Front Line Assembly - Echoes

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: Front Line Assembly

Title: Echoes

Label: Metropolis

Date: May, 2014

 

01. Contagion
02. Leveled – Sonic Mayhem
03. Ghosts – Comaduster
04. Killing Grounds – Rhys Fulber
05. Echogenetic – Youth Code
06. Deadened – Liebknetch
07. Next War
08. Echogenetic – Blush Response
09. Exhale – Henrik Backstrom
10. Prototyp – HECQ
11. Leveled – Slighter
12. Heartquake – Techdiff
13. Blood – Haujobb
14. Exo – Hijacker

 

 

 

FLA are the Jaromir Jagr of industrial music. They haven't slowed down at all (at the time of this writing Jagr just scored the overtime winner for the Panthers) and just keep plugging away even though they're a rat's whisker away from getting the senior discount at the local Burger King. In 2013 they released Echogenetic to much acclaim fusing their hard edged style with today's music trends. So a year after that they now put together a remix album with a who's who of industrial music. I don't know who any of these people are the same way I don't know if the immigrant in the kitchen of my favorite restaurant isn't giving my meal a little bit of the old special sauce. Gotta trust.

 

And pray. Lots of prayers.

 

And trust me when I tell you they knocked it out of the park with this one. The remixes are lush and dynamic. On the headphones it was pure aural bliss. Electricity courses through android circuits and I'm reminded of how great industrial music can be. Millions of bits and bytes flow in unison; morphing, oscillating like a sentient being. The atmosphere is robot futuristic, sometimes ruthlessly aggressive but often placid leading to a dramatic eruption that will rattle some windows. There are moments where the remixers bring back the old sound of FLA and I can smile and reflect. The programming is off the chart. The Blush Response remix threatens to start an electrical fire and I'm convinced the HECQ mix was created by some form of Artificial Intelligence.

 

On top of awesome remixes you get two new tracks that were co-written by Ian Pickering of the Sneaker Pimps. Both are rich in sound and detail, but I was floored by the eminent danceability of Next War. When that hook drops it will forcibly eject you from your seat. There are so many standout moments it's tough to single out just a few. Even though I, uh...kinda just did that. The only gripe I have is that there is a deluxe version where you get 4 extra tracks, but it's only available with the digital album.

 

 

 

 

Pickard gets it. Look thanks for the lyrics of the new tracks, bu I bought your little digipak, shouldn't the extra tunes be a reward for not being a pirate? Rrrrr you serious? That minor complaint aside, if you're a fan of industrial music or even electronic music (and I know that you are) do not hesitate to pick this up.

 

 

Metropolis Bandcamp

 

Amazon