Bill Leeb feat. Shannon Hemmett “Terror Forms”

Beguiling industrial-electronic music legend Bill Leeb presents ‘Terror Forms’, the first taste of his debut solo album ‘Model Kollapse’, to be released via US-based label Metropolis Records. Introducing this record, this song reflects the dystopian, nihilistic world we have created in so many different ways, ultimately asking the question “When will the human voice be lost to AI and technology….or will that be what saves us in the end?”

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

‘Terror Forms’, which features Shannon Hemmett of Vancouver post-punk quartet ACTORS and her solo project LEATHERS, explores the intricacies of artificial intelligence and the very survival of humanity itself.

‘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.  This album also involves contributions by LA-based artist Mimi Page, a long-term Delerium collaborator, and Jason Corbett of ACTORS and Jacknife Sound Studio.

Almost four decades on, 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 FLA/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 ‘Model Kollapse’ album carries traces of hard-edged electronic dance music pioneers such as Front 242, DAF, KMFDM and Skinny Puppy, as well as 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.

Earlier, Nina Heckman of Metropolis Records shared, “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. 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.”  Tragically, Dave Heckman died in the summer of 2022.

Leeb shares, “Metropolis Records have been and are one of the most important labels for alternative music on this planet and this album was made possible by my long-standing friendship with Dave Heckman (RIP), who continuously supported us through the ages and gave us complete artistic freedom”.

Back in 1987, Leeb formed Delerium as a side project, exploring dark ethereal ambient trance, voiceless soundscapes and electronic pop music. Since their debut 1994 ‘Semantic Spaces’ album, Delerium has received two Juno awards and enjoyed many collaborations, involving with Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer), Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), Kirsty Hawkshaw (Opus III), Emily Haines (Metric), Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory), Matthew Sweet and Kristy Thirsk (Rose Chronicles). Their worldwide hit ‘Silence’ with** Sarah McLachlan** reached #1 in numerous countries, its remixes also hailed among the greatest trance songs of all time (the Tiësto remix was voted the 12th-greatest dance track of all time by Mixmag readers).

‘Terror Forms’ is out now everywhere digitally. On September 13, the full ‘Model Kollapse’ album will be released on vinyl and CD, as well as digitally.

-Official bio