REVIEWS > REPLICATE 01

Industrial Nation Review (US)

What a nice surprise! As Front Line Assembly's "final" album hits the shelves, we are also treated to this celebratory mid-price debut from MOMT Records, a collection of online reinterpretations that absolutely belongs in your collection. While most of the artists are new, many are also quite noteworthy, frequently offering bold visions of the FLA back catalogue rather than copycat cover versions. Instruments, vocals, even tempos change along the way.

At first, the new versions are jarring; as Such's version of "Fatalist" opens the album, we realize that we've never heard these lyrics without vocal distortion! G-Gap follows with an extremely credible, percussive version of "Search and Destroy".

Next up, C8K make the bold choice to cover "Infra Red Combat," a moody, complex piece that grows as it develops. Of all the album's songs, this one sticks closest to the original. Mantizza's "Everything Must Perish" brings out the sadness in the track, burying whispered vocals under sharp, clear piano strikes before descending into fuzzy synthetic washes of sound. 

21st Century Jesus tackled "Haloed XP," adding samples and a Downloadish vocal. "Solitude of Confinement" is covered by K-Nitrate, who retains a sense of FLA's quick-pulse percussion, staying true to the original. "Collapsed" appears here in a version by Pain Machinery, who duplicates FLA's best aspect, the layering of sounds for a cumulative effect. The anger of "Mental Distortion" is well captured by Maskfoder featuring Anticbotitic [sic], and Scribe Machine adds inflection to "Threshold".

Thoughtcrime brings us a sensitive, pensive rendering of "Digital Tension Dementia," and Mark R closes the album with the dramatic, immensely satisfying "Outcast."

Overall, Replicate01 is a testimony to FLA's enduring impact and influence. Extra credit to all the artists involved for avoiding the obvious covers. 

Terrorverlag Review (Translated from the Original German)

Tribute CDs shall dignify outstanding bands. FLA were one of the pioneers of EBM, thus one may dedicate a tribute. The problem you have with such a CD as a fan is that you expect certain songs. So I was quite disappointed that I found only two of my favourite tracks with "Threshold" and "Mental Distortion". Somehow I had expected or hoped for hits like "Gun", "Circuitry" or an ingenious sound construct as "Sex Offender.

The CD consists of 11 tracks, one of them by the side project NOISE UNIT. The selection of songs I find felicitous temporally, all periods of FLA's work have been kept in mind. The songs seem to be chosen with care and good acquaintance. 8 of 10 points here for.

As for the versions:

Here you can recognise the general weak point of tribute compilations. Most of the time it isn't top acts, which contribute interpretations, but more the second and third league. Apart from K-Nitrate and The Pain Machinery I have never heard of the artists before. I would call most of the single tracks felicitous. Outstanding for me is "Threshold", which is geared strongly to the sound structures of the original, so that it is reflecting the melodic aspect of the song very well, as well as "Outcast" and "infra Red Combat", which almost without difficulty reach the technical playfulness and finesse of their paragons.

Absolutely off-key IMO is the track "Mental Distortion", a hard-edged stomper in the original, which makes your stomach vibrate, but here it is mutilated by totally misplaced Tekkno elements and disrupted vocal parts. The rest are decent electro songs, which have built in single elements of the original versions, but which do not mirror the character of the single songs. Altogether (because of "Threshold", "Outcast" and "Infra Red Combat"): 7 out of 10 points. A must for the die-hard fan! 

Sonic Seducer Review (Translated from the original German)

Tribute CD's are either loved or hated. It's a question of point of view and tolerance. You may consider them as not a must-buy. But often you can miss something really interesting. And you'd miss something with this Front Line Assembly homage, if you don't give this a listen. The 11 different electro acts participated here, are all not well known; but you'd rather take unknown bands that are good, than known bands that are not really good and this is the case with Replicate 01. The participating acts might not have access to million-costing studios, as FLA surely does, but this compilation truly makes for fun! Among the covered tracks are such as Fatalist, Collapsed, Search and Destroy, Mental Distortion and Threshold... The whole is rounded up with FLA-typical artwork. A coupling that will pay out for the FLA fan.

Gothtronic Review (Holland)

Extraordinary bands and bands with a long history of records can very well expect a tribute CD to be released at some point. Sometimes they are bad and sometimes they are very good. This one is very good as the unknown bands and projects deliver good and quite different versions of the original Front Line Assembly tracks. ‘Fatalist' interpreted by Such has a trip hop feel and contains clean vocals. The Dutch G-Gap project knows how to convince even more with a really good version of ‘Search and Destroy'. C8K delivers an atmospheric yet heavy pounding industrial version of ‘Infra Red Combat' with which the original version of the track is clearly recognizable. Mantizza's ‘Everything Must Perish' is a quiet interpretation that sounds a bit directionless.

21st Century Jesus covers ‘Haloed XP' and does this really well, this song really gets going. K-Nitrate delivers a straight-ahead EBM techno track with their version of ‘Solitude of Confinement'. The Pain Machinery delivers a really strong and well-crafted version of ‘Collapsed'. In this version the original is recognizable too. Maskfoder feat. Antibiotic delivers a smashing cover version with ‘Mental Distortion'. Scribe Machine goes even further as they deliver the best Front line Assembly cover version of ‘Threshold'. Thought Crime and Mark R. close this tribute CD with mediocre versions of ‘Digital Tension Dementia' and ‘Outcast'. (7.5)

Gothic Review (USA)

The artists compiled on this album are new - perhaps even unknown, too many, but offer up a varied and careful selection of Front Line Assembly covers. These may be fairly obscure artists, but their versions are as professional as anything you'd hear on most compilation or tribute CDs and if there's nothing too surprising here they do take some interesting perspectives on the material.

As with any tribute CDs it helps to be familiar with the source material, but you could probably stumble onto an album like this without any prior knowledge of FLA and just take it as a sampling of artists that share a common influence. 

The artists don't stray more than a step or two away from the FLA style but range from a very techno/dance and pop take on it, to the more experimental, complex and intricate machinations of harder industrial.  The first track, by Such, is a little reminiscent of something like NIN, while K-Nitrate's version of "Solitude of Confinement" provides a very basic electro-techno dance cover.  On the other hand, the cover of "Threshold" is a very by-the-book basic industrial track, almost unadorned in its simplicity, and probably the most lo-fi of the tracks here.   

The ambitious cover of "Infra Red Combat" is noteworthy for its complexity and attention to detail, wandering into slightly experimental territory.  On another noteworthy track, Maskfoder featuring Anticbiotic snarl and rasp through a cover of "Mental Distortion" peppered with a breakbeat and a complex palette of digital sounds, from deeply distorted to shimmering in tone. 

The version presented here of "Digital Tension Dementia" meanders through ambience and experimentation but stays on track for the most past - a nice rendition, somewhat meditative and trancelike.

"Outcast" completes the collection with an involving instrumental piece, a dramatic starscape of astral sounds overlapping a complex digital patchwork.

Not being a huge FLA fan this is still an enjoyable survey of the band's music through the ears of musicians recording many years later.  Devotees of their music would certainly be interested in hearing these interpretations.