Front Line Assembly - Epitaph (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

Their most melodic work

D. M. MATALLIN | Valencia, Spain | 11/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Implode' is my fav FLA album, so I was looking forward to their following album to see if they could improve their last effort. Time will tell if they have improved, but anyway I can say that 'Epitaph' is, at least, as good as FLA's 2 masterpieces, 'Implode', and 'Tactical Neural Implant'. Obviously we all have our own preferences, but this FLA direction which gives more and more importance to melody at the same time as it keeps on experimenting, satisfies me completely. If you're familiar with FLA you know their best elements: heavy electronic basslines, amazing percussive work, incredibly catchy choruses... all these is present in 'Epitaph' and absolutely brilliantly done. But you want some further reason to buy this album? If you liked the more agressive choruses of 'Millenium', forget about it, for here the choruses are as catchy as those, but more melodic. When i listen to 'Insolence', 'Everything Must perish', 'Decoy' or 'existance' I actually enjoy singing the songs 'cos the choruses are superb. Furthermore, Leeb incorporates all his different musical tastes displayed in all his side-projects, as he did on 'Implode' but in a different way. On 'Implode', we had some songs that sounded like Synaesthesia ('Synthetic forms', 'Silent ceremony'), others like Noise Unit ('Don't trust anyone')... but on 'Epitaph' these ambient, techno, drumn'bass, ... elements are inside the songs, so all songs share different styles, being some passages more deleriumesque (more melodic without beat, like the intro of 'Existance'), others more danceable, more agressive... An example is 'Krank it up', which begins almost like a Delerium song but then it's an agressive song similar to 'Caustic Grip' flavour.
The sounds used remind a lot of those used on 'Implode'; and 'Epitaph' is the album with fewer samples used.
There're no guitars, at least perceptible, and the voice sounds more eclectic than ever: now Leeb whispers, screams, tunes... depending on the song and the effect.
Let's look at the songs:Haloed (8.5/10): this song is a good intro. With a voice with a similar distortion to the used on 'Modus Operandi', and a chorus in which Leeb makes a duo with himself, it's not one of the best but catchy enough to raise our interest. Lots of distortion, precise and direct song (less than 5 minutes long).Dead Planet (8/10): strange song indeed. Leeb whispers over weird sounds until the catchy chorus begins. danceable beats, similar to 'fatalist' but no guitars at all; depends excessively on the chorus, but has some passagesin the middle of the song quite interesting. This song is mostly for fun.Backlash (8.5/10): here Leeb elongates the syllables so much when singing that reminds me of Leaether strip. Danceable, good chorus, more agressive than the average. Impressive percussion, it grows on you with each listening. i stmes think i perceive some guitar sound on the background, but not sure.Epitaph (8.5/10): vocal version of a previously released song. It could have been perfectly on 'implode'. In fact, listen to it: it's almost a calque on 'Prophecy'. You can stmes sing one with the lyrics of the other, try it. However, uses for the chorus the 'swimming in a world of creeps' line from 'Unknown dreams'. It's good, i like it, but maybe reminds too much of 'Implode'. Good percussive work, anyway.Everything must perish (9.5/10): the single. techno intro, Leeb beginst to whisper over a very danceable song and then comes the chorus: incredible, catchier than ever, it stucks into your head for hours and hours. very good. All's good in this song: voice, sounds, beats... Conscience (9.5/10): with a very TNIsh flavour but updated, this song is a prodigy of electronic music. The piano on the chorus gives it a very unique sound, catchy, mellow, in concordance with the chorus "so fragile, so faint...". A voice sample in the middle of the song gives it a quite weird side. very good.Decoy (9/10): very iteresting intro, with distorted sounds, then a Delerium song begins but sung by Leeb. Here everything is more fragile, more melodic, less danceable. With a female voice could have fitted perfectly on a Delerium album. With Leeb voice, actually fits the album while giving it a more varied flavour. the part with 'close your eyes and u will see'... is actually superb. even it has gregorian voices.Insolence (9.5/10): almost perfect. With a distorted voice similar to 'The Blade', a chorus as catchy as the 'Everything Must Perish' one, danceable a la 'flavour of the weak' but more melodic, it could be the 2nd single perfectly. Krank it up (7.5/10): for me, the weaker song here. I see it as a 'Caustic Grip' song with renovated sounds. It's good anyway. More agressive than the rest, it's varied enough not to tire.existance (10/10): for me, the best. It begins with a 2 minute atmospheric passage, similar to Synaesthesia material. When we are just thinking this will be an instrumental song, then from the background of noises emerges the beat, and then the voice, distorted, like a robot, and then a catchy chorus which turns these song into an impressive tour de force. A middle passage in which the beats seems to fade into sampled angelic voices, then emerges again and the song ends with the chorus. impressive, grows on me with every listening.Extra track: It's an atmospheric song, almost with no beat. Could have fitted perfectly n Synaesthesia's 'Desideratum'. To sum up, 'Epitaph' is an impressive work, in which all: the percussion, the voice, the sounds used... sound better than ever. Many will miss guitars, or more samples, or more agressiveness... I know. But Leeb is very interested now in melody, and so 'Epitaph' is an example of how to make a melodic album without losing the FLA hallmark. I don't know if it's the best, but definetely among my 3 FLA favourites. Buy it."

Quantifying the "Leeb Hypothesis"

Dave Cordes | Denver, CO | 10/10/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You've got to hand it to Bill Leeb, he's like the George Lucas of industrial music. I bet when he checks his annual bank statement and sees that his savings account needs a little replenishing, he fires up his equipment and proceeds to churn out another trademarked FLA album (when he's not milking his other side projects like the commercially successful Delerium). That's just what he has done here with the aptly titled Epitaph, the latest deployment from the Cryogenic think-tank since 1999's positively received Implode. Somewhere, Bill has formulated a mathematical equation that is the proven hypothesis behind the FLA formula and with minimal effort he simply batch compiles the musical data from all of his previous works using what we'll refer to as the "Leeb Hypothesis" to calculate yet another aesthetically interesting incarnation under the FLA marketing brand. There is nothing groundbreaking about Epitaph which is basically just that... an epitaph of everything that FLA has done before it. You can hear sentimental echoes from the vintage years buried underneath layers of eerie sampled sounds... the chords from Total Terror on tracks like Decoy and Haloed... Leeb's melodically distorted and melancholy lyrics from the pinnacle of the FLA's masterworks, Tactical Neural Implant on tracks like Everything Must Perish and Insolence... and the drumbeats and sequencing from the classic Caustic Grip on tracks like Dead Planet and Conscience. Fortunately, Leeb has discarded the hard edged heavy metal guitar riffs, obnoxious hip-hop and D&B influences that were prevalent in the highly experimental yet chemically volatile Millenium and Flavour of the Weak. Why even the bonus hidden track sounds like one of the old-school Delerium mixes ala Spiritual Archives which he has thrown into the mix with it's perfect chemistry of dreamy surrealistic dark atmosphere. No, Leeb has done his homework and has analyzed and quantified the scientific numbers to divine the precise mathematical equation behind FLA's aesthetic precision with over 15 years of quantifiable data to cross reference and correlate his hypothesis to. And out of the industrial blender comes a tastefully refined blend of the best vintage brews of FLA in a repackaged product flavor that is not as Weak or as distasteful as some of his previous FLAvours."

One of Front Line Assembly's Best Albums to Date

Adam P. Duffy | 06/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is one of the definative projects in Front Line Assembly's history. It is a breakthough from the eirler ablums produced by the two definative minds behind Front Line Assembly. The Ear;ierlier albums are more static while this album is more epic in nature. Sometimes you can't even tell the change in the album's track breaks. It's like one long, epic, song. You will not be dissapoited with this album especially if this is the first album to turn you onto the Front Line Assembly cult of followers. This one blew my mind. The textures are deep and layered, so much you feel you need to listen to a track over and over again. THIS IS THEIR BEST ALBUM. Do not start off with the newest album "Civilization" because without previous knowledge of "Epitah" the ablum will not be as fullfilling."

Barrier breakers in Electronic Based Music.

meh | 06/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Front Line Assembly have always stood at the forefront of industrial music in my opinion. Skinny Puppy built dark and disturbing albums that were not so much music as layers upon layers of ambience. The musical version of a satanic ritual if you will. With their 1992 release Tactical Neural Implant, Front Line Assembly added melody and a dash of emotion(not as evident) that was unseen in the industrial genre: They also did not sacrifice any of the dark or machinelike elements that were industrials trademark. They then abandoned that style for 3 albums in favour of adding awe-inspiring depth to their songs on Millenium and Hard Wired, then experimenting with mainstream techno on FLAvour of the Weak.

It was not until 1999's Implode where FLA would start to pick up their more melodic and less robotic side of their music. Implode came off as less organic and more ambient/emotional than before. Leeb also kept the Drum'N'Bass and other styles of mainstream electronica to add to his considerable repertoire of things to use to create the dark ablums that charactarize FLA(as opposed to his othe main project, the lighter and happier Delirium).

Which brings us to Epitaph. It pulls the ambient parts of Implode, which on that album were isolated to entire songs on their own, into the main songs. They come in the form of either intros or replacing a verse and add a lot of contrast and depth to the songs. By taking the dark side of FLA that was not really brought to the forefront on Implode and mixing it with his beautiful softer parts, Leeb does something that is rare(if no unknown) in electronica: He adds actual emotion to the songs themselves. The way Pink Floyd has emotional guitar solos, FLA has emotional electronica layers, that even without Leeb's beautiful singing can evoke images, thoughts and feeling. Contrast is not the only way that FLA manage to evoke emotion on "Epitaph". The songs "Dead Planet", "Krank it Up" and "Backlash" all have a certain intensity. The first two get it from an extremely heavy backbeat(and helped along by layers of other noises) while "Backlash" has a quick DrumNBass beat that, mixed with both Leeb's vocal talents and song arrangements, creates a rushed feeling that makes you want to hold your breath so you do not miss anything.

I can not stress enough how much fans of industrial, electronica, or even music in general will like this album: Check it out now, for it is grounbreaking in many ways(like basically every album FLA have done)"

Actually more like 4-1/2 stars

neonprophit | Richmond, VA | 10/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I used to be a huge fan of "industrial" music. It was literally all I listened to, in all it's various subgenres (80's electro-style stuff like Skinny Puppy and Front 242 to cyber-metal acts like Chemlab). One of my favorites was always FLA. But, a few years ago, I sort of got sick of it all and decided to broaden my horizons. Thankfully my musical tastes are far more eclectic these days.The last FLA cd I had bought was Hard Wired when it came out in '95. But the other day, my sister emailed me and said that I "had" to check out this new Front Line album. So I did.Let me just say this: The first time that chorus hit in "Haloed", my jaw literally hit the floor. It's that good. This is the kind of CD you put on, and all your friends start asking, "who the hell is this?" in every connotation there is for that phrase, from "oh my god, turn that off" to "oh my god, where can I get a copy of this?" The music on this album is so unbelieveably dense and multi-layered... even after 20 listens I'm sure you'd still be picking up on new elements in the mix. But it all gels incredibly cohesively, and that's what makes it great. It's quite challenging in it's own way, which of course means it will never get the recognition it deserves. But if you think you'd like this sort of thing, and if you're thinking you might then you will, I'd wholeheartedly recommend buying it. The 30-second samples on this page aren't really a good indicator, though -- you really need to hear these songs in their entirety to fully appreciate their depth.Even though I loved FLA's earlier work, there's a level of skill displayed here that puts their early-to-mid-career material to shame. the only reason I haven't given it five stars, is that after buying this, I went back listened to their 1999 album "Implode", and I actually like that one just a smidge more. I think. Oh who am I kidding, they're both brilliant discs; you owe it to yourself to pick them both up. Even if you haven't picked up an "industrial" cd in years."

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	Front Line Assembly Epitaph Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Track Listings (10) - Disc #1 Haloed Dead Planet Backlash Epitaph Everything Must Perish Conscience Decoy Insolence Krank It Up Existance
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