Front Line Assembly

Front Line Assembly (abbreviated FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. Influenced by early Industrial acts such as Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads^[1], FLA has developed its own unique sound while combining elements of EBM. The band's membership has rotated through several members over the years, including Rhys Fulber and Michael Balch who are both associated with several other successful artists.

History

Formation (1985-1986)

Between 1985-1986, Bill Leeb supported Skinny Puppy under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder. As an early friend of the band he contributed bass synth and backing vocals for several tracks while also supporting their 1985 tour. Leeb reflects on this period, "Skinny Puppy was a good starting point for me, but there was definitely no way for me to get my ideas across."^[1] His experiences working with Skinny Puppy gave him some insight in the industry and helped shape his ideas for his own personal career.^[2]

Upon the formation of Front Line Assembly, Leeb produced the Nerve War demo tape which was distributed on a limited basis (an estimated 50-100 copies were produced).^[3] Around this time, Leeb and Rhys Fulber became friends when they discovered they both had a similar interest in underground music. As an unofficial member at this time, Fulber partnered with Leeb during the production of Total Terror and was credited for the song "Black Fluid" on the demo.^[4]

Debut and First Album (1987-1988)

In 1987, Front Line Assembly debuted its first album The Initial Command (KK Records, Belgium) with credited assistance by Fulber and Balch. The album had been produced on a tight budget which would determine whether or not cuts would be done with an eight track system or split into two four track cuts.^[5] After finally reaching a point of relative stability, the band's next album, State of Mind, was released worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

After working with FLA on an unofficial basis, Balch officially joined the band in 1988 and began writing songs along side Leeb for the next few albums.^[6] Balch mostly contributed by providing keyboards and programming. As Leeb put it, "I would write the songs, and he was really good with the software."^[2] This partnership produced the EPs Corrosion and Disorder which were later compiled into a full album, Convergence.

Growing Popularity (1989-1991)

Fueled by growing success, FLA produced their next album Gashed Senses And Crossfire. This album introduced the single "Digital Tension Dementia" which caught the attention of many underground music fans and disc jockeys.^{[citation needed]} While FLA was beginning to grow in popularity, Balch parted ways to join Ministry. Filling the void, Rhys Fulber officially joined and the two produced Caustic Grip—an instant classic with underground fans. Leeb attributed this success to his new partnership with Rhys due to their similar taste in music. Furthermore, Leeb noted that Rhys was "a lot more fun to work with."^[7]

1991-1995

In 1991 the video-single Virus gained extensive attention in industrial and dance clubs world wide. The album Tactical Neural Implant (1992) was next, making FLA become 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 FLA's most successful commercial and critical period .

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—a stylistically divergent album—was released. The metal influences gave way to an electronica sound. FLA made somewhat of a return to their former sound with the album Implode (1999), followed by Epitaph (2001). Chris Peterson left FLA in 2002, and through most of that year it was rumored that the band had essentially broken up.

Soy Leeb

FLA's performance at the 2002 Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival, which at the time was widely rumored to be their last show, caused a scandal^[8] within the industrial music community after pictures [1]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".

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.

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.^[9] The band went out to tour North America and Europe again in 2007.

Name spelling

State of Mind album cover shows band name as two words

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.

Members

Discography

Side projects

Side projects include:

• Conjure One
• Delerium
• Left Spine Down
• Pro-Tech
• Synæsthesia
• Will
• Intermix
• Noise Unit
• Equinox
• Cyberaktif
• Mutual Mortuary
• Decree
• We Will Follow: A Tribute to U2 (features a song by Front Line Assembly and Tiffany)

References

External links

• Front Line Assembly at MySpace
• iLike page
• Front Line Assembly at Last.fm
• Mindphaser.com Unofficial Site
• Front Line Assembly Interview on NY Public TV
• Interview w/Rhys Fulber @ Legends
• Front Line Assembly Interview in Chaos Control Digizine
• Front Line Assembly discography at MusicBrainz