Electro-industrial music legend Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly, Delerium) has signed with Metropolis Records to release his debut solo album, Model Kollapse. The record, due on 13 September on vinyl, CD, and digitally, explores the intricacies of artificial intelligence and the very survival of humanity itself. The first single, "Terror Forms", will be released on 9 July.

Based in Vancouver, Bill Leeb is the mastermind behind electro-industrial scene mainstays Front Line Assembly and ambient-pop duo Delerium, having started with Skinny Puppy (under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder). He is also a key member of occasional recording projects, including Noise Unit, Intermix and Cyberaktif.

"We are proud to announce that Metropolis Records has signed Bill Leeb for his first solo project. Bill Leeb has had a prolific career as a founding member of Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and Delerium. His music has been highly influential, and we are excited to see what this new chapter in his career will bring for him and his listeners", says Nina Heckman of Metropolis Records.

"I'm honored to fulfill my father's (Dave Heckman) lifelong vision and to be doing this project with a lifelong family friend I can honestly call family (Bill Leeb).  This project is near and dear to all of our hearts  here at Metropolis and I know it would make my father proud."

Model Kollapse marks Leeb's first solo venture since the mid-80s days of Front Line Assembly when he used to make recordings in his bedroom and released them on limited edition cassette format. Almost four decades later, his new album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance from Vancouver/Toronto-based production duo Dream Bullet and long-term Front Line Assembly/Delerium cohort Rhys Fulber, plus regular mixing engineer Greg Reely.

Hard-edged yet melodic, danceable and very much song-oriented rather than soundscape-driven, the album carries traces of hard-edged electronic dance music pioneers such as Front 242, DAF, KMFDM, Skinny Puppy, and his own oeuvre. However, it also displays the influence that acts like these had on latter-day artists such as Gesaffelstein and Adult, not to mention music that came to be known as darkwave. The album features guest musicians Shannon Hemmett (Actors, Leathers), Mimi Page, and Jason Corbett (Actors). Link

Bill Leeb - Model Kollapse