As alluded to by their previous album, Epitaph, Bill Leeb has all but jettisoned the oldschool, repetitive, angst ridden formula of FLA that was the benchmark of the eighties and nineties industrial/electro-EBM scene. Rhys Fulber is back and together the two have taken FLA into a bold new territory that elevates their familiar sound and takes it to the next artistic level and into the new millenium.Civilization has instantly become perhaps my favorite FLA album to date, an honor that, until now, was coveted by Tactical Neural Implant - the infamous album that most fans would popularly agree as the pinnacle of FLA's masterworks and it would be unfair to draw any comparisons here between the two albums because they are completely different stylistically and aesthetically, but both important in their own right in defining the categorical sound of FLA.
There is a lot of oldschool Delerium influnces on this album circa the Morpheus/Euphoric/Spiritual Archives years that interleaves brilliant layers of surreal ambience with an artistically creative impulse.
The obvious standouts of particular mention on this album include:
Track 1 - Psychosomatic - The album begins with a little mix of D&B rhythm (anybody remember Flavour of the Weak?) but as soon as Bill Leeb's definitive vocals kick in, we are immediatly comforted and assured that this is indeed the familiar FLA we have come to expect.
Track 2 - Maniacal - probably the most familiar and predictable sounding of FLA's oldschool style. Leeb's vocals kick up the beat with a literal "Bang!" and the driving guitars give it an edgier feel of something off Millenium or Hard Wired.
Track 3 - Transmitter (Come Together) - This is the one track that spurs the most controversary and people either love it or hate it. Personally, I think it is absolutely brilliant and a bold move for FLA. Leeb's harmonious vocals chanting "Let's All Come Together... Let's All Join Hands" may turn off some more aggressive industrial heads with its "touchy-feely" tone and contradictory optimism but it sounds absolutely beautiful and is undeniably a milestone of this album and accentuates FLA's artistic maturity to transcend itself above it's own stylistic redundancy.
Track 6 - Civilization - The album's title track begins slowly with lush dark atmosphere brilliantly layered with dialogue samples extracted from the context of contemporary media and keying on soundbites of "Freedom" and "Civilization" looping endlessly in the background up until Leeb's politically barking vocals make their presence known. When the chorus kicks in, it sounds more like a ballad engineered as a single for commercial airplay but I have no complaints because the engineering here works absolutely brilliantly and Civilization stands out as one of the most memorable and important songs not only on the entire album, but of FLA's entire catalog.
Track 7 - Fragmented - Harmonious female vocals lifted right from some of Delerium's latter and poppier tracks build gradually into Leeb's familiar aggressive vocals and accompanied perfectly by the orchestral classical sounds of violins brilliantly mixed into the melody. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album and defines FLA's new artistic style and presence with profound maturity.
Track 9 - Dissident - Atmospherically reminiscent of something from Delerium's Spiritual Archives with middle-eastern background vocals chanting amidst the surreal subtext and Leeb's daunting vocals that cry Skinny Puppy, but a brilliant track nonetheless.
Track 10 - Schicksal - Sentimental piano chords contrast against Leeb's accompanying German vocals and pulsing EBM beats. As always, German vocals compliment just about any well composed industrial song quite well. Schicksal is no exception and FLA can do no wrong here.
Civilization has unquestionably arrived as the best artistic effort from FLA in years and a welcomed surprise. Rhys Fulber has returned with the FLA formula and has definitely brought back the creative chemistry. I have been playing this album in my car non-stop for days and love it more with each consecutive listening.
