114-514: Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen frequent changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Guitarist Dino Cazares
228-400: A pop-rock song "Supernova", and a faithful cover of U2's rock song " I Will Follow ". In 2013, Wolbers posted more details about writing and recording of Transgression and Archetype on his Facebook page. He said he was disappointed with Transgression , calling it half-finished, and blamed the label for the severe time constraints imposed during the recording sessions and for the inclusion of
342-754: A "flop" nonetheless. Around this time, veteran industrial metal artists (Ministry, Godflesh, and White Zombie ) began to repudiate the industrial label. Sales remained high throughout 2000–2005; at least 10 million records were sold during that time frame. Many groups began to take influence from hip hop and electronic music , in addition to industrial metal. As a result, acts like Powerman 5000 are often described as industrial metal as well as nu metal . Several industrial metal groups have produced eye-catching videos. These include Godflesh's collaboration with Andres Serrano , Aidan Hughes 's graphics for KMFDM, Nine Inch Nails' work with Mark Romanek , Rob Zombie 's visual work for White Zombie (for which he received
456-490: A 10th Anniversary single package, Demanufacture and Remanufacture in 2005, which is similar to that of Soul of a New Machine (2004). This edition also includes bonus tracks from the digipak version of Demanufacture (1995). Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival . Obsolete
570-460: A Crash" on Ministry 's 2007 album The Last Sucker , and later toured with Ministry in support of the album. In an interview for the website Metalsucks , Bell called this a "dream come true", describing Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen as "one of [his] heroes". In the same interview, Bell talked at length about his new band Ascension of the Watchers, providing insight into the inspiration behind
684-533: A German digital hardcore musician, declared that "[Rammstein is] successful for all the wrong reasons. I think they're not a fascist band at all, but I think in Germany there's a lot of misunderstanding and that's why they sell records and I think that's dangerous." In response to the controversy, Rammstein stated that "We are not Nazis, Neo-Nazis, or any other kind of Nazi. We are against racism, bigotry or any other type of discrimination." The band went on to create
798-734: A Mexican deathgrind band. In 2007, he also started a new group called Divine Heresy . Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira . The new lineup's first album Archetype was released on April 20, 2004, through new record label Liquid 8 Records based in Minnesota . With Archetype , Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound;
912-488: A New Machine and Fear is the Mindkiller were released (2004) as a package in a new re-mastered reissue by Roadrunner Records. In 1994, Andrew Shives was forced to leave the band. Cazares recorded both the guitar and bass for the entire album. In November the same year, the band met Belgian Christian Olde Wolbers through Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Wolbers auditioned for Fear Factory's permanent bassist. Wolbers joined
1026-404: A New Machine is a concept album , concerning man's creation of a machine that could be either technological or governmental. It was also confirmed by bassist Christian Olde Wolbers in an interview. The particular concept would later play a more prominent role in some of Fear Factory's later albums. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic described the album as ushering in the alternative metal era of
1140-565: A New Machine , such as "Crash Test", which they had not performed live in many years. During 2005 and 2006, Fear Factory promoted the album on the "Fifteen Years of Fear" world tour in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary. The members invited bands including Darkane , Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork to join them on the U.S. leg, and Misery Index to join them on the European leg. An online statement from Wolbers in December 2006 said
1254-499: A New Machine . Fear Factory shopped the Concrete demo to various labels, and was rejected by a number of well-known metal record labels, such as Metal Blade , Earache , Nuclear Blast and Peaceville Records . Eventually, after presenting the demo to Max Cavalera , Max was so impressed that he recommended Fear Factory to A&R representative Monte Conner , of the then-death-metal-focused Roadrunner Records label, which offered
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#17328008736951368-626: A U.S. tour titled "Fear Campaign Tour 2010", in late March. In August 2010, the band headlined the Brutal Assault open air festival in Czech Republic. In September 2010, Fear Factory toured Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo as the opening act for Metallica . The New Zealand concerts were in Christchurch, two shows that were brought about by a petition sent to Metallica asking them to visit New Zealand's second-largest city. After
1482-571: A commercial force in 1992 when Nine Inch Nails' Broken and Ministry's Psalm 69 went platinum in America, though the latter took three years to reach that status. Both groups were nominated for the Best Metal Performance in the 1992 Grammy Awards , with Nine Inch Nails winning. Two years later, Nine Inch Nails released The Downward Spiral , which debuted at No. 2, and would eventually go quadruple-platinum. This record
1596-418: A controversial artist, one who dares to have an opinion and bothers to create music and videos that challenge people's ideas in a world that is watered-down and hollow. In my work I examine the America we live in, and I've always tried to show people that the devil we blame our atrocities on is really just each one of us. [...] Sascha Konietzko reported that KMFDM was "sick and appalled" by the shootings, issuing
1710-527: A critical backlash at the turn of the millennium. In an April 2000 review for the Chicago Sun Times , Jim DeRogatis dismissed Nine Inch Nails' new music as a "generic brand of industrial thrash" and accused Ministry of repeating an act that "was old by 1992". Although The Fragile reached the top spot of the Billboard 200 and went on to earn double platinum status, DeRogatis considered it
1824-420: A different conceptual style from Fear Factory's later works. "Martyr" is about someone who dies for a cause; "Leechmaster" is about relationship problems; "Scapegoat" was based on how Cazares was once wrongfully accused by the law; "Crisis" is an anti-war song; "Crash Test" concerns animal testing and "Suffer Age" is based on serial killer John Wayne Gacy . The other songs contain different themes. Samples from
1938-602: A few industrial metal groups vulnerable to attack from American social conservatives . For example, Sen. Bob Dole , then head of the Republican Party, sharply criticized Time Warner after a meeting between Michael J. Fuchs (head of the Warner Music Group), William Bennett , and C. Delores Tucker , at which Tucker and Bennett demanded that Fuchs read lyrics from NIN's " Big Man with a Gun ". A year later, Bennett, Tucker, and Joseph Lieberman launched
2052-540: A guest appearance by Numan on the song. The single made the Mainstream Rock Top 40 in 1999 and was also featured in the video game, Test Drive 6 . Numan also performed a spoken-word sample on the album's title track. A video was filmed for the song " Resurrection ". To date, Obsolete remains the only Fear Factory album to have achieved gold sales in the U.S. In early 2001, Fear Factory was asked to headline SnoCore Rock . The success of Obsolete and "Cars"
2166-495: A little bit, but we're definitely going into the studio at some point and start writing. We wanna take our time doing it. Personally ... Mechanize , don't get me wrong, is a good record—I'm very proud of it—but it's gotta be better than that. I've got plans where I'd like to do a full-on concept again—story, artwork. Just make it real cerebral. But there'll definitely be another Fear Factory record, maybe in 2012." On August 3, 2011, Dino Cazares said on his Twitter feed that he
2280-685: A new album, Mechanize , would be released on February 9, 2010, on Candlelight Records . On November 8, 2009, Fear Factory released a track titled " Powershifter " on YouTube. On November 10, 2009, Bell announced the track list for Mechanize , along with an explanation of each song. In January 2010, Fear Factory played in Australia and New Zealand tour on the Big Day Out tour, playing their first Australian dates since 2005 on January 17 at Parklands Showgrounds on Queensland's Gold Coast . Fear Factory released Mechanize on February 5, 2010, and began
2394-452: A protégé of Reznor's, came to prominence. The group's live performance and its transgressive appeal was often more commented on than their music. Industrial metal reached its commercial zenith in the latter half of the 1990s – according to the RIAA databases, its top-selling artists sold around 17.5 million units combined. Records by major industrial metal artists routinely debuted on
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#17328008736952508-536: A similar campaign against MCA Records for their distribution of Marilyn Manson 's music. Many of his concerts were cancelled by authorities after this uproar. In addition, Dennis Cooper cited Ministry's video for " Just One Fix ", which featured footage of William S. Burroughs , as an early example of heroin chic . Some initial reports claimed that Columbine High School shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were Marilyn Manson fans. In fact, they preferred KMFDM and Rammstein. Asa Coon , another school shooter,
2622-544: A stalemate". The drummer also said he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had arisen between them and Bell, which left Bell not wanting to continue work with the band. Bell and Cazares later spoke about their reasons for excluding Herrera and Wolbers. Cazares said Bell wanted to reunite the classic Fear Factory lineup of himself, Cazares, Herrera, and Wolbers, but that Herrera and Wolbers refused to be part of any reunion with Cazares. Bell also said he wanted to fire
2736-596: A statement the following day saying: First and foremost, KMFDM would like to express their deep and heartfelt sympathy for the parents, families and friends of the murdered and injured children in Littleton. We are sick and appalled, as is the rest of the nation, by what took place in Colorado yesterday. KMFDM are an art form – not a political party. From the beginning, our music has been a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others. While some of
2850-420: A sudden it was like there was a whole new parameter within guitar playing itself – especially in combination with sounds that you get out of a keyboard . Jourgensen seemed particularly fond of thrash metal . After the release of Land , he recruited guitarist Mike Scaccia from Texas thrashers Rigor Mortis . On one occasion, Jourgensen told the press that Sepultura was his favorite band. He also expressed
2964-501: A top seller, Godflesh nonetheless became an influential act, their name mentioned by Korn , Metallica , Danzig , Faith No More , and Fear Factory . Ministry emerged from the scene surrounding Wax Trax! Records , a Chicago indie label dedicated to industrial music. Ministry's initial foray into guitar rock happened during a recording session of The Land of Rape and Honey on Southern Studios , in London. The band's frontman,
3078-606: A tour of the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand that August, had also been canceled. The group said they canceled the tour to finish writing and recording the next Fear Factory album. Despite the canceled performances in Europe, they performed some shows in December in South American countries including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have
3192-483: A working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output. Despite ongoing issues between the two parties, the new Fear Factory went ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell telephone showed Cazares recording drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 6, 2009, blabbermouth.net said
3306-544: Is a small, niche scene within industrial music. Very few bands today describe themselves or are described as coldwave. Bands like Cyanotic and Medicant Downline are perhaps the exception. Despite sharing the same name as the French genre , it is otherwise unrelated. Industrial metal blossomed in the early 1990s, particularly in North America, where it would eventually sell close to 35 million units. It first became
3420-474: Is a sub-genre of industrial metal originating in the 1990s. It has its roots in acts like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry . The style focuses on heavier, punk-based guitars, sampled hard rock-like guitars, synthesizer accompaniment, and acid house elements. Lyrical content is typically cyberpunk-oriented with pop music sensibilities, although it can vary. Chemlab 's 1993 album Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar
3534-429: Is considered by AllMusic as "one of the bleakest multi-platinum albums ever". Overall, popular heavy rock music has changed to become more "industrialized". This robbed the industrial hardcore movement of any hopes of establishing a new identity of its own. The style is dead (or at least dying); the elements of the style continue on in new musical settings. Following Nine Inch Nails' success, Marilyn Manson , led by
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3648-403: Is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel. There were extensive contributions from Reynor Diego as well; adding key samples, loops and electronic flourishes to the group dynamics. Demanufacture was awarded
3762-498: Is often considered the album that defined the coldwave style. Artists like the aforementioned Chemlab, 16 Volt and Acumen Nation exemplified this genre. The coldwave style began to wane rapidly when industrial music in general started to lose popularity in the latter half of the 1990s-early 2000's. Many artists within the genre moved on to different styles that included; Hard rock, heavy metal, nu metal, synth-metal, synth-rock, and synth-pop among other genres. Coldwave today
3876-444: Is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music , typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs , sampling , synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry , Nine Inch Nails , Fear Factory , Rammstein , KMFDM , and Godflesh . Industrial metal developed in the late 1980s, as industrial and metal began to fuse into a common genre. Industrial metal did well in
3990-534: Is the only original member still in the band. The band went on hiatus in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him on guitar, while Byron Stroud handled bass duties. After a second hiatus in 2006, Fear Factory reunited in April 2009 with a new lineup that featured a returning Cazares, Gene Hoglan as
4104-678: The Mortal Kombat film soundtrack (1995). Instrumental versions of Demanufacture songs were later used in PC video games Carmageddon and Messiah . Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath , Megadeth and Iron Maiden , and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995. They went on their first headlining European tour in mid-1996, with Manhole and Drain S.T.H. playing in clubs and music festivals, such as With Full Force , Wâldrock or Graspop Metal Meeting . They also appeared at
4218-519: The 2010 Canterbury earthquake , the South Island concerts were in doubt, but on September 15, 2010, an official announced the CBS Arena had escaped harm and both shows went ahead. In an interview during the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, Bell said Fear Factory was planning to write and record a "full-on concept" album, which was due for release in 2012. He said, "We're gonna kind of take a break
4332-764: The Grammy -winning Broken and the best-selling The Downward Spiral , accompanied by their groundbreaking performance at Woodstock '94 . The rivethead subculture also developed at this time, along with the so-called "coldwave" subgenre, which encompassed Chemlab , 16 Volt , and Acumen Nation . Some electro-industrial groups adopted industrial metal techniques in this period, including Skinny Puppy (on their Rabies , co-produced by Jourgensen), and Front Line Assembly . British band Pitchshifter , formed in 1989 by brothers Jon and Mark Clayden, also started as an industrial metal band. The band later included elements of drum and bass . Frontman JS mentions: [...]In
4446-493: The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hard Rock Video), and Marilyn Manson's output with Richard Kern and Floria Sigismondi . NIN later collaborated with Bill Viola for live accompaniment. Trent Reznor also produced the soundtracks for the films Natural Born Killers and Lost Highway , and served as "musical consultant" for Man on Fire . Rob Zombie has directed three films. In 2009, Marilyn Manson
4560-573: The Ozzfest in 1996 and 1997. In early 1997, they participated at the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber , DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology . This was the band's first appearance on the Billboard 200 . Roadrunner Records re-released, in
4674-574: The Soundwave Festival in Australia and New Zealand. On May 1, 2015, it was announced that former Static-X and Soulfly bassist Tony Campos joined the band. Later that month, Fear Factory announced that they would release their ninth studio album, titled Genexus , on August 7, 2015. They toured in European festivals in July 2015, and then onto North America, as an opening act for Coal Chamber . From late August until mid-September 2015,
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4788-488: The death metal scene, such as Fear Factory , Nailbomb , Autokrator and Meathook Seed , also began to experiment with industrial. Fear Factory, from Los Angeles, were initially influenced by the Earache roster (namely Godflesh , Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower ). The German band Oomph! after their second album Sperm started to play industrial metal combined with elements of death metal and groove metal until
4902-479: The nu metal and other emerging subgenres of metal. Many vocalists in today's metal scene use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990. The band played its first show on October 31, 1990. In 1991, Fear Factory recorded a series of cuts with little-known producer Ross Robinson , in Blackie Lawless 's studio. Afterward,
5016-609: The "Securitron" monitoring system. The story is presented in the lyrics booklet in a screenplay format between the individual songs. The printed story parts link the lyrics of the songs together thematically. Obsolete was released during the alternative metal boom of the late 1990s. It was supported by tours with Slayer and later Rammstein , and a headlining spot on the second stage at Ozzfest in 1999 as last-minute replacements for Judas Priest . They also toured in Europe in December 1998 with Spineshank and Kilgore , and went on their first headlining tour in North America with Static-X
5130-459: The 1990s. Soul of a New Machine has also been described as death metal with elements of genres like industrial metal and, to some extent, grindcore . Author Colin Larkin of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music wrote " Soul of a New Machine established Fear Factory as a genuine death metal force, with a good collection of songs delivered with originality and ferocity." The record featured
5244-555: The Arkaea album consists of songs that were intended to be the next Fear Factory record". Arkaea's debut album Years in the Darkness was released on July 14, 2009. On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament , Death , Strapping Young Lad , Dark Angel , and Dethklok . On April 28, this project
5358-556: The Cuban-born Al Jourgensen , explained this transition: Rediscovering the guitar on this record was almost like the first day I got my Fairlight . The possibilities just seemed endless on something that had seemed so limiting before. That's really funny. I started out as a guitarist, but I hadn't really touched a guitar in five years. Then I heard that first feedback come out of the Marshall stack and all of
5472-536: The Hungarian experimental metal act Thy Catafalque , Blut aus Nord and Norwegian band Shining with their critically acclaimed Blackjazz album, which blended progressive rock, black metal, free jazz and industrial. Canadian artist Devin Townsend , the founder of industrial thrash metal band Strapping Young Lad , later fused industrial with progressive metal during his prolific solo career. Coldwave
5586-600: The Norwegian black metal scene, but later chose to experiment with industrial music. Several artists with their roots in progressive music, though not often associated with industrial metal scene, also incorporated industrial textures into their music. Later-era King Crimson , whose 2000s albums were referred as "industrial art metal", and OSI can be named as examples of progressive industrial metal. Several acts associated with extreme metal subgenres also mix progressive and avant-garde metal with industrial, those include
5700-558: The U2 cover. However, Burton C. Bell said he is proud of the album and sees it as the band "stepping over boundaries". In 2015 however, in an interview with Nuclear Blast Records , Bell called Transgression , a "failed experiment". Late in 2005, Fear Factory toured the U.S. again on the "Machines at War" tour, with an all-star death metal lineup of guests in Suffocation , Hypocrisy , and Decapitated ; they played old classics from Soul of
5814-523: The US and with Mnemic in Europe. The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism . Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright , who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains . This
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#17328008736955928-437: The Watchers , which released its first EP, Iconoclast , independently via their online store in 2005. When you look up the definition of the word, Archetype, it's the actual model from which everything else is copied. Fear Factory is that in my opinion, and Archetype is a defining moment for us. Listen to this record, and you'll know exactly where all these other bands came from. Burton C. Bell Over time, tensions within
6042-608: The album Plastik . Sepultura singer Max Cavalera 's Nailbomb , a collaboration with Alex Newport, also practiced a combination of extreme metal and industrial production techniques. A lesser-known example of industrial death metal is Meathook Seed, made up of members of Napalm Death and the Florida death metal group Obituary . An industrial music fan, Obituary guitarist Trevor Peres suggested drum machines for The End Complete , Obituary's most successful album. The other band members' refusal led him to form Meathook Seed . In
6156-413: The album coupled with strong personal differences between some of the band members created a rift that escalated to the point where Bell announced his exit in March 2002. The band disbanded immediately thereafter; its publicists said this was "largely because vocalist Burton C. Bell is tired of playing angry, aggressive music and wants to form a band that's more indie-rock-oriented". In a final collaboration,
6270-515: The album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place. Videos were shot for the songs " Cyberwaste ", " Archetype ", and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"; the latter featured on the Saw film soundtrack . The band performed on further tours with Lamb of God and Mastodon in
6384-409: The band a recording contract. While the band signed the contract, it has since become controversial because of Roadrunner's treatment of the band during the events surrounding its 2002 breakup. This was reflected in the first album Archetype (2004), which was released following the band's re-formation. The opening song with lyrics by Burton C. Bell, "Slave Labor", was direct about the band's feelings on
6498-465: The band developed between Dino Cazares and the other members, particularly Burton C. Bell and Raymond Herrera. When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money. Herrera responded to these allegations on behalf of
6612-700: The band immediately since the band's tour was starting in two weeks. In June 1995, the band participated at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Netherlands. Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture , was released on June 12. Generally considered to be the band's defining work, features an alternative metal sound characterized by a mix of rapid-fire thrash metal/industrial metal guitar riffs and tight, pulse driven drum beats, roaring (rather than growled, but still aggressive) vocals that made way for melodic singing and powerful bass lines. The album's production
6726-470: The band members were unhappy with the terms of their recording contract, and they refused to sign. The band retained the rights to the songs, many of which they re-recorded in 1992 with a different producer, Colin Richardson, for inclusion on their debut release Soul of a New Machine . Meanwhile, Ross Robinson obtained the rights to the recording, which he used to promote himself as a producer. The album
6840-445: The band supposedly saw near their rehearsal space which was guarded by men carrying rifles. Later, they shortened the name to just "Fear Factory". The band's origins can be traced to an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares —formerly of The Douche Lords —and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California. Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex- Hate Face ), who
6954-539: The band toured the midwestern, southern and southwestern United States with support from Once Human (starring Logan Mader ), Los Angeles melodic metal band Before the Mourning and Chicago rock band The Bloodline . They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers. Industrial metal Industrial metal
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#17328008736957068-411: The band two weeks before they were scheduled to go on tour to promote the album and, although he contributed musical changes to a couple of songs on the album he stated that these were not significant. Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh , an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and
7182-511: The band would return to the studio to record a new album, produced by the band, immediately after the completion of the Transgression touring cycle. That month, Bell confirmed in an interview that the band would leave Liquid 8 Records. Rather than begin work on a new studio album, the band members briefly parted and began working with other projects. Bell contributed vocals to the songs "End of Days, Pt.1", "End of Days, Pt. 2", and "Die in
7296-409: The band's breakup. In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions. Herrera and Olde Wolbers reunited later in 2002 and laid the foundations for the return of Fear Factory. Cazares was then permanently out of the band. Bell
7410-411: The band's manager Christy Priske, who was also Wolbers' wife, and Herrera and Wolbers refused. Herrera and Wolbers threatened to sign a new record deal without Bell, prompting him to form a new version of Fear Factory without them. In some interviews, Wolbers said Bell had made "growing unacceptable demands", which were declined. He said, "Ray and I wanted what was best for the business and what he [Burton]
7524-434: The band. While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject. It tells a story called Conception 5 , which was written by Bell, that takes place in a future world where mankind is rendered "obsolete" by machines. Its characters include the " Edgecrusher ", "Smasher/Devourer", and
7638-437: The bass parts on Mechanize , prompting Cazares to do it himself. In February 2012, former Chimaira guitar player Matt DeVries replaced Stroud. On April 19, 2012, Mike Heller of Malignancy and System Divide was announced as the band's new drummer, replacing Gene Hoglan; in a 2013 interview, Hoglan claimed that he only found out through Blabbermouth.net that he was no longer needed, and expressed some disappointment about
7752-490: The course of events. At the same time, Cazares confirmed on his Facebook page that John Sankey of Devolved had programmed the drums on The Industrialist . Burton described The Industrialist as another concept album "sonically, conceptually, and lyrically". Cazares also said he and Burton were the two in control of the record's outcome, and that the songwriting on the album was much more "definitive" in regards to Fear Factory's platform sound. On June 4, 2012, The Industrialist
7866-411: The crossing over between styles and was an influence on major acts associated with industrial metal such as Ministry , Godflesh , and Nine Inch Nails . Another pioneer industrial rock group, Big Black , also impacted some later groups. By the late 1980s industrial and heavy metal began to fuse into a common genre, with Godflesh's self-titled EP and Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey at
7980-558: The desire to produce a Metallica album. Jourgensen's interest in dance-oriented electronic music did not entirely fade, however; he also formed the side-project Revolting Cocks , a more electronic body music -inflected collaboration with Richard23 of Front 242 . German band KMFDM was another seminal industrial metal group. Although not a metal fan , KMFDM leader Sascha Konietzko 's "infatuation with ripping off metal licks " stemmed from his experiments with E-mu 's Emax sampler in late 1986. He told Guitar World that, It
8094-412: The early 1990s, particularly in North America, with the success of groups such as Nine Inch Nails , but its popularity began to fade in the latter half of the 1990s. Though electric guitars had been used by industrial artists since the early days of the genre, archetypal industrial groups such as Throbbing Gristle displayed a strong anti-rock stance. British post-punk band Killing Joke pioneered
8208-439: The early days we were inspired by bands like Head of David and Swans and the like... coming out of punk into the weird, angry, total noise, kind of pre-industrial music. It gets called industrial but I don't know if it really is. Industrial metal's popularity led a number of successful thrash metal groups, including Megadeth , Sepultura , and Anthrax , to request remixes by "industrial" artists. Some musicians emerging from
8322-538: The early years of the 21st century, groups from the black metal scene began to incorporate elements of industrial music. Mysticum , formed in 1991, was the first of these groups. DHG (Dødheimsgard), Thorns from Norway and Blut Aus Nord , N.K.V.D. and Blacklodge from France, have been acclaimed for their incorporation of industrial elements. Other industrial black metal musicians include Samael , The Axis of Perdition , Aborym , and ...And Oceans . In addition, The Kovenant , Mortiis and Ulver emerged from
8436-824: The first Roadrunner Roadrage tour in North America, toured Europe with Devin Townsend and Godflesh and played in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Digimortal made the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts, the Top 20 in Canada and the Top 10 of the Australian album charts. The track " Linchpin " reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40. A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact"
8550-425: The following day in North America, almost a year after Archetype . The album garnered highly polarized reviews; some critics hailed the album as diverse and progressive, and other reviewers did not receive the record very well. Although the album starts off as a Fear Factory record, subsequent songs include mellow/alt-rock numbers "Echo of My Scream" (featuring Faith No More 's Billy Gould on bass) and "New Promise",
8664-514: The forefront. Godflesh was founded by former Napalm Death guitarist Justin Broadrick . Drawing from a wide array of influences— power electronics forefathers Whitehouse , noise rock band Swans , ambient music creator Brian Eno and fellow Birmingham hard rockers Black Sabbath —the Godflesh sound was once described as " Pornography -era The Cure on Quaaludes ". Though not
8778-415: The former band members are German as reported in the media, none of us condone any Nazi beliefs whatsoever. Rammstein stated that they "have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behavior". Rammstein have also been controversial for their use of Nazi imagery, including footage shot by Leni Riefenstahl for Olympia in their video for " Stripped ". Alec Empire ,
8892-482: The genre when they began to mix extreme metal with industrial music in the late 1980s. Pigface , formed by Martin Atkins and including Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin , emerged as an industrial metal collective of sorts, participating with many figures from the noise rock and industrial worlds. Nine Inch Nails, the "one-man-band" formed by Trent Reznor , brought the genre to mainstream audiences with albums such as
9006-488: The group recorded two songs for the video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate that month. Fear Factory's contractual obligations remained unfulfilled, however, and Roadrunner did not release them without controversially issuing the Concrete album in 2002 and the B-sides and rarities compilation, Hatefiles , in 2003. During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of
9120-535: The group. An album tour of Europe with Brutal Truth , then Cannibal Corpse , Cathedral , and Sleep , followed. The next year, they hired Front Line Assembly member Rhys Fulber to remix some songs from the album, demonstrating the band's willingness to experiment with their music. The results took on a predominantly industrial guise, and were released as the Fear Is the Mindkiller EP (1993). Soul of
9234-598: The inaugural Gigantour . Their singles have charted on the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums on the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200, and they have sold more than a million albums in the U.S. alone. Fear Factory was formed in 1989 under the name Ulceration , which the band agreed would "just be a cool name". In 1990, the name "Fear the Factory" was adopted. The name was inspired by a factory that
9348-560: The integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares. Cazares and Herrera wrote all the music. Because the band had no bass player, Cazares played both guitar and bass on the recording. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic called the album "groundbreaking" and said that "it ushered in the '90s alternative metal era". To promote the album, Fear Factory embarked on extensive U.S. tours with Biohazard , Sepultura , and Sick of It All . During this period, sampler-keyboardist Reynor Diego joined
9462-595: The issue on the radio program Speed Freaks . Herrera said he and Wolbers were still in the band. "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory ;... [Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it", said Herrera. Herrera also said the four original members—Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and Herrera—were contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and, "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of
9576-481: The matter. After working with numerous bassists, Andrew Shives was hired as a live bassist prior to the release of Soul of a New Machine . Released in 1992, Soul of a New Machine , which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene. The sound of the album presages the mixing of metal genres which would soon be called alternative metal . The production combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums,
9690-648: The maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album; whereas Soul of a New Machine failed to chart anywhere, Demanufacture made the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers charts and a video was produced for the song "Replica". The video was featured in the Test Drive 5 video game for the PlayStation . The song "Zero Signal" was featured on
9804-497: The mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter. According to Brian Russ of The BNR Metal Pages, the demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into the band's death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell's pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band's sound throughout their career. The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals later defined
9918-456: The movies Full Metal Jacket , Blade Runner , and Apocalypse Now are heard sporadically throughout the album. AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier remarked that "Fear Factory were quite ahead of their time in 1992". The critic also noted the diversity of the genres featured in the recording, saying that "Soul of a New Machine was so groundbreaking because it [fused] together some of the best aspects of numerous metal subgenres", which "[resulted] in
10032-737: The new album released by August, followed by a tour in September. On September 12, 2014, the band announced it had signed to record label Nuclear Blast and would enter the studio in October. The band also confirmed that the album would be mixed by Andy Sneap , and that Rhys Fulber would again produce it. The band played their first shows in India, in November 2014, as part of the Weekender Tour, and on February/March 2015, they participated at
10146-459: The next year, though the first leg was interrupted due to the band's tour bus and material being stolen. They also played in Japan for the first time. Obsolete became the band's highest selling album, marking the band's first entry into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The album also spawned singles " Descent " and a digipak bonus track, " Cars ", a cover of the Gary Numan song featuring
10260-402: The other band members, saying that Cazares was motivated by money and emphasizing Olde Wolbers' influence on the band's sound. According to Herrera, the other band members would often come up with new ideas they wanted to incorporate into Fear Factory's sound, but their suggestions were dismissed or openly ridiculed by Cazares, causing a rift between him and the other members that ultimately led to
10374-448: The project's formation. On March 21, 2008, while Fear Factory was on hiatus, Bell spoke in a video interview about the band's future, saying he no longer wanted to contribute to the violence and aggression he saw in the world with the aggressive type of music Fear Factory produced. Wolbers and Herrera started a new band called Arkaea , with vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh of Threat Signal . Wolbers said, "Ironically, half of
10488-566: The replacement of original drummer Raymond Herrera , and Bell and Stroud reprising their respective roles; this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Wolbers and Herrera — together comprising 50% of the band's legal ownership — disputed the legitimacy of the reunited band, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021). The band has performed at Ozzfest four times and
10602-474: The song " Links 2-3-4 ", released in 2001, which responded to the Nazi allegations by insinuating that they reside left on the political spectrum . Soul of a New Machine Soul of a New Machine is the debut studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory , released on August 25, 1992, by Roadrunner Records . Although this record was Fear Factory's first studio album to be released, it
10716-407: The style on their second album, L'Eau Rouge (1989). Prior to its release, singer Franz Treichler declared: We just wanted to hear guitars. We missed the attack of ' Envoyé '. That's what we want to hear right now, pure power. A metal sound that isn't revivalist, isn't biker style, speed metal style, any style, just WHAP! Canadian thrash metal band Malhavoc became one of the earlier acts of
10830-591: The top spots of the Billboard 200 chart: Rob Zombie 's Hellbilly Deluxe (No. 5), Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar (No. 3), and Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile (No. 1). A number of industrial metal albums performed well on Billboard's Heatseekers chart: Filter 's Short Bus (No. 3), Stabbing Westward 's Wither Blister Burn + Peel (No. 1), Rammstein 's Sehnsucht (No. 2), Orgy 's Candyass (No. 1), and Static-X 's Wisconsin Death Trip (No. 1). During this era, Trent Reznor
10944-415: The track "Archetype" on its 2013 Australian tour in early July, with minor changes to the song's lyrics; as of 2023, the band continues to play songs from the album, with Cazares saying "The fans want it, and I got used to playing it, so it's all good." On May 1, 2013, Dino Cazares told Songfacts.com Fear Factory would begin work on their ninth studio album after the end of The Industrialist tour. The album
11058-641: Was a Manson fan. Manson, a former journalist, published a detailed response to the controversy following the Columbine shootings in an article published in Rolling Stone . It concluded: I think that the National Rifle Association is far too powerful to take on, so most people choose Doom , The Basketball Diaries or yours truly. This kind of controversy does not help me sell records or tickets, and I wouldn't want it to. I'm
11172-554: Was a turning point for the band; Roadrunner Records was now keen on capitalizing on the band's sales potential and pressured the band to record more accessible material for the follow-up album, titled Digimortal , which was released in April 2001. Few weeks before its release, they were touring in Europe with One Minute Silence . They went on a long headlining North American tour during 2001, then played in much larger European festivals like Bizarre Festival, Pukkelpop , Lowlands Festival and Leeds & Reading Festival. They then went on
11286-523: Was actually their second album to be recorded, after Concrete , which was recorded in 1991 but not released until 11 years later. German magazine Rock Hard described it as death metal with many other elements such as industrial metal . Soul of a New Machine was remastered and re-released on October 5, 2004, in a digipak , packaged together with the remastered Fear Is the Mindkiller EP. Guitarist Dino Cazares has stated that Soul of
11400-464: Was allegedly due to pressure from Fear Factory's new label Calvin Records, which preponed the album's release date from four months away to just a month and a half so the band would have a new album to support on the inaugural Gigantour , which they had been invited to participate on by Dave Mustaine . The resulting album, Transgression , was released on August 22, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and on
11514-429: Was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing " New Year's Day " by U2 . Cazares played bass on the first three Fear Factory albums Concrete , Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture , on which Cazares changed many of the riffs during the recording. It took Cazares two weeks to get the appropriate guitar tone. Cazares created, wrote and recorded all the music on the album. Olde Wolbers joined
11628-406: Was announced to be a new version of Fear Factory without Herrera and Wolbers. When asked about their exclusion, Bell said, "[Fear Factory is] like a business and I'm just reorganizing ... We won't talk about [their exclusion]". Hoglan in retrospect has expressed some hesitation joining the band, saying that he only did it as a favour for Stroud. In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera spoke about
11742-435: Was approached with their demo recordings and was impressed enough to rejoin the band and Fear Factory was re-formed. Olde Wolbers switched to guitar and Byron Stroud of Strapping Young Lad was approached to join the band as a bassist. He was a member from 2003 until 2012. The bassist would also be in a side project with Bell called City OF Fire. Cazares continued recording and performing with his side project called Asesino ,
11856-421: Was available to stream through AOL Music . The album was released through Candlelight Records on June 5, 2012. On May 2, 2013, Cazares commented regarding the status of Fear Factory albums Archetype and Transgression , which were recorded without his participation, and the band's decision not to play songs from them live, saying "they don't count" as Fear Factory albums. Contradicting this, Fear Factory played
11970-428: Was chosen by Time as one of the most influential Americans of 1997. The genre's popularity was such that established glam metal groups, including Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe , began to dabble in the style. Figures from the hip hop scene also began to seek out collaborations with and remixes from industrial metal musicians. When industrial metal climbed the charts of the late 1990s, its sudden popularity
12084-439: Was expected to be released in early 2014. On May 13, 2013, Burton C. Bell told Metal-Rules.com, "Fear Factory will continue to tour North America and Europe 2013. We've got some more tours scheduled, some summer festivals next year. During that time our plan is to start writing a new record and we would like to have a new record out by spring 2014". On March 19, 2014, Bell told Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles he would like to have
12198-438: Was in the process of directing Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll . The movie has since languished in development hell . Other films that have included prominent contributions from industrial metal artists include The Crow , Johnny Mnemonic , Hideaway , ( Mortal Kombat / 1997 sequel ) , The Matrix , Blair Witch and A.I. Artificial Intelligence . Its emphasis on transgressive themes has made
12312-447: Was just interesting to use it as a kind of white noise reinforcement for our music. All of a sudden heavy metal was free from all those tempo changes and boring attitudes it always had. What I always hated most about heavy metal was that the best riffs came only once and were never repeated. So the fascination, actually, was to sample a great riff, loop it, and play it over and over again. A Swiss trio, The Young Gods , brushed with
12426-598: Was met with negative reactions from the early innovators of industrial music . Peter Christopherson told The Wire that he no longer felt any kinship with the industrial scene: "this is not me, this is not what I'm about". Lustmord , a prominent early industrial musician, declared that "Ministry just doesn't interest [him]" and "[he has] no time for all this rock and roll shit they're doing now." Skinny Puppy frontman Nivek Ogre dismissed Nine Inch Nails as " cock rock " but have since patched things up and have even performed on stage together. Industrial metal suffered
12540-427: Was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer . A VHS/DVD release called Digital Connectivity , which documents each of the four album periods of the band via interviews, live clips, music videos and tour/studio footage, was released in January 2002. Although Digimortal had a successful start, the sales did not reach the levels of Obsolete and the band received little tour support. The direction of
12654-407: Was released in 2002 by Roadrunner Records under the title Concrete after the band's breakup. The release was controversial because the album was issued without the approval of Fear Factory. Robinson ended up suing the band, which Bell jokingly said in 2021 that it was foreshadowing "the entire career of Fear Factory." Concrete is viewed by the band as a demo; a developmental step toward Soul of
12768-425: Was similar in sound to Demanufacture , emphasizing progressive metal elements. For the first time, the album featured Christian Olde Wolbers writing and recording full time with the band. It also featured Cazares' debut use of 7-string Ibanez guitars tuned to A tuning (A, D, G, C, F, A, D), and paved the way for a lower-tuned sound than previously. The album is also notable for Rhys Fulber's increased involvement with
12882-636: Was trying to change wasn't really good for the business. It was only bad for the business, so that's why he went into that whole phase of hijacking the name and trying to run with it." Fear Factory featuring Bell and Cazares was due to make its live debut on June 21 at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain. However, the show was canceled "at the last minute", apparently because of the legal complications referenced by Herrera. The rest of that lineup's planned performances in mid-2009, which included
12996-467: Was working and demoing new material for the next Fear Factory album. On January 25, 2012, the band announced the new album will be titled The Industrialist . The album was again co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber and mixed by Greg Reely. Byron Stroud left the band early in 2012, saying, "Life's too short to spend it with people who don't respect you". In one interview, Cazares said he did not know why Stroud decided to leave and that he could not play
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