Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's membership has rotated through the years, including Michael Balch, Rhys Fulber, and Chris Peterson, all of whom are associated with several other acts.
Since their inception, the group have produced over a dozen studio albums and EPs, several of which have charted on Billboard'''s Top Dance/Electronic Album chart. The albums Tactical Neural Implant and Hard Wired are two of the group's most successful records, the former being considered a classic among industrial music fans. They have also produced soundtracks for video games such as Quake III: Team Arena (a collaboration with Sonic Mayhem) and AirMech.
Over the years, the band's name has sometimes been published as "Front Line Assembly", and sometimes as "Frontline Assembly". The former spelling is the most common, and the band's members have stated that the version with three separate words is preferred.
History
Formation (1985–1986) Between 1985 and 1986, Bill Leeb performed with Skinny Puppy under the name Wilhelm Schroeder, a combination of his first name and the name of the Peanuts character and was meant as a joke. Leeb had no musical training, and learned to play synthesizer while contributing bass synth and backing vocals for the band. He also supported their 1985 tour. Not prepared for another tour, Leeb left Skinny Puppy in early 1986.
Having developed some instrumental skills and music industry experience, and wanting to do more vocal work, Leeb decided to take the risk of starting his own project. Leeb decided to call the project Front Line Assembly to reflect his belief that strength lies in working together.
Leeb started by producing a demo tape, Nerve War, which was distributed on a limited basis. Contacts in the music scene he had gathered while with Skinny Puppy led to contract offers from the first two labels that Leeb later approached with cassettes.
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. Both demo releases were limited to 100 and mostly distributed amongst friends.
Early releases and Michael Balch (1987–1989) The band members were influenced by early electronic and industrial acts from Europe such as Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads, but mainly by the electronic body music style of Front 242.
The first appearance of Front Line Assembly was the track "Aggression", which was included on the compilation For Your Ears Only, released in 1987 by British independent record label Third Mind showcasing the label's repertoire at the time. The track would be re-released the following year on the Disorder EP. Although the contact to Third Mind would later develop into a long-standing collaboration, the band debuted its first album The Initial Command with credited assistance by Fulber and Michael Balch on Belgian independent record label KK at the end of 1987. 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. With the next album State of Mind, released in January 1988, the band switched to German independent label Dossier. They changed labels as Leeb did not want to be bound to one label, so the releases were issued only on European labels.
In 1988, Balch became an official band member and began writing songs alongside Leeb for the next few albums. Balch mostly contributed by providing keyboards and programming. This partnership produced the releases Corrosion and Disorder. A planned release on the Canadian label Nettwerk fell through, and the two finished masters were issued instead by Third Mind in 1988. After the releases in 1988, Third Mind signed Front Line Assembly to a three album deal. Through Levermore Corrosion was licensed to Wax Trax!. Both records were re-released together with three more unreleased tracks on the compilations Convergence later that year and Corroded Disorder in 1995.
Adhering to Third Mind for Europe and Wax Trax! for North America resulted in better availability of the albums in both places, and the signing with Third Mind attracted the attention of established music magazines, including Melody Maker or NME as well as the underground magazine Music From the Empty Quarter.
Front Line Assembly produced their next album Gashed Senses & Crossfire in 1989. This album introduced their first single Digital Tension Dementia, which became their first chart success and peaked at position 45 of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. In support of their latest release, the band, together with Fulber as live metal percussionist, headed out to Europe and North America for their first tour. However, during the show in London in July 1989 their first live album Live was recorded under unfavourable circumstances. Presumably not well attended, the audience's reactions at the show had to be reworked. For Balch it was also the last Front Line Assembly tour because he parted ways to join Ministry and Revolting Cocks.
Rhys Fulber and growing popularity (1990–1999) Filling the void left by Balch's departure, Fulber officially joined. The two musicians had similar tastes, both being enthusiastic about electronic music. The duo recorded their next album, Caustic Grip, in the first half of 1990. Accompanied by the release of two singles in 1990, "Iceolate" and "Provision", the album raised Front Line Assembly's profile in the industrial music scene and in the media considerably. Melody Maker elected both album singles Single of the week while the promotional video for "Iceolate" received some airplay on MTV.
On Caustic Grip the band started working with Greg Reely which would evolve into a long-term partnership. The tour in support of the album started in January 1991 in the United States to be followed by a European leg in February which was accompanied by the release of stand-alone single Virus the same month. Chris Peterson, who would later become a full-time member of Front Line Assembly, gave his debut for the band on this tour, completing the live line-up as percussionist.
In 1992, Front Line Assembly reached a turning point in the band's musical style with the album Tactical Neural Implant. The media, including Melody Maker, Siren Magazine and fanzine Industrial Strength all commented particularly on the more melodious approach featured on the album and noted the use of multi-layered sounds which would become a trademark of the band. Asked about this composing style by Industrial Nation, Leeb explained that the band continually experimented with new ways to use technology to make each recording different, and had focused on clarity and sustain in their instrumentation and structure in their songs.
The video for the first single off the album, "Mindphaser", was awarded "Best Alternative Video" at Much Music's 1992 Canadian Music Video Awards. In August 1992, Front Line Assembly embarked on a tour that covered Northern America and Europe. The album continues to be played in industrial and electronic music dance clubs and is considered a classic among listeners and musicians of industrial music.
In 1993, the band contributed 5 remixes to Fear Factory's EP Fear Is the Mindkiller; working on the EP would eventually influence the band's next album Millennium (1994), which 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. Leeb has stated he was influenced to pursue this style of music after listening to Pantera's "Walk", which he later incorporated into the single "Surface Patterns".
In September 1996 the band made a live performance in Vancouver for the MuchMusic Video Awards which was broadcast via satellite.
Years without Fulber, return to electronica (1997–2000) In 1997, Fulber left the band to concentrate on producing Fear Factory with other bands. Chris Peterson, who had already supported the band's live shows, replaced Fulber. Soon after Fulber's departure, the album [FLA]vour of the Weak was released. Yet again, the album was stylistically divergent from previous releases. The metal influences found in Millennium gave way to a more electronica sound within the new release.
Front Line Assembly returned somewhat to their former sound with the album Implode (1999). Front Line Assembly composed the soundtrack for the video game, Quake III Team Arena and was composing music for the video game Millennium Four: The Right that was later cancelled. In October 1999, it was made public that the band had left their label Metropolis.
The band followed up Implode with the 2001 album Epitaph. This was the final album worked on by Peterson before departing in 2002. The album was a critical success and spawned the single "Everything Must Perish". The album also marked the band's return to Metropolis records.
Success in the new millennium (2000–2011)
Fulber rejoined the band in 2003. The reunited duo released the single "Maniacal" in October of that year. The single peaked at No. 15 on Billboards Hot Dance Singles. The next year, they released the studio album Civilization, which landed the No. 2 position on the German Alternative Albums chart. Peterson later rejoined the band to release Artificial Soldier in 2006. It was the first album to feature new members Jeremy Inkel and Jared Slingerland. The album peaked on Billboards Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart at No. 19. After a problem with the tour bus company, the US tour that year was cut short, and the band returned home to Vancouver after playing roughly half of their scheduled dates; performances in New York and Canada were cancelled. The band toured in Europe in August 2006, playing in 18 cities.
In April 2007, Front Line Assembly released a remix album titled Fallout. The album was released in a 4-panel digipak and featured three previously unreleased tracks ("Electric Dreams," "Unconscious," and "Armageddon") and nine remixes by several other Industrial acts and names. After the release of the remix album, the band went out to tour North America and Europe.
In 2010, Front Line Assembly released two new singles, "Shifting Through the Lens" and "Angriff", and an album, Improvised Electronic Device; I.E.D. saw the band embrace a heavier, more guitar-driven sound, much like Millenium. The album reached No. 23 on Billboards Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and was supported by a series of tours throughout North America and Europe. Peterson once more left the band, starting a T-shirt company with his brother. The band completed the line-up with live drummer Jason Bazinet.
Back to electronic roots and new influences (2012–2018)