This is the album that marked a sea change for the untill now electronic industrial band Frontline assembly. The previous album Tactical neural implant had been heralded as an industrial classic, with it’s understated electro sound and subtle but sublime compositions. Millennium was a big departure from that sound. Here it is the metal guitar the plays the prominent role. Mostly sampled, some played by Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad fame but always thrashy and fast. Samples from Slayer, pantera and Sepultura enter the FLA sound. Although this album is very different from other FLA albums, it is still quite excellent. The first track Vigilante is based around samples from the film Falling down, and is fast paced and energetic. The title track has a more epic doomy like feel to it, again incorporating heavy thrashy guitars. The guitar samples are mosly distorted and looped giving them a very industrial sounding crunch. Liquid separation is not so good, the electronics are a bit boring. Search and destroy is the album highlight for me. It starts with ambient choral music sampled from from Alien 3. Before the bassline and syths kick in. The guitars are great in this track and the chorus is even better. Surface patterns is a bit horrific with slow stompy basslines and evil sounding choral samples. Next up is the rather out of place Victim of a criminal. An industrial rap song if you can imagine that. Guest vocals im glad to say, the music is good but it isn’t really FLA. Division of mind is a lot like liquid separation with samples from hell raiser but with boring electronics and a simple guitar loop. This faith is more like the FLA of old. Pounding beats, cold sounding electronics and a great chorus. No guitars on this track, and it helps. Plasma strings is very fast paced and hectic, very good song, breakneck speed with great samples and guitars. The final track is an instrumental, grinding guitars, police samples, atmospheres, good stuff an a good ending to a unique album for FLA.
