Front Line Assembly - “Kampfbereit ” DVD

First digital live document of veteran industrial band

Vancouver-based electro-industrial group Front Line Assembly have been around for almost 30 years now. It’s a damned shame, but this is their first ever live DVD. The classic 1996 film “Live Wired” has shamefully never been converted to DVD from it’s VHS format, so this is, well, the first, believe it or not!

“Kampfbereit” documents FLA’s 2011 “Improvised.Electronic.Device” tour in Canada, and it does so quite well, especially for the shoestring budget of Anastasia Blink (aka Nasty Byte), who basically crafted this as a labor of love. Without a heaping of digital effects (one of the main complaints about the aforementioned “Live Wired”), Nasty Byte captures the energetic live antics of bouncy frontman Bill Leeb and his team with intensity and honesty. And although I’m making this sound like a bootleg, keep in mind that this well-edited DVD features multiple camera angles, a great mix, etc. It’s far and above the best live visual document of FLA out there, bar none.

Highlights here include classic tracks like “Circuitry”, “Plasticity”, and “Millennium”, and the encore, “Liquid Separation”, all physically intense with the addition of Jason Bazinet (SMP) on live drums. Simply said, any serious fan of FLA (and I include myself in that category) needs to pick up this DVD pronto. It’s a great document and a fun show.

MVD Visual

Official site

Ohm - "Ohm" CD

Top-tier Vancouver industrial

A duo consisting of Vancouver industrialists Craig Huxtable (Landscape Body Machine) and Chris Peterson (ex-Front Line Assembly/Delerium and Decree), Ohm's debut is a sturdy set of deep, dark, and textural electronic tunes that will immediately please fans of bands like FLA, Skinny Puppy, or Numb. 

The opener, "When Robots Fuck", is subtle, mid-tempo, and effective enough to set the mood. "Car Crash" follows, and this is among the band's finest moments -- a subtle, heavy, and even catchy industrial thumper. "Detroit" features whispery vocals by Kaine Delay (of fellow Vancouver industrial punks Left Spine Down), and  is another winning combination -- all cinematic electronics with a masterful analogue beat undermining it all. "Destroyed In Seconds" and "Brute" are more aggressive mesh of furious techno rhythms and declarative vocals in the spirit of Peterson's excellent Decree project. 

Overall, a superb album of dark industrial beat masterpieces, and with really solid production, this is definitely steps ahead of of their peers. More, please!

Artoffact Records

Ohmbook

Delerium - "Music Box Opera" CD

It's been a few years since the last studio effort from this ambient mood pop project of industrial pioneer Bill Leeb. And, while old-time fans (like me) had hoped for a darker, more epic journey, "Music Box Opera" goes mostly in an increasingly slick and radio-friendly dance-pop direction.

The sheen "Consciousness Of Love" opens, featuring vocals by Stef Lang, and the hints of silly dubstep trendiness instantly turn me away. The initial single, "Monarch", fares much better, and remains my personal favorite, with Middle-Eastern vocal stylings by Nadina. "Days Turn Into Nights" (with Michael Logen) is totally forgettable, as is the silly Madonna-sounding "Chrysalis Heart" (again, with Stef Lang). "Light Your Light" proves that some music is better without lyrics, while "Raindown" is a pleasant slice of Summery instrumental electronica that provides a measure of relief from the onslaught of insipid radio pop. 

Other high (and low) lights include Leona Naess's funky "Hammer", and the old-school "Awakening", which again features Middle-Eastern chants courtesy of Nadina. The lovely Kristy Thirsk doesn't fail with her pair of tracks, but overall this is a pretty spotty, and lengthy (at well over 70 minutes) set of pop-dance tunes with little substance. (Nettwerk)

Delerium official site

Mindphaser - the best and most comprehensive site for Delerium, FLA, etc.

Decree - "Fateless" CD

Every few years, Vancouver electronic producer Chris Peterson (known for his work with Front Line Assembly) gathers some friends and unleashes his heavier, denser, and blacker industrial and noise work as Decree. "Fateless" is the band's third release, and it opens with the bleakly majestic "Finite Years", marrying thunderous martial drums with maniacal declarations and grinding guitars. "The Prey" is a slow-churn descent into a nihilistic abyss. "Bloodthirst" is another intense blast of dynamic Sturm-und-Drang that's as orchestral as it is feral. "Night And Fog" is blistering, paranoid noise that would be amazing in a horror film. "Faded Glory" ends it all with a 7-minute torrent of overloaded rhythms, noise, densely-mixed grind, and shouted vox. Intimidating? Yes. Powerful? Certainly. Cleansing? Definitely. Decree are a powerhouse that mops the floor with all the dance-club bands masquerading as "industrial". (Artoffact Records)

Decree official site

Delerium - "Epiphany" DVD

The first DVD from this longtime ethereal-exotica-electropop act is a well-done multi-cam live recording from the group's 2008 North American tour. Helmed by Front Line Assembly mainman Bill Leeb (who recedes to the background here, performing synths), this incarnation of Delerium was fronted by both the alluring Kristy Thirsk, and former Sixpence None The Richer frontwoman Leigh Nash.

The group faithfully recreates the group's rich and seductive moods with primarily live instrumentation, and minimal electronics. It's a charming and worldly set that includes hits like "Afterall", "Flowers Become Screens", and of course "Silence" (originally sung by Sarah McLachlan), which the girls handle quite well, thank you very much. Complete with textural & abstracted backing films and with plenty of post-production video effects, "Epiphany" becomes a pleasantly psychedelic viewing experience. My only complaint would be the exclusion of Delerium's promotional videos, but that's splitting hairs. This is a superb experience and proves that this studio project is a more-than-viable live entity. Kudos to Bill, Kristy, Leigh, and the boys (and producer NastyByte)...this is a winner. (MVD Visual)

Mindphaser - official Bill Leeb project site

Official Delerium site

Front Line Assembly - "Improvised Electronic Device Tour 2010"

Vancouver industrial stalwarts Front Line Assembly have released this video to promote their current world tour (and supporting their new CD, "Improvised Electronic Device"). As a fan and listener to FLA for 22 years, I think this is their best work in many years. In addition to the superb "I.E.D" release and "Shifting Through the Lens" single, there's a supposedly limited remix EP for "Angriff" due for release at the merchandise stands on their tour. This 8-song EP includes mixes by Tim Skold and Project Pitchfork, among others. For details, visit the official FLA site at: Mindphaser.

Fear Factory - "Mechanize" CD

The heralded reunion of vocalist/conceptualist Burton C. Bell and guitarist Dino Cazares shows the band with a renewed sense of urgency and power, and sounds every bit as incendiary as their early industrial-metal works from the 90's. With producer and keyboardist Rhys Fulber (of Front Line Assembly) also returning, the title track is an extremely tight screamer that brilliantly showcases all of Fear Factory's trademarks -- Bell's gutteral-to-melodic singing voice, downtuned surgical-steel guitars, inhuman drumming (thanks to Dethklok/Strapping Young Lad drum-deity Gene Hoglan), and deeply cinematic electronic effects for mood. The tempo is unrelenting on "Industrial Discipline", which could be an out-take from the band's classic 1995 album "Demanufacture". It's a maelstrom of entangled metal wires and diodes punctuating the eerie yet hard-hitting instrumental "Metallic Division", too. And "Final Exit" is an epic 8-minute closer, with regal melodic breakdowns that give way to blindingly potent thrash around the edges. Killer stuff. My theory as to Fear Factory's staying power is that so many metal bands are afraid to stray too far from the genre, whereas these guys have taken bits of everything from indie noise/rock to electronica and techno, gene-spliced it to raging industrial death metal, and in effect, helped to create a new sound. It's nice to have them back. This is a grand return to form. (Candlelight Records USA)

Fear Factory site

Fear Factoryspace

Burton's Ascension Of The Watcherspace


Fear Factory - Fear Campaign
Video Codes at www.roxwel.com

Mindless Self-Indulgence "If" CD

I've never been much a fan of MSI, but they have had some catchy and pretty trashy punk-industrial bits in the past. This new one, produced and mixed by Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One) and Greg Reely - has been labeled a sort of sellout, it seems, to some hardcore fans. I dunno about that, but it is pretty slick, and actually not all that offensive. Well, unless you count songs like 'Money' (as in 'I'm so money'), which are, to my ears, kinda offensive in their mundanity/stupidity. I can hear this stuff being big with teenage Hot Topic people. And that kinda sucks. People who listen to Marilyn Manson or Orgy may appreciate this, but I probably won't bother with a second spin. (The End Records)

MSI site