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CIVILIZATION
(Metropolis)
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Atmospheric but not excessively, arty but not bombastic, vocally pensive but not at all campy, Front Line Assembly’s new CD elicits trust, not laughter. Not that the group’s observations about "civilization" achieve much profundity; only in "Dissident" — an unusually thoughtful look at the personal and thoughtful consequences of dissidence — do their analyses probe deeper than the snapshot anti-nuclear-isms common among European comment bands. Still, the evocative rhythms — in every song — move one’s body while illustrating the lyric content, which is exactly how dance music ought to work. The atmospherics of "Maniacal," "Psychosomatic," "Transmitted," and especially "Schicksal" just about quote those of the first (and catchiest) Enigma CD; but as Enigma move farther and farther away from the uninhibiting mediævalism of that session, FLA’s version will certainly be welcomed. Welcome, too, is an uncredited tenth track, the CD’s best, an icy dreamscape ballad that in mid song shifts tempo to dark electronic rhythms and spacy German-language lyrics, jazzy and fast and even dissident.
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