FRONTLINE ASSEMBLY

EN

The new Frontline Assembly is somewhat special, because it is not really a new FLA album and yet it is. On these “Mechviruses” the group pushes its boundaries by joining forces with numerous artists from the alternative, dark genre of synth-pop over postpunk to even industrial metal. The result is these “Mechviruses” that has been released digitally, on CD (with bonus tracks) and on limited pink (yes) vinyl.

In a sense you could call it a tribute to this legendary Canadian band but in a sense it is also a groundbreaking style exercise, a challenging experiment that sometimes works better than other times. To get acquainted with the music of Frontline Assembly there are albums that are much better suited for this, these “Mechviruses” are therefore mainly aimed at old and newer fans and introduce fans of a new generation of postpunk, dark-wave, dark-pop and many more acts to one of the pioneers of electro industrial.

Our own Ultra Sunn, now housed at Artoffacts, immediately kneads “Mechvirus” into a tighter, with typical Ultra Sunn dark-pop lines, trendy dance bomb while Ayria & Sebastian Komor pour a layer of trancy technopop over it that will make the loyal FLA fan swear in church. But the same song sounds different and that is also the intention of this remix album.

The not unknown Bootblacks let postpunk guitars weave through “Force Carrier” which makes the whole thing dystopian dreamy. Seeming for its part files the raw bit out of “Molotov” and injects a future-pop feel into the whole, Encephalon stays more faithful to the “Molotov” original, 'electro indus it is'. “Molotov” is also taken in hand by s:cage, Famine & Lys Morke who chop it up into a scary but atmospheric piece of dystopian electro, the cocktail has exploded. A great remix in which the original is nicely hidden.

Deep Infirmary, in all honesty, I had not heard of them before, makes a piece of horror of “Anthropod” with experimental industrial that vomits bile and anger, while Mvtant puts “Heatmap” in the chopper to arrive at a contemporary ebm 'sound' manipulated with techno tricks. And now that I'm on a roll, I'll continue. Fotocrime miraculously succeeds in turning “(RE)CREATOR” into a post-punk song. Cardinal Noir commits an act of violence on the “Heatmap” and heats up the song, under the motto something for everyone, with an industrial metal sound.

Well, I think I've had them all, the 10 songs on this new Frontline Assembly that is actually more than just Frontline Assembly and I especially want to reserve for the fans of the group who want to experience how other artists interpret their tricks. Although in its entirety it remains an album with an impressive end-time sound, powerful to dreamy, danceable to paralyzing. Dystopian and raw. That is typical Front Line Assembly. Tip, listen to this album through headphones to let all the 'beats' and 'bleeps' come into their own.

Kurt INGELS
17/02/2025

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NL

De Nederlanstalige versie van deze review kan u HIER lezen bij onze collega's van Dark Entries Magazine!

Kurt INGELS
17/02/2025

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