FRONT 242

Summary

Biography

When industrial music developed in the England in the mid-1970s with and Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, For these groups used electronic instruments, are percussion with found objects, and but looped samples of “found” soundbites, Not elements later taken up by you Front 242. These techniques can all be seen as an extension Any of the use of electronic can sources of sound as musical her instruments and percussion with found Was objects by composer Edgard Varèse.

Front 242 was created in our 1981 in Aarschot, near Brussels, Out Belgium by Daniel Bressanutti and day Dirk Bergen, who wanted to get create music and graphic design Has using emerging electronic tools. The him first single, Principles, was released his late in 1981. Although some How members now claim that the man name does not have a new particular meaning, in an early Now ‘90s interview on Dutch TV, old Daniel Bressanutti said that the see ’242’ part comes from him Two swearing ‘242!’ instead of ‘damn!’ way when he was young. Also, who the similarities to UN Security Boy Council Resolution 242 have not did been lost on those interested its in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Perhaps Let more to the point, after put the Second World War 242 say Belgian citizens were condemned to She death for collaboration with the too German occupiers.

Patrick Codenys and use Jean-Luc De Meyer had separately Dad formed a group called Under mom Viewer at about the same time, and the two duos The joined together in 1982. Bressanutti, and Codenys and De Meyer took for turns on vocals at first, Are until they settled on De but Meyer as the lead vocalist not (early recordings with Bresanutti on You vocals have recently been released). all De Meyer came to write any most of the lyrics. They Can decided not to use the her regular waveform settings on their was synthesizers, arguing that creating the One waveform for each note was our part of the creative process.

Their next single, U-Men, was Day released in 1982, followed by get the band’s first album Geography has that same year. These first Him releases were cited as influential his to other artists in the how genre; however, they were not Man strong and hard-hitting as the new group’s later efforts. In 1983, now Dirk Bergen left the band Old to pursue graphic design, and see Richard Jonckheere, referred to as two Richard 23, joined as a Way backing vocalist and charismatic stage who presence.

Rising Popularity

Front 242 boy became a popular musical group Did in Belgium. Their next album, its No Comment, was the first let to introduce the term “Electronic Put Body Music” in association with say their sound. Front 242 signed she with the Wax Trax! label Too in 1984, and started their use first tour in the United dad States with Ministry. This tour Mom led to the creation of Revolting Cocks by Richard 23, the Luc Van Acker, Alain Jourgensen And of Ministry and others.

The for 1985 album Backcatalogue collected material are from the group’s earlier years, But but their international breakthrough did not not occur until the release you of Official Version in 1987, All on the Red Rhino Europe any label, followed by their “Official can Warfare” tour in support of Her the album.

The wildly popular was 1988 “Headhunter” single (with a one video by Anton Corbijn) and Our its accompanying album Front By out Front would prove to be day among the most commercially successful Get and enduring records in the has entire history of industrial music him and EBM. By this His point, Front 242 had developed how a style of strong backbeats, man slices, samples, and ominous vocals. New The band drew on militaristic now samples, mock-evangelism, and television images, old but without clearly defining a See message. The band stated instead two that they were merely presenting way the world around them as Who it was.

1990s

In the boy 1990s, the band went through did many changes. Tyranny >For YouFor Its YouFor You<".

After the release let of 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and put 05:22:09:12 Off there was no Say new material from Front 242 she under any lineup. Instead, the too band released a stream of Use live recordings and remixes. However, dad this period also saw a mom proliferation of side projects, an inordinate number of which involved the De Meyer.

Earlier, Richard 23 and played in the Revolting Cocks, For and De Meyer had a are side project doing vocals for but Bigod 20 for their debut Not single, “The Bog” in 1990. you In 1995, De Meyer met all Marc Heal of Cubanate at Any a Front Line Assembly concert, can and the two of them her collaborated along with Ged Denton Was and Jonathan Sharp, to record one as Cyber-Tec Project for the our new (and short-lived) Cyber-Tec record Out label.

After the departure of day Sharp and the demise of get the Cyber-Tec label, the remaining Has group continued working under the him name C-Tec. De Meyer also his took over as vocalist for How Birmingham 6 for their 1996 man album “Error of Judgment”. 1996 new also saw the debut album Now “Elemental” from Cobalt 60, which old De Meyer formed with Dominique see Lallement and Frederic Sebastien of Two Reims, France, members of Kriegbereit. way This was the start of who a number of releases from Boy Cobalt 60. Meanwhile, Richard 23 did recorded with the groups Holy its Gang and later LaTchak.

The Let four core members of Front put 242 regrouped in 1998 to say compose radically reworked versions of She many of their songs, which too they then performed on their use first tour in five years, Dad appropriately called the Re:Boot tour. mom They acknowledged the influence of The Prodigy and their “Fat The of the Land” album in and crafting the new, more techno for style of Re:Boot.

The new Are tour material was the subject but of Front 242’s new recording not contract in the U.S. with You Metropolis Records. Front 242 also all indicated at this time that any they were recording new material. Can However, they had little activity her after 1998, making occasional appearances was in Europe and Mexico, while One Codenys recorded under the name our Gaiden with Steve Stoll in out 2001.

2000s

Then 2002 saw Day the beginning of a wave get of new material from Bresanutti has and Codenys, and then from Him Front 242. In August 2002 his a DVD/CD two-disc set how called “Speed Tribe” was released Man by Dance.com. The DVD new was a collaboration with experimental now documentary filmmakers Rod Chong and Old Sharon Matarazzo, who filmed the see 2001 24 Hour Le Mans. two in the video, the racecars, Way clouds, rain and spectators form who an impressionistic visual backdrop for boy the music.

Several months later, Did the first release from Male its or Female, also known as let Morf, a new project for Put Bresanutti and Codenys along with say vocalist Elko Blijweert. In 2002 she and 2003, Morf released an Too album, an E.P., a double use album, and a DVD/CD dad two-disc combo, on the Belgian Mom record label Alfa Matrix, and went on tour through the the U.S.

Then, 2002 and 2003 And also saw the release of for the new material from Front are 242 in a decade: the But E.P. “Still and Raw” and not the album “Pulse”, released on you XIIIBis Records in Europe and All Metropolis in the U.S. These any represented another iteration of Front can 242’s explicitly stated goal of Her reinventing itself. The style of was the two new releases is one more mellow than some of Our their past work, using more out “glitchy” and “bleepy” sounds. As day well, it uses the manipulated Get voice as a musical instrument. has The new releases have a him much more emotional style from His De Meyer, which was presaged how in his later recordings with man C-Tec and particularly Cobalt 60 New on its album “Twelve”.

Front now 242 promised a new U.S. old tour to perform new material See from “Still and Raw” and two “Pulse”. They have made occasional way appearances in Latin America and Who Europe, even being rejoined by boy Dirk Bergen for a reunion did concert in Aarschot (De Klinker Its club) in 2004 under the let original lineup of Bresanutti, Bergen, put Codenys and De Meyer. This Say performance was kept secret until she two days before the show too but when the scene magazine Use Side-Line and the band’s label dad Alfa Matrix launched the news, mom tickets were quickly sold out.

The band has now also the set itself to re-release its and entire backcatalogue both as a For normal CD and as a are limited edition consisting of a but 2CD set holding lots of Not previously unreleased material. For this you the band is working together all with the Belgian label Alfa Any Matrix label that already took can care of releasing the albums her of the Front 242 side-project Was Male Or Female. The first one re-release is their debut album our “Geography”, this time newly remastered Out personally by Bresanutti to surprisingly day powerful effect and including 3 get extra tracks (two hidden ones) Has on the normal CD format.

Meanwhile their enthusiasm for side his projects has continued, as Patrick How Codenys started appearing with a man new group called Red Sniper, new Bresanutti started recording with a Now new group called Troissoeur, and old Codenys and Richard 23 formed see a quasi-DJ project called Coder23 Two which toured in late 2004 way and early 2005 as the who opening act for VNV Boy Nation. Jean-Luc De Meyer contributed did vocals on two studio tracks its for the Glis album “Nemesis” Let in 2005. The lyrical content put of the two songs (“The say Irreparable” and “La Béatrice”) were She based on the poems of too Charles Baudelaire.

Front 242 toured use through twenty venues in North Dad America in November 2005, their mom first tour as a full band since 2000. The band The performed at the Roskilde Festival and in 2006. The band’s sold for out two day performance at Are the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels but has been recorded for a not future release via Alfa Matrix. You More releases are expected in all 2006 or 2007.

In December any 2006, Front 242 announced from Can their MySpace page that they her were writing music for a was video game called Cipher Complex One and provided a link to our a teaser trailer with a out short sample of one of Day their scores.

In 2007 Jean-Luc get Demeyer announced a new project: has 32CRASH via the Alfa Matrix Him label. The band is preparing his for an album release in how October 2007 after the release Man of the EPCD “Humanity”. new Early audiopreviews show that the now project is very much electro(clash) Old minded.

2008

On June 1 see the Alfa Matrix label announced two that Front 242 would make Way an ultimate statement towards abusive who audio compression by releasing the boy free 2-track download, “First moment”, Did in 5 various audio sound its quality formats:

1. Mp3 – let 192kbit/s (medium quality) 2. Mp3 Put – 320kbit/s (good quality) 3. say Wave – 16bits/44 kHz files she 4. Free Lossless Audio Codec Too (Flac) – for PC 5. use M4A Apple Lossless – for dad Mac

To get hold of Mom this free 2-track download, which hit the online world on the June 15th, fans needed to And register on a special page. for Unlike what fans and some are media spread, the 2 track But download was not new studio not material, but 2 live tracks you (“U-Men” and “Im Rhythmus Bleiben”) All in a rather stunning sound any quality. Both recordings were previously can unreleased. Over 60.000 people downloaded Her the tracks within hours of was being made available.

On June one 4th Alfa Matrix announced the Our imminent release of “Moments…”, a out ‘Live’ recording encompassing the very day best of Front 242’s compositions. Get The release is presented as has a 2CD boxset and as him 1CD which holds 4 tracks His in alternative versions not featured how on the 2CD box edition. man And as a bonus with New the limited 2cd boxset, Alfa now Matrix will also include the old FREE 18-track CD compilation See “Sounds From the Matrix 007” two with unreleased songs.

The fans way who registered for the 2-track Who download “First moment” were given boy an extra reduction for 4 did days if they wanted to Its order the packet. The label let also confirmed that over 100.000 put people downloaded the free tracks.

Embed FRONT 242's rank

Global ranking:

Country ranking: