FLA over the last 15 years.

[Captain Plasma]

#304

I am new to the FLA since this year, but already blown away by most of their stuff, right down to early ambient material. Mechanical Soul is a disappointment, i wrote a review on RYM which says:
“Deviator b-sides
It speaks volumes about FLA’s diversity since i liked all of their albums until this one. It’s not bad, just so… middle of the road at best, because it is basically b-sides for “Deviator” by Noise Unit – one of many Bill Leeb’s side-projects; same style, same themes, SAME YEAR, but with more inspired songwriting. “Wake Up The Coma” already showed some warning signs, but it ended up being one of the most solid post 90s albums. And on this one you still can hear new sound techniques, take a note about one creative choice or two. Those mechanical sounding beats and synths at it’s core are uber authentic, sampling is some of the most immersive FLA has ever done. Conceptually the LP is interesting, it soakes you into post-apocalyptic cyberpunk similary to Epitah, Hard Wired or Millenium, but so dried up. It sounds dreadful, not in a sense the cover art wants you to imagine – each track just plodes along to the point of stale predictability (often lacking the punch or meaningful statement to back up the simplicity), not expanding in any direction, eventhough on some this straight techno industrial sound is effective due to more tight, interchangeable layers, especially if it is accompanied by actually smart lyrics – Alone is my absolute favorite example of that. Overall this album seems reminiscent of “Caustic Grip” or “Gashed Senses & Crossfire”, however it lacks their punk aplomb. “Barbarians” also reminded me of Laibach’s “Now You Will Pay” which was much more interestingly executed, not to mention that it is just a remix of “Future Fail”. Some of the lyrics hits barrel’s bottom, especially “Rubber Tube Gag”, there are way more crushing drug songs out there – BELIEVE ME – at least it’s not rock bottom from Coma ‘s “Living a Lie”: “I’m making love to an alien”, “Fuck an alien and you’ll be free”.

[Captain Plasma]

#305

As about other recent stuff Wake Up The Coma don’t fully clicks with me, although it’s a modernized EBM sound sing their early 90s days and i am obsessed with Tactical Neural Implant (Japanese CD). Some collaborations on it are totally off and the whole thing is too traditional for the band, not to mention some embarassing lyrics. Most of all i hated it’s overly clean production from Mech soundtracks. FLA has always been at their strongest when it came to creating leaving-breathing dystopia, pre-ocupied by their lush analogue electronics, so that’s another downfall.

[Captain Plasma]

#306

Echogenetic could have used more complex songwriting, but i adore this album for what it is. Nothing sounds as cybernetic (well, aside from some other FLA albums). The use of brostep ended up quite effective for me, especially these carpet bombing wubbs on Killing Grounds, that was a smart take on the genre’s tropes. Deadened feels like Skynet is enslaving the Earth in real time, makes me wet. Lyrically it trenches at themes of PTSD, war, police state oppression and even some trashuman sort of drama. At the core it’s minimalistic, but each bleep-bloop counts. The opener is good at showcasing the tech. On Prototype i smell a process of manufacturing cyborgs. FLA are tailor-made for this approach. Although Die Sektor with it’s (-)existence is way better at brostep-industrial. Nevertheless, i even prefer Echogenetic over FLAvour of the Weak and Artificial Soldier, maybe due to me being too much of Tactical Neutal Implant worshipper, pulls the right buttons for me.

[thefxc]

#317

IED – good revisit of their mid-90s guitar-slinging style

Echgenetic/Echoes – brilliant, holds up against their best stuff; the original songs on Echoes are quite a surprise: an almost poppy FLA

Airmech/Warmech – serviceable atmospheric stuff; call them Delerium

Wake Up the Coma – slapdash, feels like a slightly desperate attempt to go viral, especially ‘Amadeus’. Would probably rank as my least favorite FLA.

Mechanical Soul – solid course correction after Coma. Optimistic about the next one (if there is one coming…)

[Captain Plasma]

#318

I think that Wake Up The Coma is actually a solid FLA album if you dismiss it’s multiple questionable choices like overly clean production, FALCO cover at the beginning of a freaking industrial album, some embarassing lyrics on few tracks. It’s indsutrial techno is sure way more interesting for me than the Mechanical Soul one. Tilt, Arbeit. Mesmerized, Negative Territories and Structures are solid classic FLA tracks with future-gloom desperation. But i hate how overly simplistic composing is, especially after much better executed techno elements on Epitah or Caustic Grip.

[b10rn]

#343

I haven’t listened that much to the mech albums because I really miss Leeb’s vocals too much. I think IED is a fantastic album, one of the recent ones that I have listened to the most. Wake up the Coma has a very nice sound and many solid tracks, with my favorite being Structures. I think Echogenetic has a couple of nice tracks, like Exhale, but for some reason I rarely go back to it. Mechanical Soul felt uninspired in comparison to the other recent albums, but it has its moments.

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