Artificial Soldier
Studio album by
Front Line Assembly
ReleasedJune 20, 2006 (2006-06-20)[1]
Recorded2006 (2006)
GenreIndustrial, electro-industrial, drum and bass
Length65:51
LabelMetropolis
ProducerBill Leeb, Rhys Fulber, Chris Peterson
Front Line Assembly chronology
Civilization
(2004)		 Artificial Soldier
(2006)		 Fallout
(2007)

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]

Release

In 2016, Canadian label Artoffact reissued the album on vinyl.[3]

Touring

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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Barcode3.9/10[13]
Chain D.L.K.[14]
The DoseFavorable[15]
Metal StormMixed[16]
ReGen[17]
Release6/10[18]
Side-Line9/10[19]
SLUGFavorable[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]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

Front Line Assembly

  • Bill Leeb – vocals (1–7, 10), keyboard (4, 5, 8–10)
  • Rhys Fulber – keyboard (1, 2, 6, 8, 10), additional programming (3), additional keyboard (3, 7)
  • Chris Peterson – programming (1–9), keyboard (1–9), additional programming (10)
  • Jeremy Inkel – programming (3, 5, 7, 9), keyboard (3, 5, 7, 9), additional programming (1, 4, 8), additional keyboard (1, 4, 8)

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2006) Peak position
US Top Electronic Albums (Billboard)[21] 19

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jeffries, David. Front Line Assembly: Artificial Soldier > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ Leeb, Bill (September 17, 2006). "Front Line Assembly – 'Full force ahead'". Side-Line (Interview). Interviewed by Bernard van Isacker. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  3. ↑ Van Isacker, Bernard (February 1, 2016). "Massive Front Line Assembly reissue campaign on vinyl (featuring bonus tracks) to celebrate the band's 30th year anniversary". Side-Line. Belgium. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ "History". Mindphaser.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Tours and Appearances". June 2006. Archived from the original on June 13, 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Tours and Appearances". July 2006. Archived from the original on July 2, 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Van Isacker, Bernard (February 26, 2007). "Front Line Assembly re-releases via Roadrunner Germany". Side-Line. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Van Isacker, Bernard (June 29, 2014). "Front Line Assembly unexpectedly breaks off US tour". Side-Line. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  9. ↑ Van Isacker, Bernard (September 17, 2006). "Front Line Assembly – "Full force ahead"". Side-Line. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Stromkern". Dependent. May 4, 2006. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Carlsson, Johan (June 10, 2006). "Bill Leeb - Still on the front line". Release Musik & Media. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Acucrack". Cracknation. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 "Front Line Assembly - Artificial Soldier". Barcode. June 1, 2006. Archived from the original on June 27, 2006. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  14. ↑ Tater, Marc (June 27, 2006). "Front Line Assembly: Artificial Soldier". Chain D.L.K. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  15. ↑ Szabó, Levente (April 2007). "Front Line Assembly - Artificial Soldier". The Dose. No. 2. Budapest: LD50. p. 42. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  16. ↑ Jupitreas (November 10, 2006). "Front Line Assembly - Artificial Soldier". Metal Storm. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  17. ↑ Johnson, Matthew (June 26, 2006). "Front Line Assembly: Artificial Soldier". ReGen. Beltsville, Maryland. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 Carlsson, Johan (June 10, 2006). "Front Line Assembly: Artificial Soldier". Release Musik & Media. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  19. ↑ McNeally, Vlad (September 19, 2006). "Front Line Assembly - Artificial Soldier". Side-Line. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  20. ↑ Scott, Lynne (June 2006). "Front Line Assembly: Artificial Soldier". SLUG. Vol. 17, no. 209. Salt Lake City, Utah: Eighteen Percent Gray. p. 15.
  21. ↑ "Top Electronic Albums". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 27. New York: VNU Business Publications. July 8, 2006. p. 63. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 4086332.
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