Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly, Delerium) & ACTORS’ Shannon Hemmett team up on ‘Terror Forms’, heralding Leeb’s debut solo effort
“Bill Leeb’s ‘Terror Forms’ is a frenzy-filled dose of sonic adrenaline that is infectious and, paradoxically, suitable for the dance floor. All the better due to the fact that this track also brings in tandem vocals by another brilliant Vancouver artist – namely Shannon Hemmett… Is dystopian bliss a thing? They could be on to something big here” ~ The Spill Magazine
“You are getting Leeb’s classic vocals and lyrics, and some FLA style programming, but with he guest turn from Shannon of Hemmett of ACTORS and LEATHERS, some of the specific textures and bits of production feel different from anything in recent memory from the venerable artist” ~ I Die: You Die
“Instantly recognizable, but “Terror Forms” still sounds like something unmistakably new… Shannon Hemmett adds an ethereal vocal presence to the sinister synthetic soundscape” ~ Rock and Roll Fables
Hard-edged electronic music maverick Bill Leeb has released ‘Terror Forms’, the first taste of his debut solo album ‘Model Kollapse’. Featuring Shannon Hemmett of Vancouver post-punk quartet ACTORS and also LEATHERS, thesingle explores the intricacies of artificial intelligence and the very survival of humanity itself.
Based in Vancouver, Bill Leeb is the mastermind behind highly influential electro-industrial scene mainstays Front Line Assembly and ambient-pop duo Delerium,
having gotten his start with Skinny Puppy (under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder). He is also a key member of other occasional recording projects, including Noise Unit, Intermix and Cyberaktif.
Almost four decades on, his new album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance from Vancouver/Toronto-based production duo Dream Bullet and long-term FLA/Delerium cohort Rhys Fulber, plus regular mixing engineer Greg Reely.
Forthcoming via US-based label Metropolis Records. Introducing this record, which reflects the dystopian, nihilistic world we have created in so many different ways, ultimately asking the question “When will the human voice be lost to AI and technology….or will that be what saves us in the end?”
Bill Leeb notes, “Metropolis Records have been and are one of the most important labels for alternative music on this planet and this album was made possible by my long-standing friendship with Dave Heckman (RIP), who continuously supported
us through the ages and gave us complete artistic freedom”. Tragically, Dave Heckman died in the summer of 2022.
‘Model Kollapse’ marks Leeb’s first solo venture since the mid-80s days of Front Line Assembly, when he used to make recordings in his bedroom and released them on limited edition cassette format. This album also involves contributions by LA-based artist Mimi Page, a long-term Delerium collaborator, and Jason Corbett of ACTORS and Jacknife Sound Studio. Caustic yet melodic, danceable and very much song-oriented rather than soundscape-driven, the ‘Model Kollapse’ album carries traces of hard-edged electronic dance music pioneers such as Front 242, DAF, KMFDM and Skinny Puppy, as well as his own oeuvre. However, it also displays the influence that acts like these had on latter day artists such as Gesaffelstein and ADULT, not to mention music that came to be known as darkwave.
The term “Model Collapse” refers to a phenomenon in artificial intelligence where trained models, especially those relying on synthetic data or AI-generated data, eventually degrade over time. Leeb posits the notion that “as we forge forward on
an unprecedented technological scale, it makes me wonder how much longer we can remain in control of various aspects of our lives. Automation has already taken over many industries. With technology running much of the world, will the entire planet eventually be vulnerable to a Model Kollapse? Chaos would surely ensue.”
Back in 1987, Leeb formed Delerium as a side project, exploring dark ethereal ambient trance, voiceless soundscapes and electronic pop music. Since their debut 1994 ‘Semantic Spaces’ album, Delerium has received two Juno awards and enjoyed many collaborations, involving with Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer), Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), Kirsty Hawkshaw (Opus III), Emily Haines (Metric), Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory), Matthew Sweet and Kristy Thirsk (Rose Chronicles). Their worldwide hit ‘Silence’ with Sarah McLachlan reached #1 in numerous countries, its remixes also hailed among the greatest trance songs of all time (the Tiësto remix was voted the 12th-greatest dance track of all time by Mixmag readers).
‘Terror Forms’ is out now everywhere digitally. On September 13, the full ‘Model Kollapse’ album will be released on vinyl and CD, as well as digitally.
CREDITS
Recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles and the Okanagan,
British Columbia
Written and produced by Bill Leeb and Dream Bullet
Additional production by Rhys Fulber
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Greg Reely
‘Terror Forms’ performed by Bill Leeb and Shannon Hemmett
‘Terror Forms’ video created by Tim Hill
Album artwork by Allen Jaeger
Released by Metropolis Records
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR
Artist photos by Bobby Talamine
ALBUM TRACK LIST
1 Demons
2 Exotic Matter
3 Neuromotive
4 Folded Hands
5 Pinned Down
6 Terror Forms
7 Muted Obsessions
8 Simulation
9 Infernum
10 Erosion Through Time
11 Sound Mirrors
Keep up with Bill Leeb
www.instagram.com/leebbill
https://www.facebook.com/bill.leeb.3
https://www.facebook.com/frontlineassembly
https://www.facebook.com/Delerium
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1165081291007981
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0kEvfoqW1Dngp5Dvbyz
