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Front Line Assembly > Surface Patterns
Roadrunner RR 2349-2 [US]. Released on CD and 12".
Tracklist:
01. Surface Patterns (Surveillance Remix) 5:54
02. Surface Patterns (Chemical Cauldron Remix) 7:38
03. Internal Combustion 5:37
04. Surface Patterns (Scarification Remix) 4:35
Total Running Time: 23 min 46 sec
Credits:
Electronic Execution: Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber Engineered & Mixed by Greg Reely Assistant Engineer: Delvyn Brooks all songs written by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber. Hyeredits by Greg Reely Design, photography and illustration by Dave mcKean at Hourglass.
Review
"Surface Patterns" (or "Suface Patterns" if you believe the disc spine :-)) is the second single to be taken from Front Line Assembly's latest album _Millenium_. Like pretty much every track on that album, it combines the familiar FLA sound of old (loads of synths, distorted vocals intoning not particularly profound lyrics about something gloomy) with plentiful sampled guitars and the usual winning structure of tuneless verse and catchy chorus.
However, at first glance it's not the most obvious choice for a single. I'd personally hoped that "This Faith", the one track on the album that held true to the purely synthetic FLA sound, might be the single but I hadn't really considered "Surface Patterns" as a candidate. In retrospect, this was a mistake since although it's not an instant hit, the track really grows on you. The sampled guitars are well used, and give the impression of being just another sound in the Leeb/Fulber palette rather than being part of any attempt to sound like a metal band (a fate that has befallen others who've tried this, like Die Krupps). The guitars are certainly there, but so are synths-a-plenty. The track also has a distinctive lolloping rhythm that makes it stand out from the crowd, and one of those familiar, hook-laden choruses.
The single includes no less than three mixes of "Surface Patterns". These don't differ appreciably. Sure, there *are* differences, an extra sample here, an instrumental bridge there, but they're not drastic. To be honest, I'd be hard pressed to tell two of them from the album version and the "Chemical Cauldron" remix is only easily identified due to its extended intro and length.
The remaining track is "Internal Combustion", which is probably the most interesting item on the album. This harks back to the FLA of old - _Caustic Grip_ or _Tactical Neural Implant_ era - and is an interesting combination of more of those sampled grinding guitars, typical FLA ingredients and quacky techno noises. Actually, now that I think about it, the most obvious reference point for this track would be Noise Unit's _Strategy Of Violence_ album. It'd fit right in there, and were it not for the noticeably heavier guitars on this track, I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that this track was a refugee from that album.
In summary, a pretty decent disc, on a par with the "Millenium" single. I'm not sure who is going to buy it though. Anyone who owns the _Millenium_ album already has, to all intents and purposes, three quarters of this disc. That leaves just those who were wary of buying the album after all those terrifying tales of guitars and rap, for whom this is probably a decent sampler. Oh, and the true FLA fanatics of course - they're the ones up to their eyeballs in debt due to having bought everything that the hyper-productive Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber have released.
Erland Rating: +1
(c)Al crawford
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Last updated 2006-10-30 21:31:38 by: Nicholas0.
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