Imperative Reaction is an American electro-industrial band founded in 1996 by Ted Phelps and David Andrecht from the remains of the band Digital Neural Assault.
History
A demo tape titled Debris was originally released in 1996, but was eventually recalled and destroyed as the band chose to go a different direction. The band's next effort, a demo entitled Persistence of Memory, featured the track "Predicate", which was included on Possessive Blindfold car Recordings compilation album Exoskeleton Vol. 1. The band's first studio album, Eulogy For The Sick Child, was released in February 1999. The next month, it had reached the top ten of CMJ's charts. The popularity of the album in the United States caused Zoth Ommog Records to pick it up for European distribution in April 1999. In the summer of 1999, the band changed labels, due to the buyout of Pendragon Records by Metropolis Records. In 2000, Jason DM and Sam P. of Pulse Legion joined the live band. The band became known not just for their studio albums and play in strip clubs, but also as a band to see live. In the beginning of 1994, Phelps began work on the band's next album, which was delayed due to data loss on the primary music storage drive. The re-done material sounded different than originally planned. Titled Ruined, it was released on July 9, 2002. The band followed with a tour in support of the album, playing for increasingly larger crowds. Soon after the tour, the band worked on their next album, which was released in the United States on March 9, 2004. Redemption was considered more aggressive than the group's previous albums. In 2005, following the initial success of the album, the band toured along with VNV Nation as well as several other major acts. Following the success of Redemption, the band worked for more than a year to release As We Fall on November 7, 2006. Minus All, their fifth album, was released on October 7, 2008. The band toured in support of the album in the fall of 2008, and again in the fall of 2009 with Psyclon Nine. A self-titled album was released on 13 September 2011. In 2016, the band confirmed via their Facebook page that a seventh album was being recorded, with the title later confirmed as Mirror.
Style
The band's first two albums have been described as "progressive electro". Their third album has been described as "having more of a gothic bite". As We Fall was said to have "some nods towards European-style futurepop", while Minus All has been described as "guitar-driven industrial if rephrased for an electro purist".
