Front Line Assembly

Front Line Assembly are Bill Leeb (vocals, synthesizers) and Rhys Fulber (synthesizers and samplers), one of many groups formed by the prolific Vancouver, Canada-based duo. After working in the mid-'80s under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder with Skinny Puppy, the Austrian-born Leeb formed the industrial/ebm-based Front Line Assembly in 1986 with Fulber -- who initially joined on as a studio assistant -- and synth player Michael Balch. After a handful of compilation appearances and cassette-only releases, Front Line Assembly issued its first three full-length efforts -- The Initial Command, State of Mind, and Corrosion -- on a monthly basis between December 1987 and February 1988. Later in 1988, Corrosion was reissued, along with a subsequent mini-album titled Disorder and a number of exclusive bonus tracks, as Convergence.

In 1989, the group returned with the album Gashed Senses & Crossfire, which contained the dance-flavored singles "Digital Tension Dementia" and "No Limit." A European tour in support of the record yielded a live album -- titled simply, Live -- that was released and deleted on the same day in a limited edition of 4,000 pressings. After Balch departed Front Line Assembly in 1990, Fulber stepped in as a full partner; the streamlined duo soon released the electro-styled album Caustic Grip, while 1992's Tactical Neural Implant found the group's music moving in a more hard-edged disco direction. By 1994, the sound evolved yet again, with the album Millennium displaying a newfound reliance on guitars; both the title track and "This Faith" scored as club hits. Fulber departed the lineup by 1997, while his replacement Chris Peterson debuted with 1998's Flavour of the Weak. A best-of/remix compilation, Monument, was released the same year, as well as Re-Wind, a re-mix collection of material from Flavour of the Weak. Implode appeared one year later. Sticking with a heavy dose of synth-pop trance and throbbing melodies,Leeb and Peterson issued Epitaph in fall 2001.

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