I've probably been listening to Fear Factory since their Digimoral release in 2001. I really liked the drumming, and guitar sequences. They had this really heavy edge, but also carrying a very melodic undertone that I really enjoyed listening to. I remember my father saying that their drums are programmed to be that fast. I said if only he knew what they were really doing he would've taken a hard look at his wonderful polka drumming he was doing at the time. I remember having to go to those horribly repetitive dances with my parents when I was younger and hating them. I got lucky enough to put Digimotal in the CD player while we were driving to one to let my father listen to it, and that's the first thing he said. "Oh these drums aren't real, they are a drum machine. There's no way he could be that fast". That lasted for like a minute of being in the CD player before he took it out and said her take this crap back. I was laughing inside at him and saying no way man this is the real thing. I got their previous material, and was very surprised at how these guys mesh the heavy death metal techniques, with this melodic industrial sound. I really think that these guys were some of the starters of genres like deathcore, metalcore, and industrial metal. Fear Factory has been one of those bands for me that really brought me deeper into heavy metal.
They have gone through some major changes, and shifts through-out their career. Demanufacture is said to be their break through album, and it really is their best one. When the first track comes on with somewhat of what I can only describe as factory sounds. Something you would hear in a steel mill, to the intoxicating gallops on the drums. You know you're in for a treat with this great essential metal album. They kind of shifted their sound a little through-out the next years. For instance on Transgression they did that album without Dino's guitar excellence, and Christian Wolbers did all of the guitars, and bass work for that album. Not to say that that album was bad, but it is definitely different than anything they had done previously. It also was not praised very well when it came out. One reason was due to the pore production, and slower guitars than anything they had previously done before.
So Transgression was the last album to feature original drummer Raymond Herrera, and Bassist Christian Wolbers, and the band went on a hiatus to pursue other interests and projects. In 2009 Burton, and Dino announced that they would be returning to the studio together for the first time in five years to work on new material for a new Fear Factory album. I have to say I was super sicked for this because I missed Dino's Fear Factory sound. He did Divine Heresy which was great by the way. Really great stuff, but I just missed Fear Factory. On top of that it would feature Gene Hoglan A.K.A the Atomic Clock who I also feature on my Top 20 Drummers of All Time post. Truly amazing, so automatically I knew it would be a fast aggressive record that we all wanted. Gene Hoglan has recreated how the drums are played and idolized for every metal drummer today, so his presence on the album could only be a good thing. Also Byron Stroud would be contributing the bass for the record. I highly recommend checking out Strapping Young Lad if you guys like both of these artists because that's where they've been for a while with crazy man Devin Townsend. When I popped the CD in I heard that wonderful steel mill sound that I Had missed from the start of Demanufacuture for so long. Than this barrage of fast intense guitar, and double bass frenzy blew my ears away. They really honed in on the fast side of Fear Factory on this one, but while still having that wonderful mesh of melodic chorus hooks. So this album for me was a breath of fresh air this year. I really enjoyed it. I think around the same time I had purchased H.I.M.'s Screamworks, and Rob Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe 2 and I was super dissatisfied with both those releases. So this album brought me back to where I needed to be. I highly recommend picking this album up for sure. Its a great industrial death metal album. I gave this album a 9.5 and its well deserved. So until next time stay hard, stay heavy
Here are some tracks from the album enjoy.
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