{"id":9406,"date":"2012-12-16T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-12-16T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=9406"},"modified":"2013-01-23T00:42:30","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T00:42:30","slug":"feature-fear-factory-12-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-fear-factory-12-12\/","title":{"rendered":"FEAR FACTORY – Recharged (December 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

FEAR FACTORY – Recharged<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nDecember 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fear Factory (l-r): Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Writing sessions in support of June 2012\u2019s The Industrialist<\/em><\/a> \u2013 the eighth full-length by Los Angeles, California-based industrial metal outfit Fear Factory \u2013 began in earnest during early 2011. Guitarist and co-founder Dino Cazares as well as friend John Sankey (drummer of technical death metal group Devolved) composed material in a studio, Burton C. Bell supplying vocals to the music later in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a lot of stuff off of the computer, a lot of drum programming off of the computer,\u201d Dino notes. \u201cWe had 90% of the record written before we actually went into the studio, and it worked out great. The majority of the last one (February 2010\u2019s Mechanize<\/em>) had been written by me and Burton. We had a couple of other musicians in the band who contributed a little bit to the writing process, but a good portion of it was written by me and Burton.\u201d<\/p>\n

The axeman and Burton comprise Fear Factory\u2019s sole official members. \u201cThe other guys \u2013 Mike Heller (drums, System Divide) and Matt DeVries (bass, ex-Chimaira rhythm guitarist) \u2013 are live session musicians,\u201d he confirms. \u201cWe hope that they stay around, but you never know. When you\u2019re a hired member obviously it\u2019s like a job, so you can go out and get another job. This is like a job for them, so they have the choice to come and go as they please.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Heller and Matt DeVries might perhaps contribute to Fear Factory\u2019s ninth studio record. \u201cThere\u2019s a good possibility that that might happen,\u201d Dino considers.<\/p>\n

Bereft of a sticksman at the time of recording The Industrialist<\/em>, the assortment opted to use a drum programme. \u201cWe\u2019ve been experimenting with that since back in 1992, back when our first album came out (August 1992\u2019s Soul Of A New Machine<\/em>),\u201d the songwriter muses. \u201cActually before that, we experimented with drum machines when we were doing demos. Later on the drum machine turned into a drum programme on a computer, obviously. Definitely a lot of things have come so far ahead, and the technology has gotten so much better that you can pretty much do it on your laptop. You can write when you\u2019re on the road. We always liked that sound; we always liked what that was about. We always liked that sound, and we always liked how tight it was. We\u2019ve always liked that machine sound, so that\u2019s what we did. We used it for this record. Another thing too is the drummer we had went out and did some other band, so we were left without a drummer. We decided to do it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether a rhythmist will step behind the drumkit or a programme will be utilized yet again on future recordings is uncertain. \u201cI don\u2019t know at this point,\u201d Dino chuckles. \u201cIt\u2019s a little too early to start talking about the next record. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re gonna go with a drum machine, or if we\u2019re gonna go with a live drummer. Even if we use a live drummer though, at what point does it become live anymore? After all the sound replacements, and after all the… most people record a live drummer onto a computer, and then they put it to a grid. They align every hit to be perfect, and then they sound replace it to give it more of a mechanical feel. At what point is it human anymore? Whether we use a live drummer or not, it\u2019s gonna be the same outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

With each platter, the axe-slinger\u2019s mission is always the same. \u201cWith every album that I do I always try to improve my tone, or try to add something to it, or just try to make it a little bit different,\u201d he discloses. \u201cOn this record, I didn\u2019t really change it too much \u2013 the only difference was that I went directly into the computer. On the last record, I used a cabinet. This time, I used a POD HD going directly into the computer which gave it a little bit of a different tone. My overall guitar tone though is very mid-rangey. It\u2019s got a really high, bright, mid-rangey tone. It\u2019s clear. You can hear every note that I\u2019m picking, and I think it\u2019s got a lot of attack. A lot of that has to do with my right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Albeit occupying the position of lead guitarist, Dino has supplied bass to several Fear Factory outings. \u201cOn our last record Mechanize<\/em>, the bass player (Byron Stroud) couldn\u2019t play the parts,\u201d he informs. \u201cHe just couldn\u2019t pick that fast, so I did it. Then on the new record, I did the bass parts because we didn\u2019t have a bass player \u2013 I played them (laughs). On Soul Of A New Machine<\/em> and and Demanufacture<\/em> (June 1995), I played bass as well. When we recorded Soul Of A New Machine<\/em>, we didn\u2019t have a bass player. It wasn\u2019t until Demanufacture<\/em> we had a bass player (Christian Olde Wolbers), but he didn\u2019t know the songs so I played bass. It makes it much tighter because it\u2019s me playing all of the rhythm tracks, rhythm guitar and bass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear Factory attempts to flavour each full-length with its own unique idiosyncrasies. \u201cSoul Of A New Machine<\/em> was obviously a very raw sounding record,\u201d the co-founder begins. \u201cWe did Fear Is The Mindkiller<\/em> (April 1993) which was the first remix EP, and we did Demanufacture<\/em> which was a much more refined Fear Factory. The syncopated drum parts and the guitar parts were a lot tighter, and Burt\u2019s vocals improved 100%. It had a much more mechanical, cold feel to it, whereas Obsolete<\/em> (July 1998) had more of a well-rounded, warmer tone. There are more human elements in that record. It was very big and it was dark, and it was an emotional album. Then we did Digimortal<\/em> (April 2001), which had more of what our fans called the commercial aspect of Fear Factory. We had some very big songs like \u2018Linchpin\u2019, which was a very big song for us. Then there were a couple of records I wasn\u2019t on (April 2004\u2019s Archetype<\/em> and August 2005\u2019s Transgression<\/em>). Mechanize<\/em> had more of a thrash element and The Industrialist<\/em> is more of a throwback to what we were in the past, Demanufacture<\/em> and so on. We try to sound a little bit different, and I believe that we\u2019ve pretty much achieved that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digimortal<\/em>\u2019s resultant commercialism was arguably intentional. \u201cThere was pressure from the record company, because Obsolete<\/em> was such a big record in America and actually worldwide,\u201d Dino remembers. \u201cWe got a lot of Gold records from all over the world with Obsolete<\/em>, so they tried to push us in a commercial direction to sell millions of records. That\u2019s what happened. I\u2019m definitely still happy with it, though. Of course on every record there\u2019s something here and there that you might wanna change, but I really like the record overall. There are a couple of songs I could do without, but besides that most of it was pretty good. I think some of our older fans were turned off by it, but I think overall they still liked the album. When we play those songs live, they still love them. \u2018Linchpin\u2019 was one of our biggest songs, and it was off of that record. A lot of people know that song; I would say it\u2019s just as big as \u2018Replica\u2019. A lot of people were introduced to Fear Factory through that song.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Industrialist<\/em>, meanwhile, bears less of a thrash influence than predecessor Mechanize<\/em>. \u201cI think a lot of that influence came from me, because I had been doing Divine Heresy for the last seven years,\u201d the guitarist observes. \u201cDivine Heresy had a lot of thrash elements and a lot more guitar middling, and that just carried over into Mechanize<\/em>. The Industrialist<\/em> is more of a throwback to Demanufacture<\/em> in some parts; we wanted to bring back the more classic elements of Fear Factory on The Industrialist<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Predecessor Mechanize<\/em> marked the final Fear Factory full-length to be recorded while bassist Byron Stroud remained affiliated with the group, albeit not including his services. \u201cByron just said that he didn\u2019t wanna be in the band anymore, and I said \u2018Okay,\u2019\u201d Dino recalls. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a problem with it. You\u2019ll have to ask him why he left though, because I don\u2019t know. I really don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Byron never explained why he wished to leave Fear Factory, the axeman reckons. \u201cNot to me,\u201d he states. \u201cHe spoke to Burt about it, but not to me. He was never really an official member of the band. Nobody is an official member of the band except Burt and I.\u201d<\/p>\n

While bandmates, there was no ill will between the two as far as Dino is concerned. \u201cI got along with him great,\u201d he feels.<\/p>\n

The Industrialist<\/em>\u2019s title cut inaugurates the group\u2019s eighth studio proper, essentially introducing the full-length. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty much the story of The Industrialist, which is an automaton who becomes sentient,\u201d the composer divulges. \u201cHe realises that he isn\u2019t human, and so he seeks his creator to try to gain more life. The concept was a collaboration between Burton and I. The music video was basically shot\u2026 We used live footage from Belgium, a festival called Graspop. One of our really good friends named James Zahn is kind of a computer geek who does a lot of stuff with computer technology (laughs). He does a lot of CGI graphics, and he was able to add a lot of footage from different factories and things like that, things that go along with what we\u2019re about. He kind of put them together, and made a video out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longtime associate Rhys Fulber produced the effort, Greg Reely handling mixing duties. \u201cWay back in the day Rhys\u2019 role was just doing keyboards for the band,\u201d Dino imparts. \u201cAfter Fear Is The Mindkiller<\/em> and during the recording of Demanufacture<\/em> though, he switched from keyboards to being a co-producer with the band. Greg Reely mixed all those records, and that\u2019s been our team for a long time. When I came back into the band I told Burton that we needed to bring those two guys back, and that\u2019s what we did. We brought Rhys Fulber back, and we brought Greg Reely back. That\u2019s our production team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The production team of Rhys Fulber and Greg Reely isn\u2019t carved in stone, however. \u201cI\u2019m open to change if something better comes along,\u201d the axe-slinger admits. \u201cI\u2019m very happy and content with what the team really has right now, but you never know. We might change our minds down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous individuals to spearhead the production helm include Colin Richardson, fired during mixing sessions for Demanufacture<\/em>. \u201cWe weren\u2019t happy with the direction Colin went with the mix, so we had to fire him and we\u2019ve never looked back,\u201d Dino judges. \u201cIf Colin had mixed the album it would never have been as groundbreaking as it is, I\u2019ll put it that way. We never went back to him again for obvious reasons. As far as other producers, since I\u2019ve been in the band there hasn\u2019t really been anybody else except Rhys and Greg. A guy named Mike Plotnikoff mixed Digimortal<\/em>, but that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Touring commitments to promote The Industrialist<\/em> began during April 2012, almost two months prior to the album\u2019s issue. \u201cThe touring has been going great,\u201d the co-founder exclaims. \u201cWe\u2019ve been touring non-stop and will be up until December 18th, which will be the last show of 2012. We\u2019ve added a couple of different songs to the setlist. We\u2019ve added \u2018What Will Become\u2019 (from Digimortal<\/em>), which we haven\u2019t done in awhile. We haven\u2019t actually done that since 2001 really, and we\u2019re gonna be doing some other songs here and there. We\u2019re gonna be doing \u2018Cars\u2019 (from Obsolete<\/em>) by Gary Numan, which we haven\u2019t done in a long time. I\u2019m trying to think of what else… We\u2019re doing \u2018Pisschrist\u2019 (from Demanufacture<\/em>), and a lot of stuff off of the first record. We did \u2018Self Immolation\u2019 live and we did \u2018Scumgrief\u2019 live, because 2012 is the 20th anniversary of our first album Soul Of A New Machine<\/em>. We\u2019ve been doing different songs live from that album. We\u2019ve been doing about two or three songs off of The Industrialist<\/em> as well. We open up with \u2018The Industrialist\u2019, of course \u2013 that\u2019s the first song off of the new record. We also do \u2018Recharger\u2019, and \u2018New Messiah\u2019. We have done other ones; we\u2019ve done a song called \u2018God Eater\u2019 in the States. We do about three or four songs, but we change them over.\u201d<\/p>\n

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1992 debut Soul Of A New Machine<\/em> was recorded under unique circumstances. \u201cI remember right when we first recorded the record, there was the Rodney King riots,\u201d Dino reminisces. \u201cColin Richardson was from England. He flew from England, and he was really scared to actually land in LA because LA was pretty much in lockdown because of the riots. People pretty much destroyed the whole city, just about looting and lighting fires. There was pretty much a riot on at that time in LA. I just remember that our producer almost didn\u2019t wanna come to LA because he was scared (laughs). We managed to make it work, and there was actually a strict curfew at night. Everybody had to be home by 10pm \u2013 you couldn\u2019t be on the streets at 10pm. When we recorded the record, we had to make sure that we only recorded during the day. We couldn\u2019t even go into the studio late at night, because there were still national guards on the street. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was our beginnings, and pretty much the base of Fear Factory. You definitely heard a lot of our influences on that record, everything from Godflesh to Napalm Death to industrial music. It was definitely just an introduction to who we were. It wasn\u2019t until Demanufacture<\/em> \u2013 our second album \u2013 that we redefined our sound, and that became who we are. Production wise it was definitely thick, and it was a very futuristic sounding album. There was nothing else out there that was like it. Also, there were a lot of elements in there that we were able to redefine and make better. We had more of a mechanical Fear Factory, with a guitar-based, drum-syncopated sound. Burton also redefined his vocals; there were definitely more melodic vocals, and heavier vocals. It became our staple; it became a staple in metal music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cuts lifted from Demanufacture<\/em> and Obsolete<\/em> \u2013 albums two and three \u2013 heavily figure among the guitarist\u2019s favourites. \u201c\u2018Self Bias Resistor\u2019 (from Demanufacture<\/em>) is definitely one of my favourite tracks, \u2018Demanufacture\u2019, obviously \u2018Replica\u2019 (from Demanufacture<\/em>), and songs like \u2018Edgecrusher\u2019 (from Obsolete<\/em>) and \u2018Shock\u2019 (from Obsolete<\/em>),\u201d he cites. \u201cThere\u2019s also the new one \u2018The Industrialist\u2019. Those are all really, really fun tracks to play live. Pretty much all of the songs that we play live now are really fun to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Material from Archetype<\/em> and Transgression<\/em> \u2013 recorded during Dino\u2019s seven-year exile (2002-2009) \u2013 are absent from Fear Factory\u2019s live setlist. \u201cAt first I didn\u2019t want to play any of the songs that I wasn\u2019t on,\u201d he confesses. \u201cThere was then a point where I was like \u2018We should do a song or two.\u2019 Then Burton said \u2018No, we\u2019re not doing any\u2019 (laughs). I don\u2019t really like those records, but no-one seems to really say too much about it. No-one really requests that material, so it doesn\u2019t really matter actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of the Fear Factory sphere, the axeman\u2019s musical preoccupations include Divine Heresy. \u201cI\u2019m hoping at some point to do another record, but Fear Factory pretty much keeps me occupied 24\/7,\u201d he explains. \u201cI\u2019m not sure who\u2019s gonna be in the band right now (laughs). A lot of things are going on (laughs). I\u2019m not sure who\u2019s gonna be doing it right now, because the other guys have other projects and are all doing other stuff. I haven\u2019t really decided who I\u2019m gonna have play on the record yet but I\u2019m sure Travis (Neal, vocals) will be doing the next record, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Industrialist<\/em> was released in Europe on June 1st, 2012 via AFM Records, and subsequently on the 5th in North America through Candlelight Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in December 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FEAR FACTORY – Recharged Anthony Morgan December 2012 Fear Factory (l-r): Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares Writing sessions in support of June 2012\u2019s The Industrialist \u2013 the eighth full-length by Los Angeles, California-based industrial metal outfit Fear Factory \u2013 began in earnest during early 2011. Guitarist and co-founder Dino Cazares as well as friend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[292],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fear-factory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406","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=9406"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9425,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions\/9425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}