Customer Reviews

Everything Must Perish

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If there was one word to discribe what I found on this album it would be "Why." Where has Bill Leeb been with this? I am wondering if "Providence" could be some sort of a prelude to one of his best works yet, perhaps a rebirth in not Delerium per se, but rather in the side-project Intermix. If Bill Leeb ever decided to create an new Intermix album with songs like "Providence" and "Terra Firma / Delerium" then that would be an album I would never stop listening to. I heard that he was working on side projects along with working on "Chimera," perhaps my wish may become reality.

"Everything Must Perish" is a marvelous dance song. First off, I am not a fan of Frontline Assembly. But I am a big fan of most other Leeb/Fulber/Peterson projects (especially Delerium). I sampled the single in a used music store (yes, the cd was already being sold as used), and I loved it. It was much more upbeat and catchier than previous Frontline Assembly stuff, and the vocals were actually well-sung vocals; not distorted try-to-be-evil growls. And the bonus track "Providence": incredible! It does sound like it would belong more on a Delerium album, but the beats are a little more intense and the sound is just a little darker. I got the impression from the single that FLA had changed (and improved) their sound with the new album. I happened to stumble upon "Epitaph" today at Best Buy (three days before it's supposed to be released), so I bought it, excited for more of this new sound. Unfortunately, all tracks besides "Everything Must Perish" are more of the same old stuff. The vocals are just growls and the overall sound is the typical ridiculously dark stuff. Being a huge fan of Delerium, the darkness now seems quite fake coming from Leeb and the gang. Or maybe the lightness of Delerium is fake, but I am biased as a Delerium fan. To give the rest of "Epitaph" some credit, though, the music is pretty cool. I really do like all of Leeb and company's music (at least the stuff from Delerium's "Semantic Spaces" on); FLA is just brought down by the vocals in my opinion. So anyway, the single is definitely worth getting for both "Everything Must Perish" and "Providence." Both are the best songs FLA have ever come up with. But if you're not a fan of FLA's old dark stuff that sounds like good background music while reading the Necrinomicon, skip "Epitaph."

'Providence' is a typical later Delerium song, which is: angelic female voices, more danceable than before, soft beats... I didn't like 'Poem', so I'm not very reliable as a critic for those who like this Delerium. I'm not against it, but I loved the early Delerium, actually.

But here comes the real FLA song, 'Everything Must Perish': I must admit that, even though I really like FLA, I stmes think that a bit more melody wouldn't be out of place. That's why my favourite songs from previous albums were 'Threshold', 'Lifeline', 'Infra-Red Combat', 'This Faith'...
And that's why 'Implode' is my favourite FLA album: songs like 'Falling', 'Prophecy', 'Unknown Dreams', 'Silent Ceremony'... were prettier than ever.
And so I love 'Everything Must Perish': It is more danceable that 'Unknown Dreams', for example, but the chorus is as catchy, you can actually sing it with pleasure, you can understand exactly what Leeb's undistorted voice says: he even chooses to whisper or sing beautifully depending on the moment: his voice transmits many more nuances than he did on albums like 'Millenium' or 'Hard Wired', for example. I like some distortions, but his voice is more beautiful than expected...
So I can't take the chorus of this song out of my head since I listened to it for the first time.
And from what I've listened so far from 'Epitaph' the album, we can expect more of this, and also more agressive and danceable songs...

It seems Leeb & Peterson follow the path started by 'Implode': to merge aspects from other side-proects into FLA: so FLA's spectrum is richer and wider than ever. And I welcome that.

So 3 stars for 'Providence', 5 stars for 'Everything Must Perish'

"Everything Must Perish" is a marvelous dance song. First off, I am not a fan of Frontline Assembly. But I am a big fan of most other Leeb/Fulber/Peterson projects (especially Delerium). I sampled the single in a used music store (yes, the cd was already being sold as used), and I loved it. It was much more upbeat and catchier than previous Frontline Assembly stuff, and the vocals were actually well-sung vocals; not distorted try-to-be-evil growls. And the bonus track "Providence": incredible! It does sound like it would belong more on a Delerium album, but the beats are a little more intense and the sound is just a little darker. I got the impression from the single that FLA had changed (and improved) their sound with the new album. I happened to stumble upon "Epitaph" today at (local store), so I bought it, excited for more of this new sound. Unfortunately, all tracks besides "Everything Must Perish" are more of the same old stuff. The vocals are just growls and the overall sound is the typical ridiculously dark stuff. Being a huge fan of Delerium, the darkness now seems quite fake coming from Leeb and the gang. Or maybe the lightness of Delerium is fake, but I am biased as a Delerium fan. To give the rest of "Epitaph" some credit, though, the music is pretty cool. I really do like all of Leeb and company's music (at least the stuff from Delerium's "Semantic Spaces" on); FLA is just brought down by the vocals in my opinion. So anyway, the single is definitely worth getting for both "Everything Must Perish" and "Providence." Both are the best songs FLA have ever come up with. But if you're not a fan of FLA's old dark stuff that sounds like good background music while reading the Necrinomicon, skip "Epitaph."

This is by far my favorite FLA single. Not because of `Everything must parish'. I like that song, but it's not one of their best in my opinion.

I absolutely love this single because of the last track, `Providence'. Holy cow! That song blows my mind. It's up there with my favorite songs of all time.

There is amazing layering of operatic singing by Jennifer McLaren. She is quite a consummate singer. Then there is the music, which I think is some of Bill Leeb's more powerful instrumentation scores since Hard Wired.

It sounds very much like something that should be on a Delerium album. Now, I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of the newer Delerium stuff. I'm more of an old school Delerium fan. I think they peaked at Semantic Spaces and went down hill (for me) after that. This reminds me more of Semantic Spaces type stuff. I would like to see Delerium come back to this kind of stuff. This has more feeling where as (in my humble opinion) the newer Delerium stuff is more mainstream and safe.

As cited by other writers, the song "Providence" is an extraordinary gem which seems out of place as a FLA B-side for two reasons. Number one, it's much too good to be a B-side. Number two, it sounds much more like Delerium than FLA. (due, in no small part, to the voice) It is rather a shame it was released as a B-side - I think it would have fit perfectly on Poem. Instead, it will live in obscurity as an unnoticed FLA B-side. Reasoning aside, "Providence" is an excellent B-side and this single is worth buying if only for this one song.

i now have two FLA songs on my desert island disc: plasticity and everything must perish. this is a fantastic song. it has beat, good bass, and poetry instead of growls. it's so good i bought the single even after i'd gotten the mp3s.

Nothing new, even sounds more like Implode.
But very listeneable, great electronic music,
I'm very happy with this release.
Not too many groups that make presently such sort of music.
I agree that according to the contents that might be
the very last work of FLA.

I have been in the front seat for the war that FLA has taken me through the last 13 years or so. This song by the sound and lyrics makes it seem the war is over, the aggressivness and fighting spirit seem to be gone and now the end result is realized. For some reason I suspect this album may be it for FLA. For the single, it is quite good, but not as complex as their past singles and by this I don't think it will hold the test of time as well, as it won't take long to grow weary of it. But while its fresh it is at the top of my playing list. A bit gloomier and darker FLA and yes more dancy, but who wants to dance to lyrics such as these?

While I enjoy the song "Everything Must Perish" (a natural progression from "Implode" - nothing too terribly different), I absolutely love the B-side track, "Providence". I'd describe it as a Delerium song with a stronger beat. It has soaring, haunting female vocals (courtesy of Jennifer McLaren) layered on top of the deep bass beats that FLA is so good at. It clocks in at over 9 minutes, but I love every minute of it. I'd really like to see Delerium go in more of this direction. I liked "Poem", but it was a bit of a letdown after "Karma". If you like "Implode", get it for "Everything Must Perish". If you like Delerium, get it for "Providence". If you like both, well then you can't lose.