian R. Komor (Zombie Girl/Icon of Coil), Rhys Fulber and more.[2] The band went out to tour North America and Europe again in 2007.

[edit] Name spelling

The spelling of the band name has varied over the years – various albums spell the name in compound form ("Frontline Assembly"), while the majority spells it in three words. The abbreviation "FLA", also used on various albums, perhaps hints toward the correct spelling being three words.

[edit] Members

Member Contribution Studio Live
Bill Leeb Keyboards, vocals 1986-present 1986-present
Rhys Fulber Keyboards, Percussion 1986-1997, 2002-present 1989-1996
Chris Peterson Keyboards 1997-2002, 2006-present 1990-92, 1998-2002, 2006-present
Jeremy Inkel Keyboards 2005-present 2006-present
Michael Balch Keyboards 1987-1989 1989
Jeff Stoddard Guitars 1990-1992
Greg Reely Mixing 1990-present 1995-1999
Glen Reely Mixing 2006-present
Devin Townsend Guitars 1994, 1995
Jason Filipchuk Keyboards 2000 1998-2002
Jared Slingerland Guitar 2006-present 2006-present
Jed Simon Guitar 1999 1995-1999
Jason Hagen Drums 1998-99
Craig Joseph Huxtable Keyboards 2006
Adrian White Drums '06 (guitar) '07 '95, '96, '02, '06, '07

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio & Live albums

Title Released Label Format Notes
Nerve War 1986 Self-release Cassette Limited (50-100) release, three versions.
Total Terror 1986 Cassette
The Initial Command 1987 KK/Third Mind CD
State of Mind 1988 Dossier/Third Mind CD
Corrosion 1988 Third Mind/Wax Trax! 12" EP Re-released as part of Convergence and later Corroded Disorder.
Disorder 1988 12" EP Re-released as part of Convergence and later Corroded Disorder.
Convergence 1988 CD New material plus tracks from both the Corrosion and Disorder EPs.
Gashed Senses And Crossfire 1989 CD
Caustic Grip 1990 CD
Tactical Neural Implant 1992 Third Mind CD
Millennium 1994 Roadrunner CD First and only Roadrunner album.
Corroded Disorder 1995 Offbeat/Cleopatra CD New material plus tracks from both the Corrosion and Disorder EPs.
Hard Wired 1995 Offbeat CD Also released in a limited edition Double CD box set.
Live Wired 1996 CD Double live album / Box Set plus VHS
[FLA]vour of the Weak 1997 Offbeat/Metropolis CD First Metropolis release.
Re-wind 1998 CD Remix album
Implode 1999 Metropolis CD
Epitaph 2001 CD
Civilization 2004 CD
Artificial Soldier 2006 CD #19 - Billboard's Top Electronic Albums
Fallout 2007 CD Remixes

[edit] Singles

Title Year Label Notes
Digital Tension Dementia 1988 Third Mind/Wax Trax! #45 - Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play
No Limit 1989
Iceolate 1990 Melody Maker 'Single Of The Month'
Provision 1990 Melody Maker 'Single Of The Month'
Virus 1991
Mindphaser 1992
The Blade 1992
Millennium 1994 Roadrunner
Surface Patterns 1995
Circuitry 1995
Plasticity 1996
Colombian Necktie 1997 Offbeat/Metropolis
Comatose 1998
Prophecy 1999 Metropolis
Fatalist 1999
Everything Must Perish 2001 Released on September 11, 2001[3]
Maniacal 2003 #15 - Billboard's Hot Dance Singles
Vanished 2004

[edit] Videos

Title Year Label Credits
Body Count 1988 Third Mind Records Producer: Third Mind Records. Director: Todd Taylor
Iceolate 1990 Third Mind Records Producer: H-Gun Labs, Chicago. Director: Eric Koziol
Virus 1991 Third Mind Records Producer: Plasma, Gary Blair Smith. Director: Jim VanBebber, Bill Leeb
Mindphaser 1992 Third Mind Records Producer: Plasma, Gary Blair Smith. Director: Robert Lee. Editors: R.Chong, B.Morrison
The Blade 1992 Third Mind Records Producer: Dean English. Director: Bill Morrison
Laughing Pain 1992 Third Mind Records Producer and Director: Rod Chong, Bill Morrison
Millennium 1994 Roadrunner Records Producer: Lara Schwartz. Director: Eric Zimmerman
Plasticity 1996 Metropolis Records Producer: Reallife, Ulf Buddensieck. Director: Rod Chong
Epitaph 2001 Metropolis Records Producer and Director: Bill Morrison

[edit] Other Releases

  • 1989 Live - Limited LP
  • 1993 Total Terror I and II - Re-release of early demos and rarities.
  • 1996 The Remix Wars - Strike 2 - Remix CD
  • 1997 Reclamation - Singles compilation
  • 1998 Columbian Necktie/Evil Playground - 12" mixes
  • 1998 Monument - Rarities collection
  • 1998 The Singles: Four Fit - Singles compilation
  • 1999 Explosion - Singles compilation
  • 1999 Quake III Arena Soundtrack, together with Sonic Mayhem
  • 2004 Complete Total Terror - Two-disc compilation featuring most of the original Total Terror demo tape along with other material from the same time period.

[edit] Side Projects

Side projects include:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Review of Wave Gotik Treffen 2002 at mindphaser.com
  2. ^ Forthcoming Front Line Assembly remix album countdown starts
  3. ^ Everything Must Perish (Single). Delerium on the web. delerium.com (2006-11-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-20.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Front Line Assembly
Current members
Studio albums
Sideprojects