Rhys Fulber

While Trent Reznor and Al Jourgensen often receive the primary recognition for establishing industrial rock’s harder-edged sound, other figures helped shape the style during its late-’80s emergence, among them Rhys Fulber of Frontline Assembly. Raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Fulber developed an early interest in music through his father, a working musician whose collection of instruments filled the family home. He began playing drums at six and, by eleven, was spending time in studios where he encountered punk and new-wave recordings, particularly the Dead Kennedys and Pete Shelley’s 1981 album Homosapien. Shelley’s record prompted Fulber’s father to acquire a drum machine and synthesizer for his son. Around the same period Fulber connected with fellow musician Bill Leeb, an Austrian whose shared sensibilities produced a durable creative partnership. The pair first appeared under the name Wilhelm Schroeder on Skinny Puppy’s 1984 EP Remission before forming Frontline Assembly, an industrial project that maintained a prolific release schedule highlighted by Gashed Senses and Crossfire in 1989, Tactical Neural Implant in 1992, and Implode in 1999. Fulber simultaneously pursued a parallel ambient endeavor, Delerium, again alongside Leeb; the duo’s atmospheric output rivaled Frontline Assembly’s volume and reached its widest audience with the 1997 single “Silence,” featuring Sarah McLachlan and topping charts across Europe. During the 1990s the two also briefly operated as Intermix (1992–1995) and Synaesthesia (1995–1997). Outside these ventures Fulber maintained a close association with Fear Factory, contributing production, programming, keyboards, and arrangements to Demanufacture (1995), Obsolete (1998), and additional releases. His production and performance credits further extend to Josh Groban, Megadeth, P.O.D., Mudvayne, the Tea Party, and prog-rock veterans Yes.