Fear Factory

[aggroculture]

New album in spring: The Industrialist. Hopefully better than the disappointment that was Mechanize.
http://www.theprp.com/2012/01/30/news/fear-factory-to-release-the-industrialist-this-spring/

[Pillfred]

De/Remanufacture and Obsolete are a couple of my favorite metal albums of all time. It's good to see they are still around but anything after obsolete kinda fell flat for me. Some good songs here and their but nothing that really grabbed me. It would be cool to see them again though.

[Conan The Barbarian]

Mechanize was awesome

[aggroculture]

To each his/her own, but I hated it. Seemed as though in the quest to be heavy at all costs FF sacrificed their winning interplay between riff, groove, and subtle electronica, coming up with an album that sounded like any random 2011 metal release. Hopefully here they go back to what made FF great (Demanufacture-through-Digimortal era). The obvious solution of course would be to invite Herrera and Wolbers back in the band.

[october_midnight]

Haven't liked a single thing since Obsolete, but that's just me.

[Piko]

IMO, Mechanize is the best thing to come since Obsolete. Mechanize had a lot of balls. Lots of energy. I thought it was great. Especially considering how skeptical I was originally was after the fact that Burton decided to do some spring cleaning. But I ended being pleasantly surprised.

[Conan The Barbarian]

Plus I love Gene Hoglan and he dominates on that album.

[Maximilian]

New album in spring: The Industrialist. Hopefully better than the disappointment that was Mechanize.
http://www.theprp.com/2012/01/30/news/fear-factory-to-release-the-industrialist-this-spring/

But....I dug Mechanize.

[Space Suicide]

Obsolete is the best. Edgecrusher....hell yes.

As for other endeavors, albums since have been decent and in the true Fear Factory spirit.

[Virtua Afro DJ]

I love all of their albums, minus a few songs here and there. Looking forward to this one, of course.

[buckaroo]

so, the industrialist is pretty solid. there seems to be a lot of negativity towards the programmed drums, but it sounds good to me and makes sense for this band. there have also been a lot of negative comments about how it sounds too much like demanufacture, which i figured people would love. anyway, would anyone have a copy of the obsolete demos they could send my way? i deleted them by accident and i can't find them anywhere.

[aggroculture]

New album is kicking my ass. It might be my favourite FF album...ever. The production is awesome and the guitars shred.

[bobbie solo]

it's good, but stop trolling.

[Arcspiral]

New album comes out in a few weeks and this thread is buried...

Really looking forward to this record. There honestly hasn't been an album that this band has released that I didn't like. Even Transgression had its moments.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=midnSfMs5Y8

[mfte]

Plus I love Gene Hoglan and he dominates on that album.

Gene kills it. That guy plays drums like a machine does.

[buckaroo]

the three songs released so far sound great. really looking forward to the new album!

[armogi]

it's leaked...

[Conan The Barbarian]

It's OK after 2 listens. Gotta really sit down with it though. Burton sounds great as usual, doesn't feel forced like the last one.

[AndItKeepsRepeating]

Extreme bump but I'm in a FF kinda mood today.

I'm of the opinion Mechanize is their second best album behind Demanufacture (obviously)

I love Obsolete, and there are parts of Digimortal/Archetype/Transgression I thoroughly enjoy.

The Industrialist didn't quite grab me and neither did Genexus (though I enjoy Dielectric for how it reminds me of the Obsolete era sound a bit). Also haven't listened to either since they came out so I'm gonna check them out again soon.

I was never a fan of anything pre-Demanufacture but perhaps it's time to revist that era and see what I'm missing. Haven't tried any of it since the mid 00s.

[SM Rollinger]

Damn I didnt even know we had a FF thread. Used to love these guys, only saw them once, opening for Slipknot on my 21st birthday. What a treat and a MASSIVE old-school swirling circle pit. Last time I moshed and what a band to do it to.

[Necrodoommonkey]

I love me some FF. I was just listening to Obsolete the other day.

[Archive_Reports]

There have been so many times I've tried to get into FF, they just don't do anything for me. It's odd because they're style is really right up my alley.

[Shadaloo]

Their show in Montreal on the Obsolete tour was my very first concert ever. :)

I hate to say it though, but they're one band I fear I've kind of moved away from ever since high school. Their releases are a courtesy purchase from me, that I very, very seldom revisit. I think the only song that really stood out to me over the last few albums was God Eater off Machinist. Not to say they've become bad or anything necessarily, but I'm just into different stuff these days. Zero Signal is an eternal jam though :)

[tricil]

Fear Factory was near and dear to my heart when I was a teen.

Now, i only own three of their releases:

1. Soul of a New Machine top shelf edition 2CD with Fear is the Mindkiller as disk 2
2. Demanufacture top shelf edition 2CD with Remanufacture as disk 2 and bonus tracks on both
3. Obsolete digipack with bonus tracks

That about covers the essentials. I’ve seen them live quite a few times, usually a great show.

[Maximilian]

I'm a fan of every album Dino participated in, I'll put it that way.

[Halo Infinity]

I've always thought of Digimortal being the closest they've come to revisiting some aspects of Demanufacture to like how I see Holy Wood to Antichrist Superstar. Of course, the older albums are still heavier altogether, but some elements seem to be very similar.

However, Demanufacture and Obsolete seem to be the most evenly matched in terms of popularity, success and heaviness/aggression combined with speed.

I have also drifted from Fear Factory since Transgression, but thought at the very least to give Mechanize and Genexus a chance. And not that I have anything against The Industrialist either, but as a whole, those two other albums clicked with me a bit faster.

I have also often wondered about Trent's opinion on Fear Factory, but it was still at least cool to know that Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares are Nine Inch Nails fans themselves. (I'm just saying, since I could easily/obviously picture the man who wrote Broken and The Downward Spiral rocking out to Demanufacture and Obsolete.)

[richardp]

Ironic, I just recently redownloaded their whole discog and improved my old 128kbps AAC files, and have been diving into them pretty hard again.

I first discovered FF in 98, Obsolete was my first of theirs (and still my favorite). They headlined the first concert that I ever went to the next year, playing a local music fest that combined FF's tour and Coal Chamber's Livin La Vida Loco tour into one day long festival. It was the shit. Got really hard into FF again when Archtype came out (my second favorite of theirs) and saw them a whole bunch of that tour cycle for Archetype and Transgression. I remember seeing them and Chimaira opening for Slipknot when Subliminal Verses had just come out and goddamn that show rocked my dome. Then honestly, I dropped out and didn't listen to any of the three albums after that. I will say, they're pretty good, but Raymond and Christian are missed quite a bit.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

Burton C. Bell has quit the band.
https://metalinjection.net/news/breakups/vocalist-burton-c-bell-quits-fear-factory

[buckaroo]

Burton C. Bell has quit the band.
https://metalinjection.net/news/breakups/vocalist-burton-c-bell-quits-fear-factory

for now...

[Shadaloo]

Well, it's good to hear his vocals will be on the next album, anyway.

It'll probably be the last one I pick up, assuming it isn't the last; I don't think you can have FF without Burton.

[buckaroo]

I love this band and can’t wait for the new album. That being said, the drama that has followed them for years is tiring. Honestly, how many times has Burton quit now? Is this the third? How much fighting between the two of them has there been? I wish Burton all the luck in the world with AotW, but I assume within a few years he will be back. I know there is a lot of negative press around Dino right now, but based on past experience I don’t think he is the one causing all the issues.

Also, I would take another Divine Heresy album over more Fear Factory at this point.

[rampface]

Fear Factory should have broken up after Obsolete and they would be considered legends. Each subsequent album ruined their legacy

[Maximilian]

Yeah, Burton seems kind of wishy-washy, always has. I follow Dino on Twitter and he is always trying to be as diplomatic as possible, but maybe he's an asshole behind the scenes. Who knows? What I do know is that Ascension of the Watchers isn't going to pay Burton's bills.

[buckaroo]

Fear Factory should have broken up after Obsolete and they would be considered legends. Each subsequent album ruined their legacy

After Obsolete they fell into the up and down of every other album. Archetype, Mechanize and Genexus were all excellent in my opinion. The rest have their moments. I really think Digimortal could have been great with a little editing, grittier production and more organic sounding drums.

[rampface]

And less following the nu metal trend. Some of those tracks have aged poorly. I almost included that album in my original statement.

[richardp]

Fear Factory should have broken up after Obsolete and they would be considered legends. Each subsequent album ruined their legacy

I'd disagree with this. Transgression and Digimortal are really the only albums of theirs that aren't "credible" or whatever. If anything ruined Fear Factory's legacy, it was every single dude in that band's unwarranted ego.

[Shadaloo]

Half of verything after Digimortal seemed to be basically Demanufacture 2.0, and those were the years where I was kinda leaving my high school metal tastes behind and getting into Bauhaus, The Cure, Bowie, Joy Division.

I remember the reception to Digimortal was pretty universally not a good one, and I've long felt that discouraged them from much in the way of experimentation.

Hot take though: I enjoyed Transgression. Maybe the U2 cover was a bit of a misstep, but fuck, when you also cover Killing Joke you've more than paid your dues!

[Shadaloo]

https://youtu.be/BZ4U2Uht6CE

Good listen, start at half an hour in. Dino gives a history of the longstanding legal snafus surrounding the name. Says the lawsuits filed against them by Herrera and Wolbers basically bankrupted both himself and Burton for a while, and now he's wound up buying the rights to the name from Burton, making him the sole owner.

[richardp]

What's the point in even owning it at this point. Literally the only way FF is ever going to see any kind of comeback is if the 4 of them grew up and got back together. I don't think anyone is going to care about a Fear Factory that is just Dino and friends.

[richardp]

Aggressive Continuum is out there, finally. It's pretty damn good for a final FF album (as far as I'm concerned FF isn't FF without Burton). I'd compare it's sound I suppose to Digimortal if it wasn't as Nu-Metal infused as it is. I don't know. I'm enjoying it.

[Jinsai]

I ran a session w/ Dino. He is a really really nice guy, and yeah, he can shred. It's crazy.

[richardp]

New version of The Industrialist is out now with real drums and good lord does it make a difference.

[buckaroo]

New version of The Industrialist is out now with real drums and good lord does it make a difference.

I am really glad they did this. The updated drums, guitar, and mix are great. What did it for me was adding Enhanced Reality though. I always felt this album was extremely underrated and felt like it was missing something. New version is so much better!

[Shadaloo]

New version of The Industrialist is out now with real drums and good lord does it make a difference.

Thanks for the heads-up. Mine arrives tomorrow.

This is one of those bands, like KMFDM, that I kept up with more out of a sense of nostalgia and loyalty. Every now and then I get in the mood and while the last...what, four albums? never really strayed from a formula, they're always nice to revisit every few years.

They were my first concert. I saw Static-X open for them on the Obsolete tour...a few months back they came and it was the reverse, and something about that made me really sad. I couldn't bring myself to go.

[richardp]

They were my first concert. I saw Static-X open for them on the Obsolete tour...a few months back they came and it was the reverse, and something about that made me really sad. I couldn't bring myself to go.

My first concert as well. The Fear Factory/Static-X tour was in town the same day as Coal Chamber's Livin' La Vida Loco tour so they got combined. That ended up being the only time I ever saw Static-X, but I got to see FF one more time opening for Slipknot on the Jagermeister tour right after Archetype came out. God Forbid and Chimaira were also on that tour but their bus broke down so FF played for an hour and fifteen minutes instead and it was great.