Noise Unit is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

band, founded by

Bill Leeb Wilhelm Anton "Bill" Leeb (born 21 September 1966, in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian-Canadian electronic musician and record producer. He is best known for being a founding member of the industrial music group Front Line Assembly. Additional ...

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 ...

as a side project. The band has seen several changes in line-up, with Bill Leeb being the only permanent member.

History

Noise Unit's first album, ''Grinding into Emptiness'', arose from the collaboration between Leeb and Marc Verhaeghen of

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industrial band Klinik. It was released in 1989 through

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 ...

and Antler-Subway. The 1990 album ''Response Frequency'' included Rhys Fulber. After the completion of the album, Verhaeghen left Noise Unit for several years. Fulber remained with the band for the next three releases, including the contemporary techno album ''Decoder'' in 1995. Verhaeghen resumed his collaboration with ''Noise Unit'' for the 1996 album ''Drill'', which also featured members of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

industrial band

Haujobb Haujobb is a German electronic musical project whose output has ranged drastically within the electronic music spectrum, from electro-industrial to ambient and techno. They have become a staple crossover act, bringing several forms of electro ...

. After an eight-year hiatus, Leeb teamed with former Front Line Assembly member Chris Peterson in 2004 to release ''Voyeur'' in 2005. Jason Filipchuk and Michael Balch also contributed to the album. The album peaked at #4 on the German Alternative Charts (DAC) and ranked #26 on the DAC Top Albums of 2005. In 2016, Canadian label

Artoffact Artoffact Records is a Canadian/ Icelandic record label that concentrates on industrial, postpunk, heavy metal, and electronic music. The label was founded in 1999. History In 1997, Jacek Kozlowski laid the groundwork for Artoffact Records. ...

reissued the albums ''Grinding Into Emptiness'', ''Response Frequency'' and ''Drill'' on vinyl and CD.

''Deviator''

In May 2020, it was announced that Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb were working on a new Noise Unit album, the first in 15 years. On November 24, 2020 album title ''Deviator'' and cover were revealed. The cover art was created by

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...

. In May 2021,

scheduled the release date for September 17 the same year and made the second album track "Body Aktiv" available to the public via

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

. The album will contain ten tracks and feature

Raymond Watts Raymond Watts (also known by his former stage names Nainz, Nainz Watts and Ray Scaballero) is an English musician, the founding and sole member of the industrial music project PIG, sometimes written as <PIG>. Watts was an early member and p ...

on the track "Atrocity Obsession". In July 2021, Artoffact released a lyric video for this track on their YouTube channel.

''Cheeba City Blues''

In July 2022, Artoffact announced the release of a new Noise Unit album titled ''Cheeba City Blues'' for October 21, 2022. The announcement coincided with the release of the single ''Alone Again'', co-written by former member

Jeremy Inkel Jeremy Michel Neville Inkel (8 February 1983 – 11 January 2018) was a Canadian electronic musician based in Vancouver. He was best known as a keyboard player and programmer for Left Spine Down and electro-industrial band Front Line Assembly as ...

before his death in January 2018. One month later the band followed up with the release of the second single ''Dub it Up''.

Discography

Albums

* ''Grinding Into Emptiness'' (1989,

, Antler-Subway) * ''Response Frequency'' (1990, Antler-Subway) * ''Strategy of Violence'' (1992, Dossier,

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

) * ''Decoder'' (1995, Dossier,

) * ''Drill'' (1996, Off Beat,

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

) * ''Voyeur'' (2005, Metropolis) * ''Deviator'' (2021, Artoffact) * ''Cheeba City Blues'' (2022, Artoffact)

Singles

* "Deceit" / "Struktur" (1989, Wax Trax!, Antler-Subway) * "Agitate" / "In Vain" (1990, Antler-Subway)

References

{{Authority control Canadian industrial music groups Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups from Vancouver Wax Trax! Records artists Metropolis Records artists Off Beat label artists 1989 establishments in British Columbia