FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY Vinyl & CDs

Review:  But back in the early 1990s, it was feasible that neural implants could remain a lofty form of spycraft forever. Front Line Assembly's 'Tactical Neural Assembly' is built thematically on the excitement of that assumption; it's an album of blistering electro-industrial music, drawing heavily on the Mute-Factory-4AD tradition while appropriating contemporary acts like Nine Inch Nails - and with arguably even better mixing. Eight absolute units from 'Mindphaser' to 'Gun' raise sonic hell, and all cement the industrial as a formidable and well-defined genre.

Review: Legends of EBM, Canadian electro-industrialists Front Line Assembly should need no introductions, given their work stretches back to the mid-1980s. Nevertheless, they occupy a relatively obscure space - made for dance floors, but twisted, dark cornered, writhing, distorted dance floors where many fear to tread. With that in mind there will be some newcomers, and The Initial Command is a great starting point because it's the starting point of the band's back catalogue.

Originally released in 1987, this is the first album from an impressive 17-LP-strong body of work. And it's also the most definitive of their sonic style, setting a benchmark for all that would follow. Fiercely original, not least for 'it's time', from the glittering synths and harsh metallic percussion of the unarguably cinematic 'Casualties' and the abrasive white noise on 'Ausgang Zum Himmel', to the punchy breaks and dramatic strings of 'No Control', re-releasing Command is an essential act of unearthing.