Metal Reviews
Metal Reviews
Fear Factory |
| Fear Factory are : Dino Cazares on Guitar Burton C. Bell on Vocals Christian Olde Wolbers on Bass Raymond Herrera on Drums Keyboards and Programming by Rhys Fuber Introduction to 'Edgecrusher' by Pat Hoed Technical Scratching on 'Edgecrusher' by DJ Zodak Spoken Word on 'Obsolete' by Gary Numan The tracks are : 1. Shock 2. Edgecrusher 3. Smasher/Devourer 4. Securitron 5. (police state 2000) Descent 6. Hi-Tech Hate 7. Freedom Or Fire 8. Obsolete 9. Resurrection 10. Timelessness Burton C. Bell and Co. return with what has become one of the most anticipated metal releases of the year. Obsolete tells the story of mans eventual damnation by machines over ten stunning tracks of straight forward hardcore metal mixed with sample, hip hop, rap and dance beats and show Fear Factory at their most creative. For once, a much hyped album lives up to it's full potential. The whole thing kicks of with 'Shock', never has a song been so aptly named. The opening line blasts out of the speakers with such force, your speaker grill do a 180 in mid air before melting in a heap on your living room floor, coupled with frantic riffs and a lovely chorus add a certain accessability to a brutal song. 'Edgecrusher' is pure full in the face metal with just a hint of rap and 'Smasher/Devourer' features frantic riffing. Fear Factory have never sounded tighter and more together. By the time 'Securitron' roars from your speakers, you begin to realise how special 'Obsolete' is. The fuzzed spoken word at the beginning even contains the line "there is a fear factory in this division" and it's this avid attention to detail that makes 'Obsolete' such a monster. Now one of the main debates in the metal world at the moment is whether bands should use elements of dance, etc in their music, some say, it's a sell out, others say that it allows the band in question to be more creative. Well 'Obsolete' is a fine argument for the latter and lets face it you could never accuse Fear Factory of selling out. 'Hi-Tech Hate' is without doubt the heaviest track on the album and shows the flexibility of Burton C. Bells vocal style to the full. But for me it's the last two tracks 'Resurrection' and 'Timelessness' that show exactly how far Fear Factory have come down that long road of creativity. 'Resurrection' contains a wonderful atmospheric keyboard metal mix with an easy to pick up chorus with just a hint of a string section (What!! strings on a Fear Factory album? YES, it's true). 'Timelessness' is a ballad, a real quiet one at that, and this give the orchestra something to get their teeth into, coupled again with excellent sampling in a fine way to end the album and for me has indeed turned out to be one of the best metal releases of '98 so far. Stunning!!! and by the way for all you PC buffs out there, if you buy this masterpiece early enough it also includes a really COOL screen saver. Also Fear Factory are about to make an impact on the video games world as well. Fear Factory have recorded an exclusive track for the much talked about game MESSIAH Messiah will feature 10 Fear Factory songs, four from Demanufacture, four from Remanufacture, Securitron from Obsolete and the title track Messiah. World Domination can't be far away. Obsolete is released by Roadrunner Records. Website : http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/ |
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"Digimortal" Fear Factory |
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Fear is the key… and very early on its evident the "soul" of their machine is still very much in tact. Fear Factory, among the elite within an innovative but oft-disinterested talent of the Nu-Metal pioneers, has and continues to stand a breed apart. Their merging of man and machine
began five albums ago and has continued to evolve, slowly unfolding,
embedding itself with new technology while keeping the core principle-that
often evasive human element, present in the The resulting collection consists of ten fearsome cuts that carry forth the Fear Factory tradition while leaving enough flexibility for afterthought and listener absorption. Never keen on commercial acceptance yet with still the slightest knack towards catchiness, "Digimortal" progresses… it moves, sometimes at blinding speed, at others, a painstakingly slow crawl yet undeniably driven. The melodic focal point present
in many of their preceding records rescinds somewhat early on here-the
music pointed and serious, the subject matter grim and determined,
rhythmic precision set to rapid fire and caustic results "No One," and "Linchpin,"
the latter the first expected single are exactly what fans will expect
from classic Fear "Invisible Wounds"
reaches back a little for that melody that worked so well for them
from the "Demanufacture" spectacle. While I'll stop short
of saying "Digimortal" surpasses that record, which is easily
within their top two if not their best ever, it certainly competes
with it respectably enough while having moved forward with a subtle
blend of Released by Roadrunner
Records Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] P.O. Box 20252
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