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 1 History 1.1 Rhys leaves 1.2 Soy Leeb 1.3 Rhys Returns 1.4 Recent 2 Name spelling 3 Members 4 Discography 4.1 Studio & Live albums 4.2 Singles 4.3 Videos 4.4 Other Releases 5 Side Projects 6 References 7 External links

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.

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.

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".

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.^[2] The band went out to tour North America and Europe again in 2007.

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.

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	1992-2002, 2006-present	'90, '92, '98, '99, '02, '07
Jeremy Inkel	Keyboards	2005-present	2006-present
Michael Balch	Keyboards	1987-1989
Jeff Stoddard	Guitars	1990
Greg Reely	Mixing	1990-present	'95, '96, '98, '99
Devin Townsend	Guitars	1994, 1995
Jason Filipchuk	Keyboards	2000	1998, 1999, 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

Discography

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	1987	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
[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

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
Provision	1990	Third Mind
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
Maniacal	2003		#15 - Billboard's Hot Dance Singles
Vanished	2004

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

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 - 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.

Side Projects

Side projects include:

• Conjure One
• Delerium
• Left Spine Down
• Pro-Tech
• Synæsthesia
• Will
• Intermix
• Noise Unit
• Equinox
• Cyberaktif
• Mutual Mortuary
• Decree

References

External links

• Official Myspace page
• Official iLike Facebook application
• iLike page
• Official Last.fm page
• Mindphaser.com Unofficial Site
• Front Line Assembly Interview on NY Public TV
• Interview w/Rhys Fulber @ Legends
• Front Line Assembly discography at MusicBrainz

This box:  •  • edit Front Line Assembly
Current members
Bill Leeb - Rhys Fulber - Chris Peterson - Jeremy Inkel - Jared Slingerland
Front Line Assembly discography
Studio albums: The Initial Command - State of Mind - Convergence - Gashed Senses And Crossfire - Caustic Grip - Tactical Neural Implant - Millennium - Hard Wired - Corroded Disorder - [FLA]vour of the Weak - Implode - Epitaph - Civilization - Artificial Soldier
Sideprojects
Conjure One - Delerium - Left Spine Down - Synæsthesia - Equinox - Cyberaktif - Intermix - Noise Unit