''Caustic Grip'' is the fifth full-length studio album by

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...

, originally released on Third Mind Records in Europe and on WaxTrax! Records in the United States in 1990.

Background

The album was the first without co-founding member Michael Balch after

Rhys Fulber Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He is a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium, along with Bill Leeb. He also records under his own name and under the name Conjure One. Biography Rhys Fulber was born in ...

became a full-time member of the band. Originally intended to record the successor to '' Gashed Senses & Crossfire'' together with Leeb, Balch took on tour obligations for

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

and

Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry. History 1984: Origin ...

. Leeb decided not to wait and started working with Fulber. Fulber had already worked with Leeb on the ''

Nerve War ''Nerve War'' is the first release by the Canadian band Front Line Assembly (known as Frontline Assembly at the time). Having a limited cassette release (between 50 and 100) in 1986, it remains the most sought-after release from Bill Leeb and co ...

'' demo and taken part in the ''Gashed Senses & Crossfire'' tour. ''Caustic Grip'' also marked the beginning of the long-standing collaboration with Canadian

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Greg Reely Greg Reely is a Canadian record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with acts such as Sarah McLachlan, Front Line Assembly, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Coldplay, The Tea Party, Spirit of the West and others. Credits *BAG - ''BAG'', ''I ...

who assumed mixing duties on the album. The recording was funded with a budget of $20,000 by Third Mind's Gary Levermore.

Release

The album was reissued by Roadrunner in 1992 and in 2003 as part of a two-disc set that also includes the Gashed Senses & Crossfire album. Up until the year 1994, when Roadrunner acquired the rights to all Third Mind releases, ''Caustic Grip'' sold about 70,000 units. In October 2019, Canadian label Artoffact started a crowdfunding campaign in order to obtain the album licenses and to re-release the album on vinyl on May 4, 2020.

Singles

"Iceolate" is the first single taken from ''Caustic Grip''. The single was released on August 6, 1990 through Third Mind in Europe and in the United States via

Wax Trax! Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that ...

. Along with the original version of the title track the single contains CD-only track "Mental Distortion" and on the CD single a remix of "Iceolate". A promotional music video for "Iceolate" was created and received airplay on MTV. The track also was ranked 85 in the COMA Music Magazine feature ''101 Greatest Industrial Songs of All Time''. The second single from the album was "Provision". It contains the original version of the title track as well as a remix of album track "Overkill". Music magazine

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

made both album singles ''single of the week'' in 1990. The following single, "Virus", features a non-album track of the same name and was released on February 21, 1991 through Third Mind for Europe and by Wax Trax in the United States. It was created during the sessions for ''Caustic Grip''. The different release formats include tracks also appearing on the album – "Provision", "Iceolate" and "Mental Distortion" – as well as remixes of "Virus", "Resist" and "Overkill". All singles, together with the "

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" single, were re-released in 1998 on the compilation album ''The Singles: Four Fit'' through Zoth Ommog.

Reception

The single "Virus" was well received in

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's single reviews: "Cream of the industrial crop threatens to shatter club walls with ear-blasting sonic rave."

Track listing

Personnel

Front Line Assembly

* Bill Leeb – vocals *

Additional musicians

* Jeff Stoddard – guitar (5)

Technical personnel

– mixing * Ken Marshall * Steve Royea * Christian Mumenthaler – computer images * Sleeping Partner – design

References

{{Authority control Front Line Assembly albums 1990 albums Roadrunner Records albums Wax Trax! Records albums Third Mind Records albums Albums produced by Rhys Fulber