(FLA)vour of the Weak


vour of the Weak is the ninth full-length studio album by industrial music group Front Line Assembly, released in November 1997 by Off Beat.

Background

vour of the Weak is the first album of the band to feature Chris Peterson. Peterson had already toured with Front Line Assembly for Caustic Grip and Tactical Neural Implant but had never been part of the creative process. He also had teamed up with Rhys Fulber in the band Will before Fulber became official member of Front Line Assembly. After Fulber's departure band leader Bill Leeb asked Peterson to join Front Line Assembly.

Musical style

The style is a departure from previous releases in the FLA catalog, more of a "fashion-techno" sound "in the spirit of the electro scene" of the time: the group's beat-heavy signature began to take heavy cues from styles such as IDM and breakbeat.

Samples

"Sado-Masochist" uses samples of Eazy-E from an interview with hip hop group N.W.A while both "Comatose" and "Predator" as well as the B-side "Oblivion" contain samples from 1996 American horror film . Non-album track "Electrocution" from the Colombian Necktie single makes use of samples from Daft Punk's "Rollin' & Scratchin'" and from The Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin' Beats".

Release

The album was met with criticism and low sales based on its new musical direction. A support tour and promo video plans were buried, the band brought in Greg Reely to redo their own material, which led to the remix album "Re-Wind" 9 months later.
In 2015, the album saw a limited re-release on vinyl through Canadian label Artoffact.

Singles

vour of the Weak spawned two singles. The Colombian Necktie single contains an edit as well as a remix by Tim Schuldt of the title track. It also features two non-album tracks, "Deadlock" and "Electrocution". "Colombian Necktie" is accidentally written "Columbian Necktie" in the booklet, on the disc, and as fourth track on the back cover.
The second single Comatose contains the "Ketamin 45mg" and "Valium 15mg" mixes by the band themselves. A third version of the title track was remixed by Eat Static, who would deliver another, drastically different, remix of "Comatose" on "Re-Wind". The single also contains an exclusive mix of "Oblivion".
Most of the tracks from the singles were re-released in 1999 through Off Beat on the compilation album Explosion together with tracks from the Circuitry and Plasticity singles. This coincided with the release of Implode and the timing of the compilation's release displeased Bill Leeb.

Track listing

Personnel

Front Line Assembly

Comatose