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Front Line Assembly > Gashed Senses and Crossfire
| CD 1989 Third Mind TM9115-2 [UK] ! CD 1989 Wax Trax WAXCD 7075 [US] |
| LP 1989 Third Mind TMLP 31 [UK] | LP 1989 Wax Trax WAX 7075 [US] |
Released on CD and 12" LP.
Tracklist:
01 No Limit (4:53)
02 Antisocial (4:41)
03 Hypocrisy (3:48)
04 Shutdown (5:24)
05 Prayer (3:29)
06 Digital Tension Dementia (4:46)
07 Big Money (4:15)
08 Bloodsport (5:55)
09 Foolsgame (3:36)
19 Sedation (3:56)
Credits:
All titles composed by Leeb / Balch. All titles produced by Front Line Assembly. 1, 6, 8 recorded and mixed at Vancouver Studios. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 recorded and mixed at LTD. Vision Studio (R.I.P.). 1, 6 and 7 engineered by Anthony Valcic and Michael Balch. Bass on 9 by Dave Hall. Thanks to Valcic, Hall Ferris, Reely (X2) Stephenson, Rhys Fulber (all for loan of equipment), C.A., Karan, Jessica, Gary, Jim and Crew. Front Line Assembly are bill Leeb and Michael Balch. Sleeve Artwork by Dave coppenhall.
Gashed Senses and Crossfire is the last album by Bill Leeb and Michael Balch.
Review from Melody Maker at time of release. (Exact publication date unknown.)
FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY
GASHED SENSES & CROSSFIRE
Third Mind
YOU could be forgiven for thinking that, in some ways, Front Line Assembly are the runts of the litter that spawned Skinny Puppy, Front 242 and The Young Gods. Viewed under a microscope, they don't hold the same peculiar, obsessive and outrageous motives favoured by any of the above, their moves are certainly less sporadic and their aims and ambitions more studied. All this however, makes for an expression that is more aesthetically pleasing, more successful and more overwhelming in its execution.
Old hands at the kind of psycho-terror that results when you drag a John Carpenter soundtrack onto the dancefloor. Bill Leeb (ex-Skinny Puppy) and Michael Balch look set to be the first to leave the plastic guns and talk of noise terrorism to the kiddies and theorists and get into the discos in the way that Kraftwerk did in the Seventies.
This is because, despite its overly bloody title, "Gashed Senses & Crossfire is not necessarily a gory album. Where Skinny Puppy are an anguished, animalistic scream in the middle of the night, Front Line Assembly sample that scream, lose its core of very real human terror but through the electronic translation make it sound EPIC - like a remix of reality.
We're not talking about style above content, its just that Front Line Assembly hint at the sweaty, hot, close fetid obscenity of others without actually getting mucus all over your carpet or the unpalatable smell of dead meat in your nostrils. They are a purely aural rather than an all pervading experience - maybe not exactly a welcome guest, but one you can calm down and get rid of without too much trouble.
There's nothing as unpredictable or primitive as a sword through the heart here, no festering on the surface of this sound - they simply put rationale to the test, nothing is left to chance beneath the cold chill of the blueprint. Front’s cool grasp of technology is the exact opposite to Skinny Puppy's impassioned VX gas attack. If they were a super power's new toy they would be a neutron bomb - designed for maximum effect and minimum mess.
Moreover, a subtle stripping down process is at work. Even song titles consist of only one word and "Antisocial", "Hyprocisy", "Shutdown" and "Prayer" are for the most part, bereft of the Wagnerian sweep that previously accompanied Front music. All that remains is the grizzled, electrically burnt edge of a distorted voice and the murderously produced and customised brutal punch of a beat box.
In a way they've overstepped the mark and created something that's too awesome to merely dance to - a soundtrack without a film. Just put it on the Walkman and smile knowingly as you marvel at the wonders of technology.
MAT SMITH
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Last updated 2005-04-30 01:55:34 by: unknown user.
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