How fortunate are we to live in a world where an artist like Bill Leeb is constantly creating? The last year or so alone has brought new tours, albums, and remixes from longtime Leeb projects like Front Line Assembly, Cyberaktif, and Noise Unit and if that wasn’t enough now fans are getting a proper debut solo album from the Industrial/Electro icon.
And sure, any solo album from an established singer/vocalist is sure to generate the obvious comparisons but somehow Leeb manages to steer Model Kollapse in a completely different direction. So does that mean it’s not in the Industrial/Electro realm??? Hell no! We just mean that in true chameleon-like fashion Leeb has somehow managed to subvert expectations while embracing all that’s come before to concoct this fully rounded and different sounding monster alongside Dream Bullet with some additional help from familiar faces Greg Reely and Rhys Fulber.
“Demons” is kind of a mission statement with Leeb crying “I’m Still Alive” out through an electronic haze as this burgeoning banger starts the Kollapse with that familiar voice surrounded by some unfamiliar sounds that still end up like the equivalent of a sonic comfort blanket. “Exotic Manner” keeps the ball rolling to maximize momentum on this beats heavy beauty and the hits, as they say, just keep coming as “Neuromotive” comes correct amidst a spiraling Electro bounce and Leeb’s pitch perfect German verses.
“Folded Hands” is a luminescent militaristic stomp with “Pinned Down” spilling out of all that for a neat amalgamation of the more guitar-driven projects that Leeb has been apart of yet somehow sounds fresher with a futuristic aesthetic (For an almost updated Millennium-like sound) on this ultimate brevity bringer featuring another hypnotic chorus. Lead single “Terror Forms” sounds positively incendiary within Model Kollapse with ACTORS’ Shannon Hemmett the perfect ethereal foil to Leeb’s biting barbs while “Muted Obsessions” (Featuring the whole of ACTORS) starts with a subdued stomp before opening wide for a glistening Groove-laden modern Electro anthem from one of the absolute legends in the game.
“Simulation” aggressively pulsates while an orchestral synthetic noise envelopes all, “Infernum” is a dark banger fit for the Man Ray of old (Old New England goths will get this one), and then “Erosion Through Time” is the whole other side of that spectrum presenting an ethereal, almost haunting hymnal with Mimi Page accenting the overall aura.
Model Kollapse arrives through Metropolis Records on September 13th with pre-orders available now by heading here or here to pre-save on your favorite DSP’s. For more from Bill Leeb, follow the trail of socials across the interwebs by clicking here or here.