Mechanical Soul

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.[1] 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.

Mechanical Soul
Studio album by Front Line Assembly
Released	January 15, 2021[1]
Studio	The Green Jacket, Osoyoos Strait Sound, Roberts Creek, British Columbia
Genre	Electro-industrial[2]
Length	57:43
Label	Metropolis
Producer	Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber
Front Line Assembly chronology
Wake Up the Coma (2019) Mechanical Soul (2021)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Altvenger	Favorable[3]
Backseat Mafia	7/10[4]
The Electricity Club	Favorable[5]
The Midlands Rocks	Favorable[6]
Reflections of Darkness	9/10[7]
ReGen	Mixed[8]
Release	7/10[9]
The Spill	8/10[2]
Sputnikmusic	[10]

Production

The song "Stifle" features guitars by Dino Cazares from American industrial metal band Fear Factory. The collaboration came about through Fulbers close ties with Fear Factory, as he said to ReGen Magazine: "After Bill did the vocal for 'Stifle', he thought the feel of the song would benefit from some heavy guitar accents, so I just said, 'I will ask Dino.' One call, done deal."[11] Also, the song was proposed to be on the soundtrack for the video game Cyberpunk 2077, for which Rhys Fulber had composed several tracks, but ultimately was rejected.[12] The track "Barbarians" with vocals by Jean-Luc de Meyer from Belgian EBM group Front 242 is a rework of the song "Future Fail" from Front Line Assembly's 2006 album Artificial Soldier. According to Fulber, vocalist Bill Leeb felt that the old song "wasn't really highlighting Jean-Luc's vocals" and suggested "to come up with a different take". Leeb wanted "something [...] slower and more epic".[12] The remix of "Hatevol" under the moniker of producer Bryan Black's Techno project Black Asteroid was originally intended for a prior release, said Fulber: "We asked Bryan to do a remix earlier and we were going to release a single with the remix and a new song, but decided to just wait for the next album and add it on there. As the album came together, the remix wasn’t as stylistically different as before, so we thought it would be a nice contrast."[11]

Release

On December 9, 2020, Metropolis made the track "Unknown" available to the public via SoundCloud.[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Purge"	5:23
2.	"Glass and Leather"	6:03
3.	"Unknown"	5:06
4.	"New World"	5:07
5.	"Rubber Tube Gag"	4:44
6.	"Stifle"	4:15
7.	"Alone"	5:31
8.	"Barbarians"	4:39
9.	"Komm, stirbt mit mir"	5:38
10.	"Time Lapse"	3:33
11.	"Hatevol" (Black Asteroid Mix)	7:44

Personnel

Front Line Assembly

• Bill Leeb – vocals, electronic instruments, production
• Rhys Fulber – electronic instruments, production, mixing (1, 2, 4–10), vocal recording (3), programming

Additional musicians

• Bryan Black – remixing (11), additional production (11)
• Jean-Luc de Meyer – vocals (8)
• Dino Cazares – guitar (6)

Technical personnel

• Greg Reely – mixing (3), vocal recording (1, 2, 4–10), mastering
• Chris Liebing – mixing (11)
• Damien Rainaud – guitar recording (6)
• Jeff Swearengin – additional sound design
• Dave McKean – design, illustration

References

1. Carlsson, Johan (October 21, 2020). "New FLA album with guests from F242 and Fear Factory". Release Magazine. Gothenburg: Release Musik & Media. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
2. Whitman, Trista. "Spill Album Review: Front Line Assembly – Mechanical Soul". The Spill. Toronto. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
3. Buljeta, Marija (January 14, 2021). "Front Line Assembly "Mechanical Soul" – album review". Altvenger. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
4. Jackson, Benjii (January 14, 2021). "Album Review – Front Line Assembly – Mechanical Soul". Backseat Mafia. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
5. Boddy, Paul (January 15, 2021). "Front Line Assembly Mechanical Soul". The Electricity Club. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
6. Cordwell, Gary (January 14, 2021). "Front Line Assembly – Mechanical Soul". The Midlands Rocks. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
7. van Vegas, Eli (December 29, 2020). "CD Review: Front Line Assembly - Mechanical Soul". Reflections of Darkness. Münster. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
8. Yücel, Ilker (January 20, 2021). "ReView: Front Line Assembly – Mechanical Soul". ReGen Magazine. Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
9. Carlsson, Johan (January 15, 2021). "Front Line Assembly: Mechanical Soul". Release Magazine. Gothenburg: Release Musik & Media. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
10. Stanciu, Raul (January 16, 2021). "Review: Front Line Assembly - Mechanical Soul". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
11. Fulber, Rhys (January 20, 2021). "InterView: Front Line Assembly – Soul of the Machine". ReGen Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Ilker Yücel. Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
12. Fulber, Rhys (January 15, 2021). "Sci-Fi Lore Turned Reality: An Interview with Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly". Post-Punk.com (Interview). Interviewed by Andi Harriman. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
13. Carlsson, Johan (December 9, 2020). "Listen to the first track from the upcoming FLA album". Release Magazine. Gothenburg: Release Musik & Media. Retrieved December 11, 2020.