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"   October 10, 2001
 18 out of 22 found this review helpful

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.


Hopefully, FLA's Last Album   December 26, 2001
 5 out of 10 found this review helpful

Bill Leeb is a fantastic creator of sonic worlds, transporting the listener instantly into bleak, futuristic soundscapes from which there is no escape until the album ends and the headphones are removed. Front Line Assembly has been around for a long time, but the latest album Epitaph (5 stars for the music, 1 star for the lyrics = 3 stars overall) stands as an example of what's best and worst about Leeb's work, and will hopefully mark a turning point in his career. There are rumors that Epitaph will be the last FLA album, and I for one sincerely hope they turn out to be true.

FLA has never had strong lyrics, and Epitaph serves as evidence for Leeb to abandon them altogether and concentrate on creating soundscapes. His best work has always been instrumental, whether it be Noise Unit's brilliant album Decoder, Delerium's album Stone Tower, or tracks like Implode's "Silent Ceremony." Even on the commercially successful Delerium album Poem, the most effective track by far is the opener "Terra Firma." Lyrics tend to get in the way of the emotional effect his songs always have, not allowing undiluted and undistracted emotional participation on the part of the listener. Lyrics, in the end, drag Leeb's true talents back down to earth, and never live up to the emotional content of his music alone. His instrumental work screams soundtrack, and that's just what it should be - a soundtrack for your imagination, unhampered and uninfluenced by accompanying lyrics.

Such is the case with Epitaph. Strangely (or perhaps not so), the strongest track on the album is the "hidden" track, which is - surprise! - instrumental. The opening soundscapes of almost all the songs, most notably "Haloed" and "Decoy", hint at the emergence of something dark and majestic, which is dispelled the instant the vocals kick in. If Epitaph had been without lyrics, it would have ranked as one of Leeb's greatest works. Instead, it ranks somewhere in the middle of the FLA ranks, above FLAvour of the Weak but (far) below Tactical Neural Implant and Hard Wired. When compared to his instrumental releases, it's clear to see (or hear, rather) that the lyrics only get in the way of what he's trying to say. Listen to any track from Epitaph and then compare it with "Entropy" from Synaesthesia's album Ephemeral, or "Blackhole Amazon" from Intermix's album Future Primitives, and you'll see what I mean.

I didn't intend to imply by the title of this review that Bill Leeb should stop making music. Quite the contrary. In fact, a saving grace of Epitaph is it proves Leeb doesn't need former recording partner Rhys Fulber in order to make his wonderful music. It's glaringly obvious Leeb's been limiting himself with the bonds of lyrics and language, and will hopefully focus on letting his musical creations speak for themselves (he's said himself that his lyrics are always written AFTER the music), freeing his own imagination to produce emotionally charged works that don't need words to fill the listener with awe and wonder.


Implode: Part 2   February 15, 2006
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

I'm a long time fan going back to "Gashed Senses" who also still likes the newer work; I loved "Implode". This album however left me flat. It's not that it's bad, it just sounded to me like a compilation of songs that didn't make the first cut for Implode. Get it for your collection if you're a diehard, but otherwise there are better titles in the catalog.


dissapointed   October 9, 2001
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Some good music here....unfortunately it is bogged down by irritating, monotonous and unimaginative lyrics. After track 3, I found myself scanning forward to find a little variation in the songs. I found very little.

One good thing though, I have a nice c.d. case to add to my Dave Mckean collection.

Bill Leeb just isn't as good without Rhys Fulber.