Frontline Assembly: The Initial Command (a review)

I will never forget my « initial » introduction to F.L.A.; my best friend at the time came back from Dutchy’s record store (R.I.P.; was an underground institution in Montreal, semi-similarly as Bunker records) and being a “rental” member (one could rent out records and tapes for a week’s time) came back with this LP, after we had both stumbled upon “No Control” from an underground radio show at the time.

We both were stunned at this “new sound” we hadn’t been exposed to. We thought Skinny Puppy and Front 242 were “the sh*t” in terms of cold industrial music (we were still novices back in those days), and weren’t ready for this record, which to this day remains a testament to this period in time. Never before had we heard so coldly calculated machinic maddening repetition with such a drive and fervor; this was the purest form of “industrial” (or so we thought) - music seemingly designed to induce unease and a perpetual sence of anxiousness and dread. And even today, whenever I re-visit this album, an uncanny sensation of stress envelops me, reminding me of those early days of pre-dancefloor EBM assault.

“The Initial Command” is a serious must listen to any fan of the band, at the very least to hear where they came from. With “Total Terror 1 + 2” readily available, we can more easily hear the genesis of the post-Puppy Leeb, and even elements from those archival collections can be heard on this album. Although the general sound of F.L.A. would slowly mutate with each subsequent album released afterwards, it is still important to understand where they came from and the other directions the project itself could have explored instead of what they chose to focus on.

Not for everyone as this early entry in the band’s repertoire may be misunderstood as a necessary birth pain, to some of us it remains, alongside the follow-up “State Of Mind”, one of the most representative acheivements of a band just starting off on their long journey. I personnaly recommend it hands down and would still consider this a great industrial album from start to finish.