Total Terror
Total Terror is the second of two self-released cassette tapes by industrial music band Front Line Assembly. At this point, Bill Leeb was the band's only dedicated member, with some help from Rhys Fulber.[3] It was mostly remastered and rereleased on CD in 1993 as Total Terror I, and followed up by a companion collection of same-period demos, Total Terror II, a year later. These have been collected into Complete Total Terror. One track, "Eternal", from the original cassette remains un-rereleased.
| Total Terror | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Demo album by | ||||
| Released | 1986 (remastered 1993) | |||
| Recorded | Gotham Studios (Rerelease 1993) | |||
| Genre | Electro-industrial[1] | |||
| Label | Self-release, Dossier / Cleopatra Records (Rerelease) | |||
| Front Line Assembly chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic (Total Terror, Pt. 1) |    [2] |
| AllMusic (Complete Total Terror) | [1] |
In Germany both CDs were released 1993 by now defunct label Dossier.
Original cassette track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Total Terror" | 6:32 |
| 2. | "A Decade" | 5:00 |
| 3. | "Rebels In Afghanistan" | 5:15 |
| 4. | "Eternal" | 3:41 |
| 5. | "Developing Suicide" | 4:43 |
| 6. | "Black Fluid" | 2:57 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Falling There" | 4:26 |
| 2. | "All You Do" | 4:16 |
| 3. | "Seeing Is Believing" | 4:32 |
| 4. | "Empty Walls" | 4:44 |
| 5. | "Enemy Number One" | 4:13 |
| 6. | "On the Cross" | 5:53 |
Total Terror I
Most of the original cassette was later remastered and commercially released on CD in 1993 as Total Terror I (fully titled Total Terror Part I: Official Demos 1986) on Cleopatra Records and Dossier. It does not include "Eternal", which remains unreleased on CD or vinyl, but added three previously-unreleased bonus tracks from other sessions in 1986: "Freedom", "Distorted Vision" and "Cleanser".
The German release gave some explanations about the production and the reason for the release on the back cover:[4]
All the songs on this CD are the first ever recordings by Frontline Assembly. Original recordings were constructed in 1986, on nothing more than an eight track recording system. This is quite primitive by today's standards. The sound quality will not be as effective as our new recordings. However, the ideas are all there. We have decided to release Total Terror (unavailable release since 1986) due to popular demand, and to stop the bootlegging of Total Terror which we do not approve of. All of the songs have been re-mixed plus a few other songs which have never been released.
— Front Line Assembly, Total Terror I, media notes, back cover
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Total Terror" | 6:25 |
| 2. | "A Decade" | 5:01 |
| 3. | "Rebels In Afghanistan" | 5:14 |
| 4. | "Developing Suicide" | 4:42 |
| 5. | "Black Fluid" | 5:35 |
| 6. | "Falling There" | 4:28 |
| 7. | "All You Do" | 4:22 |
| 8. | "Seeing Is Believing" | 4:34 |
| 9. | "Empty Walls" | 4:45 |
| 10. | "Enemy Number One" | 4:20 |
| 11. | "On The Cross" | 5:52 |
| 12. | "Freedom" | 5:46 |
| 13. | "Distorted Vision" | 5:45 |
| 14. | "Cleanser" | 2:18 |
| Total length: | 1.1 hours | |
Total Terror II
Total Terror II, a collection of 1986–1987 remastered Front Line Assembly demos, was released on Cleopatra Records in 1994, fulfilling the promise latent in the title of the previous year's Total Terror I. It included 13 previously-unreleased tracks:
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Assassination" | 5:57 |
| 2. | "Intensive Care Unit" | 5:05 |
| 3. | "Immobilized" | 4:11 |
| 4. | "They're Going to Kill Us" (Misspelled "There" on some versions) | 5:52 |
| 5. | "Stimulant Combat" | 6:10 |
| 6. | "Hatred by Society" | 4:11 |
| 7. | "Intruder" | 5:25 |
| 8. | "Facepuller" | 7:03 |
| 9. | "A.E.C. Krunch" | 6:22 |
| 10. | "Cro-Magnon" | 6:17 |
| 11. | "Guilty" | 2:24 |
| 12. | "Attack Decay" | 3:59 |
| 13. | "The Boneing" | 5:25 |
| Total length: | 1.2 hours | |
Complete Total Terror
Total Terror I and Total Terror II were combined and re-reissued in a two-CD package, with new cover art, called Complete Total Terror in 2004 on Cleopatra. Despite its name, it does not include the long-missing "Eternal", which remains unreleased on CD as of April 2012.
Personnel
- Bill Leeb – remixing (Rerelease 1993), vocals
- Rhys Fulber – remixing (Rerelease 1993)
References
- Jeffries, David. Front Line Assembly: Complete Total Terror > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
- Front Line Assembly: Total Terror, Pt. 1 > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
- Leeb, Bill (August 1992). "Front Line Assembly". Antocularis (Interview). Interviewed by A.C. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
- Total Terror I (Media notes). Front Line Assembly. Berlin: Dossier. 1993. p. Back cover.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)