4 earliest albums of Bill Leeb’s Front Line Assembly reissued on double vinyl with bonus tracks

Out via Mecanica in early Summer will be the 4 earliest albums of Bill Leeb’s main project Front Line Assembly, founded in 1986 (just upon his departure from Skinny Puppy). All 4 albums comes as limited pressing of 500 copies, on double vinyl, with deluxe gatefold sleeve and new vintage artwork.

The following albums will be included:

• “The Initial Command”: this the debut landmark album by Canadian EBM-industrialists Front Line Assembly, originally released in 1987 through Belgian label KK Records. Bill Leeb shows us already a unique style, setting a benchmark for all that would follow. Fiercely original, not least for ‘it’s time’, from the glittering synths and harsh metallic percussion of the unarguably cinematic “Casualties” and the abrasive white noise on “Ausgang zum Himmel”, to the punchy breaks and dramatic strings of “No Control”. This Deluxe re-release includes all original tracks and both bonus tracks taken from a re-release in 1997: “Complexity” and “Core”.
• “Corroded Disorder”: this album compiles some of the earliest hits of Front Line Assembly including the classic “Body Count” for which the band prepared their first official video-clip. “Corroded Disorder” was originally released in 1995 as a hybrid of the EP’s “Corrosion” and “Disorder” (both released in 1988 on Third Mind Records, UK), along with some extra tracks taken from the compilation “Convergence” and a couple of new bonus songs.
• “Total Terror 1”: This is the second of two self-released cassette tapes by EBM-industrial act Front Line Assembly (the first one being ‘Nerve War’). At this point, Bill Leeb was the band’s only dedicated member, with some help from Rhys Fulber. Most of the original cassette was remixed and re-mastered to be commercially released on CD in 1993 as “Total Terror 1”. This edition added three previously-unreleased bonus tracks from other old sessions: “Freedom”, “Distorted Vision” and “Cleanser”. The original recordings of these songs were done in 1986 using nothing more than a four track recording system. This would be quite primitive for today’s standards and sound quality will not be so effective, however the ideas are all ther, letting us enjoy some of the first songs EVER created by Front Line Assembly. The deluxe re-release includes all tracks from “Total Terror 1” plus the rare song “Eternal” and some bonus taken from old compilations.
• “Total Terror 2”: This is another collection of early Front Line Assembly demos, remixed and remastered for a limited CD release for the first time in 1994. The original recordings of these songs were done in 1986/87. The equipment used was primitive, but then so is mankind. The deluxe re-release includes all tracks from the first edition plus some bonus taken from old compilations.

Here’s the first impression of what you can expect from these vinyl editions.