| Artificial Soldier | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 20, 2006 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Industrial, electro-industrial, drum and bass | |||
| Length | 65:51 | |||
| Label | Metropolis | |||
| Producer | Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber, Chris Peterson | |||
| Front Line Assembly chronology | ||||
| ||||
Artificial Soldier is the thirteenth full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 2006. This is the first Front Line Assembly album to feature new member Jeremy Inkel. [2]
In 2016, Canadian label Artoffact reissued the album on vinyl. [3]
The tour in North America in support of Artificial Soldier started before the album was released. [4] The North American leg was originally scheduled for June and July 2006. [5] However, due to difficulties with the company that supplied the tour bus the band was forced to cancel parts of the tour. They could only play about half of their planned shows in the United States, dates in New York and Canada were cancelled. [6] [7] At the show in Philadelphia the band announced that this would be their last show of the tour. [8] Tour drummer Adrian White made a statement on the Side-Line forum: "Digger international who handled the bus rental has fucked us. We were lied to since we were told we had a bus until July 6th, which was bullshit. They had planned to leave us in Philly without a bus to do the rest of the tour. They, the driver and tour manager filled us in on the scam last night just before our Philly show leaving us with a couple hours to find transportation for 11 people and all of our equipment." [8] In an interview with Side-Line right after the shortened North American tour vocalist Bill Leeb said that the band intended to make up for the cancelled dates after they would return from the European leg. Asked what conclusions he had drawn from this experience, Leeb responded: "I will never get on a bus without seeing a written contract stating that I have the bus from point A to B. Let's just say I have never been fucked by a bus company before." [9] Supporting band Stromkern blamed the booking agency for the problems, suggesting "the booking agency [...] pocketed the deposits and has vanished off the face of the earth." [8] In August and September Front Line Assembly continued their tour in Europe. [10] While electronic music band and Dependent label mates Stromkern opened for Front Line Assembly on both legs, [10] DJ? Acucrack was support act only for the North American leg [11] [12] and Rhys Fulber's project Conjure One was guest on a few US shows. [11]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| Barcode | 3.9/10 [13] |
| Chain D.L.K. | [14] |
| The Dose | Favorable [15] |
| Metal Storm | Mixed [16] |
| ReGen | [17] |
| Release | 6/10 [18] |
| Side-Line | 9/10 [19] |
| SLUG | Favorable [20] |
Reviews for Artificial Soldier were mixed. David Jeffries of Allmusic called the album "ferocious" and said, "Artificial Soldier is a return to form monster of an album that will pound the band back into the electro-industrial lover's heart." [1]
John Carlsson of Release Music Magazine called the album "a brutal and heavy affair" but said, "Their often marvelous knack for writing great hooks and choruses ... seems to have gone missing." [18] He also stated, "There is also very little variation to be found," and finished by declaring "if you ... want your [Bill] Leeb furious and angry, this is right up your alley." [18]
Barcode Magazine's critic expressed his discontent over much of the album and wrote, "it's 23 minutes into the album before anything genuinely impressive happens", thereby referring to the track "Buried Alive". [13] "With Artificial Soldier it's obvious that they've fallen into their own trap", was the magazine's verdict: "This is not only a parody of the genre but of Front Line Assembly itself, and I find that disappointing for a band that was once so creative and forward thinking." [13]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Unleashed" | 5:19 |
| 2. | "Low Life" | 5:32 |
| 3. | "Beneath the Rubble" | 6:28 |
| 4. | "Dissension" | 6:08 |
| 5. | "Buried Alive" | 5:31 |
| 6. | "Dopamine" | 6:33 |
| 7. | "Social Enemy" | 5:25 |
| 8. | "Future Fail" | 6:13 |
| 9. | "The Storm" | 5:14 |
| 10. | "Humanity (World War 3)" (The song "Humanity (World War 3)" ends at minute 5:24. After 40 seconds of silence (5:24 - 6:04) begins the hidden track "Fawnchopper".) | 13:40 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top Electronic Albums ( Billboard ) [21] | 19 |
Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's membership has rotated through the years, including Michael Balch, Rhys Fulber, and Chris Peterson, all of whom are associated with several other acts.
Tactical Neural Implant is the sixth full-length studio album by electro-industrial artists Front Line Assembly. Third Mind Records originally released it in 1992 on both compact-disc and LP formats. The album has also been issued by Roadrunner in a two-disc set that includes the Millennium album.
Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He is a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium, along with Bill Leeb. He also records under his own name and under the name Conjure One.
Caustic Grip is the fifth full-length studio album by Front Line Assembly, originally released on Third Mind Records in Europe and on WaxTrax! Records in the United States in 1990.
Hard Wired is the eighth full-length studio album by Front Line Assembly, released in 1995.
Millennium is the seventh full-length studio album by industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1994 by Roadrunner Records on both Compact Disc and LP formats. The album is also being planned for an LP release in 2020, by the Canadian label Artoffact. The album marks the first major use of metal guitars, shifting in musical direction from their typical electro-industrial sound. The riffs were obtained from samples and the musicianship of the then unknown Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad, who would also contribute and perform on the next album.
Noise Unit is a Canadian industrial band, founded by Bill Leeb of Front Line Assembly as a side project. The band has seen several changes in line-up, with Bill Leeb being the only permanent member.
Epitaph is the eleventh full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 2001.
Re-Wind is a remix double album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1998. All tracks were originally recorded for the band's previous studio album [FLA]vour of the Weak. The band's longtime mixer, Greg Reely, had been absent on the original album and was brought back in on Re-Wind; therefore, disc one sees the band remixing itself with Reely's help. Disc two presents remixes by other artists.
Jeremy Michel Neville Inkel was a Canadian electronic musician based in Vancouver. He was best known as a keyboard player and programmer for Left Spine Down and electro-industrial band Front Line Assembly as well as producing tracks for various well known musicians worldwide. He began his work with Left spine Down in 2003 when he replaced original member Frank Valoczy. He was invited into Front Line Assembly in 2005 and made his first contributions to their 2006 album Artificial Soldier. He also made contributions to Front Line Assembly side-projects Noise Unit and Delerium. Inkel died from complications with asthma at the age of 34 on January 11, 2018.
Fallout is a remix album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 2007. Initially announced as an EP, it is a collection of nine remixes by both the band themselves and other artists as well as three previously unreleased tracks.
Left Spine Down (LSD) is a Canadian band based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that plays what they call "cyberpunk": a mixture of electronica, metal, punk, and drum & bass.
Front Line Assembly, a Canadian Vancouver-based electro-industrial band, has released seventeen studio albums, three live albums, numerous singles and compilations, and two video game soundtracks. With Bill Leeb being the founder and sole permanent member of the band, Michael Balch, Rhys Fulber and Chris Peterson were acting as long-time members during different periods of time.
Improvised Electronic Device is the fourteenth full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 2010.
Echogenetic is the fifteenth full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released on July 9, 2013. It was well received both by critics and fans and charted in German and US charts. Critics commented on the band's return to a purely electronic approach and on the dubstep influence on the album. Front Line Assembly toured extensively in Europe and North America in support of this album and remix follow-up Echoes, which included a tour with vocalist and band leader Bill Leeb's former band Skinny Puppy. This was the last studio album to feature Jeremy Inkel before his death in 2018.
Reclamation is a compilation album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1997. It was re-released on July 30, 2007 through Polish label Metal Mind.
Monument is a compilation album by Canadian industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1998. It was re-released on July 30, 2007 through Polish label Metal Mind. The track "Monument" appeared in its original version on the 1993 album Phaze Two of Bill Leebs and Rhys Fulbers side project Intermix. The booklet of the 2007 re-release contains an outline of the band history.
WarMech is a video game soundtrack album by Vancouver-based electro-industrial band Front Line Assembly. The album was released through Artoffact Records on June 22, 2018 as the soundtrack to Carbon Games' AirMech Wastelands, a sequel to the 2012 video game AirMech that also featured a soundtrack by Front Line Assembly. WarMech features Jeremy Inkel's final recordings, as he died on January 13, 2018.
Wake Up the Coma is the sixteenth full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly. It was released on February 8, 2019 on CD, vinyl and digitally through Metropolis.
Mechanical Soul is the seventeenth full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly. It was released on January 15, 2021 on CD, vinyl and digitally through Metropolis. It features Jean-Luc de Meyer from Belgian EBM group Front 242 and Dino Cazares from American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It contains a remix of the track "Hatevol" from the predecessor album Wake Up the Coma.
