Search - Front Line Assembly :: Epitaph

Their most melodic work

D. M. MATALLIN | Valencia, Spain | 11/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Implode' is my fav FLA album, so I was looking forward to their following album to see if they could improve their last effort. Time will tell if they have improved, but anyway I can say that 'Epitaph' is, at least, as good as FLA's 2 masterpieces, 'Implode', and 'Tactical Neural Implant'. Obviously we all have our own preferences, but this FLA direction which gives more and more importance to melody at the same time as it keeps on experimenting, satisfies me completely. If you're familiar with FLA you know their best elements: heavy electronic basslines, amazing percussive work, incredibly catchy choruses... all these is present in 'Epitaph' and absolutely brilliantly done. But you want some further reason to buy this album? If you liked the more agressive choruses of 'Millenium', forget about it, for here the choruses are as catchy as those, but more melodic. When i listen to 'Insolence', 'Everything Must perish', 'Decoy' or 'existance' I actually enjoy singing the songs 'cos the choruses are superb. Furthermore, Leeb incorporates all his different musical tastes displayed in all his side-projects, as he did on 'Implode' but in a different way. On 'Implode', we had some songs that sounded like Synaesthesia ('Synthetic forms', 'Silent ceremony'), others like Noise Unit ('Don't trust anyone')... but on 'Epitaph' these ambient, techno, drumn'bass, ... elements are inside the songs, so all songs share different styles, being some passages more deleriumesque (more melodic without beat, like the intro of 'Existance'), others more danceable, more agressive... An example is 'Krank it up', which begins almost like a Delerium song but then it's an agressive song similar to 'Caustic Grip' flavour.
The sounds used remind a lot of those used on 'Implode'; and 'Epitaph' is the album with fewer samples used.
There're no guitars, at least perceptible, and the voice sounds more eclectic than ever: now Leeb whispers, screams, tunes... depending on the song and the effect.
Let's look at the songs:Haloed (8.5/10): this song is a good intro. With a voice with a similar distortion to the used on 'Modus Operandi', and a chorus in which Leeb makes a duo with himself, it's not one of the best but catchy enough to raise our interest. Lots of distortion, precise and direct song (less than 5 minutes long).Dead Planet (8/10): strange song indeed. Leeb whispers over weird sounds until the catchy chorus begins. danceable beats, similar to 'fatalist' but no guitars at all; depends excessively on the chorus, but has some passagesin the middle of the song quite interesting. This song is mostly for fun.Backlash (8.5/10): here Leeb elongates the syllables so much when singing that reminds me of Leaether strip. Danceable, good chorus, more agressive than the average. Impressive percussion, it grows on you with each listening. i stmes think i perceive some guitar sound on the background, but not sure.Epitaph (8.5/10): vocal version of a previously released song. It could have been perfectly on 'implode'. In fact, listen to it: it's almost a calque on 'Prophecy'. You can stmes sing one with the lyrics of the other, try it. However, uses for the chorus the 'swimming in a world of creeps' line from 'Unknown dreams'. It's good, i like it, but maybe reminds too much of 'Implode'. Good percussive work, anyway.Everything must perish (9.5/10): the single. techno intro, Leeb beginst to whisper over a very danceable song and then comes the chorus: incredible, catchier than ever, it stucks into your head for hours and hours. very good. All's good in this song: voice, sounds, beats... Conscience (9.5/10): with a very TNIsh flavour but updated, this song is a prodigy of electronic music. The piano on the chorus gives it a very unique sound, catchy, mellow, in concordance with the chorus "so fragile, so faint...". A voice sample in the middle of the song gives it a quite weird side. very good.Decoy (9/10): very iteresting intro, with distorted sounds, then a Delerium song begins but sung by Leeb. Here everything is more fragile, more melodic, less danceable. With a female voice could have fitted perfectly on a Delerium album. With Leeb voice, actually fits the album while giving it a more varied flavour. the part with 'close your eyes and u will see'... is actually superb. even it has gregorian voices.Insolence (9.5/10): almost perfect. With a distorted voice similar to 'The Blade', a chorus as catchy as the 'Everything Must Perish' one, danceable a la 'flavour of the weak' but more melodic, it could be the 2nd single perfectly. Krank it up (7.5/10): for me, the weaker song here. I see it as a 'Caustic Grip' song with renovated sounds. It's good anyway. More agressive than the rest, it's varied enough not to tire.existance (10/10): for me, the best. It begins with a 2 minute atmospheric passage, similar to Synaesthesia material. When we are just thinking this will be an instrumental song, then from the background of noises emerges the beat, and then the voice, distorted, like a robot, and then a catchy chorus which turns these song into an impressive tour de force. A middle passage in which the beats seems to fade into sampled angelic voices, then emerges again and the song ends with the chorus. impressive, grows on me with every listening.Extra track: It's an atmospheric song, almost with no beat. Could have fitted perfectly n Synaesthesia's 'Desideratum'. To sum up, 'Epitaph' is an impressive work, in which all: the percussion, the voice, the sounds used... sound better than ever. Many will miss guitars, or more samples, or more agressiveness... I know. But Leeb is very interested now in melody, and so 'Epitaph' is an example of how to make a melodic album without losing the FLA hallmark. I don't know if it's the best, but definetely among my 3 FLA favourites. Buy it."

Quantifying the "Leeb Hypothesis"

Dave Cordes | Denver, CO | 10/10/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You've got to hand it to Bill Leeb, he's like the George Lucas of industrial music. I bet when he checks his annual bank statement and sees that his savings account needs a little replenishing, he fires up his equipment and proceeds to churn out another trademarked FLA album (when he's not milking his other side projects like the commercially successful Delerium). That's just what he has done here with the aptly titled Epitaph, the latest deployment from the Cryogenic think-tank since 1999's positively received Implode. Somewhere, Bill has formulated a mathematical equation that is the proven hypothesis behind the FLA formula and with minimal effort he simply batch compiles the musical data from all of his previous works using what we'll refer to as the "Leeb Hypothesis" to calculate yet another aesthetically interesting incarnation under the FLA marketing brand. There is nothing groundbreaking about Epitaph which is basically just that... an epitaph of everything that FLA has done before it. You can hear sentimental echoes from the vintage years buried underneath layers of eerie sampled sounds... the chords from Total Terror on tracks like Decoy and Haloed... Leeb's melodically distorted and melancholy lyrics from the pinnacle of the FLA's masterworks, Tactical Neural Implant on tracks like Everything Must Perish and Insolence... and the drumbeats and sequencing from the classic Caustic Grip on tracks like Dead Planet and Conscience. Fortunately, Leeb has discarded the hard edged heavy metal guitar riffs, obnoxious hip-hop and D&B influences that were prevalent in the highly experimental yet chemically volatile Millenium and Flavour of the Weak. Why even the bonus hidden track sounds like one of the old-school Delerium mixes ala Spiritual Archives which he has thrown into the mix with it's perfect chemistry of dreamy surrealistic dark atmosphere. No, Leeb has done his homework and has analyzed and quantified the scientific numbers to divine the precise mathematical equation behind FLA's aesthetic precision with over 15 years of quantifiable data to cross reference and correlate his hypothesis to. And out of the industrial blender comes a tastefully refined blend of the best vintage brews of FLA in a repackaged product flavor that is not as Weak or as distasteful as some of his previous FLAvours."

One of Front Line Assembly's Best Albums to Date

Adam P. Duffy | 06/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is one of the definative projects in Front Line Assembly's history. It is a breakthough from the eirler ablums produced by the two definative minds behind Front Line Assembly. The Ear;ierlier albums are more static while this album is more epic in nature. Sometimes you can't even tell the change in the album's track breaks. It's like one long, epic, song. You will not be dissapoited with this album especially if this is the first album to turn you onto the Front Line Assembly cult of followers. This one blew my mind. The textures are deep and layered, so much you feel you need to listen to a track over and over again. THIS IS THEIR BEST ALBUM. Do not start off with the newest album "Civilization" because without previous knowledge of "Epitah" the ablum will not be as fullfilling."