{"id":35507,"date":"2015-08-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=35507"},"modified":"2015-09-01T04:27:40","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T04:27:40","slug":"feature-fear-factory-08-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-fear-factory-08-15\/","title":{"rendered":"FEAR FACTORY – Soul Hackers (August 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

FEAR FACTORY – Soul Hackers<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fear Factory (l-r): Mike Heller, Tony Campos, Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Stephanie Cabral<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nIn devising concepts as well as the given titles for tracks, guitarist Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell \u2013 members of Los Angeles, California-based industrial metal outfit Fear Factory \u2013 discuss each and every detail. This was equally the case for August 2015 full-length studio album Genexus<\/em>, the band\u2019s ninth overall and first to be issued through Nuclear Blast Entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe writing process was basically me inside my studio; writing everything on a drum program, getting all of the demos down, and getting all of the pre-production done,\u201d Dino informs. \u201cWe changed the arrangements of the songs and so on, and then we gave them to our drummer whose name is Mike Heller. Mike Heller listened to everything; he changed a lot of his drum parts, and added different elements to the writing process. Then obviously we went into the studio with Rhys Fulber, and tracked everything, recorded everything. Then Rhys added a lot of keyboards on top of it, and then we had a couple of other keyboard players who contributed stuff as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe writing process was very natural. We said \u2018Look, let\u2019s be Fear Factory. Let\u2019s be who we are.\u2019 The thing is, no idea is a dumb idea. We try everything. That was the writing process for this record, and then when we wanted to track, record and mix, Rhys Fulber is more known for his digital side. A lot of stuff is done on a computer; obviously, a lot of analogue keyboards and synthesizers that he likes to work with. Andy Sneap was more of a guy who likes to get more organic tones, and I think that the combination of Rhys Fulber and Andy Sneap working on the record definitely added something to the hybrid of the organic and digital tone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Being Fear Factory\u2019 so to speak means the employment of a specific mixture of ingredients. \u201cObviously crushing riffs, killer double-bass, and beautiful melodic choruses,\u201d the axeman lists.<\/p>\n

Nine affairs into a studio catalogue, Genexus<\/em> will inevitably be critiqued against past efforts. \u201cThat\u2019s a hard one, because I\u2019ve been trying to figure that out,\u201d Dino concedes. \u201cOne of the cool things I found out after we were done with the record is that it does have some parts that are reminiscent of past records, like \u2018Dielectric\u2019 sounds like it could\u2019ve come from Demanufacture<\/em> (June 1995), or \u2018Soul Hacker\u2019 sounds like it could\u2019ve come from Obsolete<\/em> (July 1998) \u2013 like an \u2018Edgecrusher\u2019 song. It wasn\u2019t until after we were done with the record that we were like \u2018Wow, there are older elements of Fear Factory in this record as well as new elements.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously a song like \u2018Expiration Date\u2019 is an electronic ballad; the song is epic, it\u2019s beautiful. It\u2019s different to what we\u2019ve done in the past when it came to ballads; songs like \u2018Resurrection\u2019 and \u2018Timelessness\u2019 are completely different, and \u2018A Therapy For Pain\u2019, which is on Demanufacture<\/em>. Songs like \u2018Church Of Execution\u2019, and \u2018Regenerate\u2019. There\u2019s a quite a few parts in the songs that aren\u2019t connected to stuff from the past, like the guitar solo in \u2018Soul Hacker\u2019. There\u2019s different elements that we don\u2019t do very much, or that we don\u2019t do very often. The only time a Fear Factory record had a solo on it was a song called \u2018Fear Campaign\u2019 off of Mechanize<\/em> (February 2010). We only had songs on the album that were melodic and epic with a big, huge chorus. That was something that we did slightly different on this record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genexus<\/em> lyrically pursues a specific train of thought. \u201cIt\u2019s a singularity concept that has already happened,\u201d the composer details. \u201cIn other words, man and machine have already become one. We feel that on this record, the genexus is a hybrid of words; \u2018genesis\u2019 meaning the beginning of time, and \u2018nexus\u2019 which is actually the connection between man and machine \u2013 the singularity process. We\u2019re calling this the genexus generation, a new model of a hybrid of a man \/ machine basically. This record goes through different processes of what we need to do to survive in today\u2019s world, and also, it uses this man \/ machine for militaristic purposes. For combat, for all kinds of things. Basically, we\u2019re trying to survive, and at the end of the record on a song called \u2018Expiration Date\u2019, you realise that we have an expiration date and we will die, just like everything else. Humans have an expiration date \u2013 we all do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Science as well as science fiction were sources of lyrical inspiration. \u201cFrom movies like Terminator<\/em> (1984) and Blade Runner<\/em> (1982) to more recent movies like Ex Machina<\/em> (2015), and also people like Stephen Hawking and Ray Kurzweil \u2013 listening to their lectures and their futuristic predictions of where they see technology growing and how it is growing, the evolution of the singularity process,\u201d Dino cites. \u201cWe keep up on all that and that\u2019s where our ideas come from, but we kind of add a different spin to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Kevin Estrada<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Fear Factory toured extensively in-between recording sessions. \u201cWe went to China, we went to India, we went to Australia, so we actually did a lot of touring in-between,\u201d the axe-slinger remembers. \u201cWe always had to stop a few weeks here, a few weeks there, so we kind of took our time. We made sure that people will remember these songs. We made sure that there was no weak song on the record; we wanted it to be a great record, and so we worked really hard at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber handled production, once again. \u201cOn this one, he probably had a lot less to do because a lot of the stuff was already written pre-production wise before it reached the hands of Rhys,\u201d Dino informs. \u201cRhys added his elements on a few songs here and there, but a lot of the stuff we had already done. We did it all ourselves. Rhys has different sound ideas for different textures. It could be something that I wrote on keyboards, and then he\u2019ll come in and just make it sound better \u2013 he\u2019ll copy what I wrote, but make it sound better. He will give it some quality, give it some depth, and that was Rhys\u2019 role on this one. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe worked with Burt\u2019s vocals a lot. As far as the guitars, bass and drums, it was mainly just me and an engineer. Rhys didn\u2019t have a lot to do with the record as much as he has in the past, but obviously he has an influence on what we write and what he adds to it. There\u2019s a big influence of Rhys on the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helming vocal recording was Drew Fulk. \u201cDrew Fulk is great,\u201d the musician endorses. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys who\u2019s like a vocal arranger. Drew came in to help us organise the lyrics, because Burton had written a lot. Drew understands what words work best in a song, like everything down to the syllable and the pronunciation. He helped Burton out with that stuff. He basically arranged some of Burton\u2019s lyrics for him, and then he also helped Burton with some melodies on this record; to put together some melodies and rhythm patterns for his vocals. We hired him to come help us out with what we had written.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as guitar sessions were concerned, it was a case of business as usual. \u201cOn the drums and the guitars, it was business as usual,\u201d Dino seconds. \u201cJust me riffing away (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Albeit \u2018business as usual\u2019, the perennial aim is to maintain a fresh vibe overall within the Fear Factory framework. \u201cI think that we always have been a band who tries to push the envelope,\u201d the performer submits. \u201cIf not trying to push the envelope, we try to stay true to who we are. I believe that when we made Demanufacture<\/em>, a lot of people had never heard anything like that. That was new, and because there\u2019s not a lot of bands copying the whole sound, it definitely keeps us relevant today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear Factory is commonly described as an industrial metal assortment, although Fear Factory is arguably different to the likes of Nine Inch Nails, to use one example. \u201cNine Inch Nails isn\u2019t an industrial metal band \u2013 they\u2019re more of an industrial \/ electro… pop in some cases,\u201d Dino argues. \u201cThey\u2019re pretty different than us. Our true core is definitely metal; thrash metal, grindcore, death metal, and all that. Obviously we have our own sound, but we were influenced by a lot of music like that. With that being said though, that\u2019s the core of the music. With Burton\u2019s vocals on top of it, it\u2019s completely different. It\u2019s obviously very, very melodic. The hooks stick in your head; especially on the new record, the hooks really stick in your head. Whether you like it or not, some of the songs you cannot stop singing, and we always try to write them like that. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to describe Fear Factory or say what to label it. The best way to say it is industrial metal, or cyber metal (laughs). We\u2019ve heard it all, really. We do have \u2018Expiration Date\u2019 at the end of the record though, which is an electro-pop ballad. The hook on the song is pretty massive; Burton had a great melodic hook for the chorus, which is epic. We\u2019ve always put out epic songs on our records. The whole record is pretty much tense the whole way through, but then you get to the end of the record and it\u2019s a mellow bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bearing \u2018hooks\u2019 which \u2018stick in your head\u2019 suggest Genexus<\/em> is perhaps a more commercial effort. \u201cIf you want to play it on the radio, go for it,\u201d the guitarist chuckles. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re gonna be playing Fear Factory any time soon on the radio, as far as rock FM radio. It\u2019s not pop in that way, but we\u2019ve been experimenting \u2013 just like every fucking band under the sun \u2013 with cool, catchy pop structures. I call them poppy structures because they\u2019re simple structures. If you go to our first album and listen to \u2018Martyr\u2019 and \u2018Scapegoat\u2019, those are pop structures with melodic choruses. We have not changed that \u2013 that\u2019s still there. \u2018Soul Hacker\u2019 pretty much has the same structure as \u2018Scapegoat\u2019; they\u2019re both catchy songs. They\u2019re not meant to be fucking 30,000 riffs, and 50,000 notes in one song. It\u2019s not supposed to be that way; it\u2019s supposed to be cool, catchy fucking heavy songs with a big hook on them. That\u2019s what it\u2019s supposed to be, and that\u2019s what we felt when we wrote those songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments suggest Dino isn\u2019t a fan of more technically minded material. \u201cNo, that\u2019s not what I\u2019m saying at all,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cI\u2019m just saying that that wasn\u2019t the intention, but if you go to our album Mechanize<\/em>, there\u2019s a lot of riffs everywhere. Each song has like ten riffs or ten to 20 different parts, whereas a song like \u2018Soul Hacker\u2019 has three riffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As was the case with Mechanize<\/em> and The Industrialist<\/em> (June 2012), cover artwork duties fell to Anthony Clarkson. \u201cWith the cover artwork, we wanted something that expressed what we were talking about,\u201d the axeman axplains. \u201cAnthony Clarkson came up with this idea and we really liked it, so we ended up going with it. Yeah, sure, people say that it reminds them of Terminator<\/em>, but that\u2019s kind of where we\u2019ve gone. That\u2019s the message we\u2019ve tried to convey in our lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n

On September 12th, 2014, it was publicly disclosed that Fear Factory had inked a record contract with Nuclear Blast Entertainment. \u201cMonte Conner was the guy who signed the band originally to Roadrunner Records, and if there\u2019s anybody who really understands the band, it\u2019s him,\u201d Dino credits. \u201cWe released a lot of records together. When Roadrunner got bought out, he left there and started his own label \u2013 his own imprint called Nuclear Blast Entertainment \u2013 and he\u2019s signed a lot of bands. He\u2019s only been there for maybe the last two years, but he\u2019s signed a lot of bands; he\u2019s got Suicide Silence, Machine Head, Soulfly, Thy Art Is Murder \u2013 he\u2019s got quite a few bands. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe approached us about signing to the label over a year ago, and obviously he knows the band extremely well. It\u2019s great working with him again, because it feels like we have the old team back together. There\u2019s me and Burt obviously, and then we\u2019ve got Rhys Fulber. We\u2019ve got Tony Campos who we\u2019ve known for years, and Monte Conner. The label is just… It\u2019s especially good working with the label, because they\u2019re actually fans of the band and fans of the music. It definitely helps when people at the label love the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nuclear Blast Entertainment is arguably almost a flashback to 90s-era Roadrunner Records. \u201cIf Slipknot was available or Trivium was available, he\u2019d go out and do a deal with them,\u201d the songwriter reckons.<\/p>\n

Directed by Ramon Boutviseth, a music video was filmed for the track \u2018Dielectric\u2019. \u201cIt was cool,\u201d Dino enthuses. \u201cWe basically played in front of a green screen, and he just added all of these futuristic elements to it. There\u2019s a lot of CGI graphics in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In conjunction with promoting Genexus<\/em>, further music videos might be filmed. \u201cAs far as performance videos, yeah, maybe one more,\u201d the axe-slinger ponders. \u201cI don\u2019t know which song it\u2019ll be for, but I\u2019m sure that there\u2019ll be one more. It depends on the success of the record, whether we have enough money to make another one.\u201d<\/p>\n

From November through to mid-December 2015, Fear Factory will tour Europe to commemorate the 20th anniversary of second studio record Demanufacture<\/em> \u2013 issued in June 1995 through the Roadrunner label. \u201cCan you believe that that record\u2019s already 20 years old?,\u201d Dino asks. \u201cIt just went by fast. We feel that because that record has fan favourites, it would be good to do a tour around that just for a whole new generation of people who never got to see us during that time and that tour. To just play it in its entirety, man. To show respect to what was a record that opened a door to metal. It basically gave a facelift to metal. Burt\u2019s vocal style is definitely something that is very, very common these days among other bands. We just wanna show people where it came from, where it started, so hopefully a new generation will get into Fear Factory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Occupying bass for said shows will be former Soulfly \/ Static-X member Tony Campos, whose appointment was confirmed on May 1st. \u201cIt was definitely a no-brainer to bring Tony in,\u201d the musician views. \u201cWe were on tour in Australia, and he was on tour with Ministry in Australia \u2013 we were doing the Soundwave Festival. Unfortunately, the bass player that we had wanted to spend more time with his family. Matt DeVries has two boys, so he wanted to be there his boys and see his boys grow up. We just asked Tony right there while we were on tour (laughs), and obviously we\u2019ve known him for 20 years. He plays bass with me in another band called Asesino. He didn\u2019t have to audition; all he had to do was learn the songs, and that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genexus<\/em> was released on August 7th, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in August 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FEAR FACTORY – Soul Hackers Anthony Morgan August 2015 Fear Factory (l-r): Mike Heller, Tony Campos, Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell Pic: Stephanie Cabral In devising concepts as well as the given titles for tracks, guitarist Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell \u2013 members of Los Angeles, California-based industrial metal outfit Fear Factory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[292,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fear-factory","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35507"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35564,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35507\/revisions\/35564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}