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The Industrial Revolution was a period of major social and technological change during the 19th century, the economy shifting from its rural, manual labour base to industry and the manufacture of machinery.
Front Line Assembly founder Bill Leeb knows this - it's common knowledge. But these days, at least for him musically, "industrial revolution" really means "what goes around comes around."
FLA is at New City tonight.
Leeb says nobody in Front Line stepped back exactly, but this is the first time they've toured as a band in seven years. In that time, the band still released a steady string of albums and everyone's had other musical projects on the go. Leeb and fellow Front Liner Rhys Fulber's Delerium project is one, while Fulber's work as Conjure One is another.
Leeb's past credits also include working under names like Synaesthesia, Pro>Tech, Noise Unit, Intermix and Equinox. Most famously, he was also a member of Skinny Puppy, which he left in 1986 to form Front Line.
With everyone living in Vancouver again, Leeb says putting a tour together was easier to co-ordinate (but the band cancelled last year's Canadian tour due to logistical/scheduling conflicts). But he's still surprised over the resurgence of popularity in industrial goods and the demand for FLA to continue delivering them.
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"More than surprised," he corrects. "I had no idea. Literally, at the first show in Seattle last year, we had people telling us they had waited 10 years for us to show up. They told us how excited they were. It's pretty interesting to see all the different ways you touch people.
"At the end of the day - between me, Rhys and (fellow Lineman) Chris (Peterson) - we've left a big legacy of music behind us."
It all adds up, says Leeb.
"We've had people who bought everything we've ever done or been a part of to shows for us to sign - and it takes about an hour and a-half. It's kind of crazy," he laughs.
"We had one journalist say we should be in the industrial hall of fame, if there was one.
"But one of the reasons we're still around is that we've always been, from day one, music fans first. Even with Skinny Puppy, we just thought about doing something that had never been done before. We never had managers or album deals; we did it all ourselves and with friends.
"We didn't want daytime jobs, so we just kept on deciding to do these other projects. I kind of liked all facets of music that weren't mainstream. You sort of beg, borrow and steal from everything to experience more things - and that's what's kept us interested."
Leeb says Front Line Assembly's last album, 2006's Artificial Soldier, is the band's most forward-thinking and diverse yet, a cross-collaboration of everything the group has ever done. It's also an album that pays homage to industrial's past, with one of the genre's greats in Front 242's Jean-Luc De Meyer providing vocals on Future Fail.
"We've never had guest vocalists before. But apart from Kraftwerk, Front 242 has been easily one of the most influential bands in the electronic scene. I wanted to pay homage to him (on the Artificial Soldier album), because with Front Line you never know if there's going to be another one."
Does that mean the Assembly line will soon be grinding to a halt? Nah, says Leeb; FLA's newest album, Fallout, is actually coming out on Tuesday. And after more than 20 years of grinding gears, he promises that there's still plenty left in the tank.
"Our show is pretty live and that's why people come back to see us. It's a pretty full metal-industrial-electronic act, with sort of a multimedia twist. For the ticket, we're a pretty big show."