(Photo by Assemblage 23) The leading industrial music distributor Audioglobe informs us that Accession Records is re-releasing its Assemblage 23 back catalog to coincide with the 20th Anniversary re-release of the band’s second album “Failure” as we reported yesterday. The 4 albums are “Addendum” (2001), “Defiance” (2002), “Meta” (2007) and “Bruise” (2012).

About Assemblage 23

Assemblage 23 is an American electro act based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1988 by Tom Shear who writes the music and lyrics and does the recording himself. Prior to starting Assemblage 23, Shear experimented with music under the name Man on a Stage, beginning in the early 1980s. Most of Shear’s music at this point was instrumental, as he lacked the confidence to sing. At the same time, Shear was also playing bass in a live band called the Advocates.

Assemblage 23 was officially born in 1988, after Shear experienced the industrial dance music played by an opening DJ for Depeche Mode. It took until 1998 for Assemblage 23 to attract the attention of record labels.

Shear signed a deal in 1999 with the Canadian label Gashed! for a full-length album (“Contempt”, released in November 1999). A second album, Failure, followed in March 2001 and was released by Gashed in North America and Accession Records in Europe.

The rest is history.

About Accession Records

Accession Records is a German independent record label created by Adrian Hates the frontman of the band Diary Of Dreams in 1995. Early in its existence, the label only released Diary Of Dreams albums, but in 1999 the label added other bands.

Here is a list of bands (that were) signed to the label: Angels of Venice, Assemblage 23, Claire Voyant, Cleaner, Diary of Dreams, Diorama, Distorted Reality, Lights of Euphoria, Nerve.Filter, Panzer AG, SITD, Faderhead, Build 23, Haujobb, Sinin, Human Decay, Painkillers, Clear Vision, Cyber axis, .com/kill, Coma Alliance, Spektralized, Painbastard, Audioscope, Belief, Cut.Rate.Box, Plastic, Silence, Psyche.