Front 242’s ’05:22:09:12 Off’ turns 33 on 23 August
Cover art via Cover Art Archive / MusicBrainz
Front 242 released the album “05:22:09:12 Off” on 23 August 1993 through Red Rhino Europe, with Epic issuing the record in the United States that November. The seventh studio album by the Belgian industrial/EBM group turns 33 this year. Its title is a substitution cipher spelling out the word “evil,” each letter replaced by its position in the alphabet.
“05:22:09:12 Off” was produced and mixed by Daniel Bressanutti and Patrick Codenys alongside John Dubs and Eran Westwood, with Bob Ludwig mastering. The album marks the only Front 242 studio release built primarily around a guest vocalist: Kristin “99” Kowalski of the New York band Spill sings lead on most tracks, with Jean-Luc De Meyer appearing only on the remix “Melt (Again).” The CD edition runs 16 tracks, including “Animal (Cage),” “Modern Angel,” “Junkdrome,” “Serial Killers Don’t Kill Their Girlfriend,” “GenEcide” and “Crushed.” The album reached number 27 on the CMJ Radio Top 150.
About Front 242
Front 242 formed in 1981 in Aarschot, near Leuven, Belgium, founded by Daniel Bressanutti (electronics, production) and Dirk Bergen (graphic design). Patrick Codenys (keyboards, programming) and vocalist Jean-Luc De Meyer joined in 1982, and Richard “23” Jonckheere (electronic percussion, backing vocals) joined in 1983 as Bergen moved into design and management. The band’s 1984 album “No Comment” was among the first releases to use the term “electronic body music” in its liner notes. Front 242 signed to Wax Trax! in the US in 1984, then released “Official Version” (1987) and “Front by Front” (1988) via Red Rhino Europe/PIAS, and “Tyranny (For You)” (1991) via Epic, its highest-charting album in the US.
“05:22:09:12 Off” followed in 1993, released in Europe by Red Rhino Europe on 23 August and in the US by Epic that November. Drummer Tim Kroker joined for live performances in 2008. The band’s most recent studio album, “Pulse,” followed via XIII Bis/Metropolis in 2003. In 2023, Front 242 co-headlined the “Join The Forces” tour of Europe with Nitzer Ebb, alternating headline sets across dates including Berlin, Amsterdam, Oslo and Munich. Front 242 announced its farewell “Black Out” tour in March 2024 and played its final three shows at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on 23-25 January 2025, retiring from live performance with a lineup of Bressanutti, De Meyer, Codenys, Richard 23 and Kroker. The live album “Black Out”, drawn from more than forty farewell-tour shows, followed via Alfa Matrix on 19 June 2026. “05:22:09:12 Off” now marks 33 years since its original release.
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