Reviewed:
- Soul of a New Machine (1992)
- Demanufacture (1995)
- Obsolete (1998)
- Digimortal (2001)
- Concrete (2002)
SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE 1992 (Roadrunner)
- Standouts: 'Martyr', 'Leechmaster', 'Crisis', 'Crash Test', 'W.O.E.', 'Desecrate', 'Manipulation'
You know, I've always had mixed feelings towards Fear Factory. They have some great songs for sure, but I do find 'em a bit overrated on the whole. I saw them a couple of years ago at Bloodstock and they sucked ass live; vocalist Burton C. Bell just sounded fucking awful in all fairness. And they were just dull to watch in general - maybe it'd be better to catch them in a venue rather than festival. Still, as far as their albums go, this one (their debut) is very good, frankly. It has traces of what was to come later on songs like 'Scapegoat' and 'Crisis', but there are also many moments that are unlike anything they would record in the future. The album as a whole is more extreme than the industrial-tinged groove metal that they'd become known for. Burton does sometimes attempt to sing clean for the more atmospheric parts, but much of the time he's going full-death metal and doing growls. I know he's always had an aggressive vocal approach, but most of the time he has more in common here with death metal vocalists like Chris Barnes or Glen Benton than the style he would later adopt. And a lot of Dino Cazares' guitar riffage is faster too; sure, there's still some mid-tempo chugging scattered here and there, but overall a lot of this album sits in the fast tempo range, and you can expect to hear a lot death metal-esque blastbeat drumming too. It's only really during the odd moment when Burton goes clean and the music more melodic that I'm reminded of the typical Fear Factory style. 'Desecrate' and 'Manipulation' for example, are just pure death metal, and have more in common with old-school Nile or Suffocation than they do Fear Factory (as daft as that sounds).
The stupid thing is, when this album does death metal, it's good death metal! Not amazing, but still very good. I honestly believe they sound better here than they would on any following record. I know I'm probably in the minority when I say that, but I would have much preferred them to just keep following the same formula that Soul of a New Machine is built around. The music sounds like Godflesh, Nailbomb, Nile (minus the Egyptian influences) and possibly Strapping Young Lad thrown in a blender, and the result is their best album IMHO. It's not perfect, but I can't think of much to complain about either. Shame they'd stray away from this sound.
Adam's rating: 8.6/10
DEMANUFACTURE 1995 (Roadrunner)
- Standouts: 'Demanufacture', 'Self Bias Resistor', 'Replica', 'Recharger', 'Dog Day Sunrise'
A lot of people will probably point to Demanufacture when asked what the best Fear Factory album is, but you already know my opinion. True, this was the benchmark record for their trademark sound, but I really can't label this a 'masterpiece' - it's hard enough for me to even consider it a classic. Many of the songs have slowed down overall, the riffs have gotten simpler and more groove-focused and the drums sound much less organic and much more processed (they're not in reality, they just sound kinda fake to me). Oh, and fuck off if you're going to label this 'industrial metal'. It's groove metal with some sampling/keyboards here and there. Industrial is stuff like Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM - maybe even Powerman 5000 and Rammstein, but not Fear Factory (at least not on the majority of their records). I will admit however, that I do still like most of the tracks here despite the new changes in musical direction. I mean, 'Replica' is a very memorable song in all respects, 'Self Bias Resistor' kicks ass and I also really like the contrasting 'Dog Day Sunrise' (a Head of David cover). The title song and 'Recharger' are really cool too, the later probably sounding closest to anything off Soul of a New Machine. In fact, there aren't really any duff songs individually, I just find the album can sometimes be tiresome in one sitting. Like, I can only take so much of Dino Cazares' one-dimensional riffing for so long, same goes for the massively layered, robotic production. And Burton can't sing for shit when he does try to go clean - that's why they're obsessed with using that 'echoing' effect in those instances. I'm not saying it doesn't suit the music, he's just not a good clean vocalist ability-wise. Also, the album is supposedly a concept record about a machine-controlled government inspired by The Terminator. Yeah, just thought I'd mention that.
When looking at the mid 90's metal scene as a whole, I guess Demanufacture is one of the highlights. For many, it definitely will be. It's a very solid record, I just find it to be overrated is all, along with this band in general.
Adam's rating: 7.9/10
OBSOLETE 1998 (Roadrunner)
- Standouts: 'Shock', 'Edgecrusher', 'Descent', 'Hi-Tech Hate'
To me Obsolete is just more of the same shit you heard on Demanufacture, only I find it a tad less memorable on the whole (I can hear the FF fanboys screaming already...). The bass line in 'Edgecrusher' is killer, but that's the only song here that I think is excellent on all levels. I do like the guitar work on 'Descent' a fair bit too. Maybe the band sound a little less processed too thanks to the better production, but I dunno. What I didn't mention when reviewing Demanufacture is that when I picked that record up as an 18 year old, I loved it at first. It made me buy this one almost immediately, but nowadays neither record gets regular play from me. If I were to play both back-to-back, I probably wouldn't even notice when one begins and the other ends. Yet somehow I can't give this less than a 7. They're both good albums despite what I say. I got some enjoyment hearing Obsolete again for the first time in I don't know how long, but I don't think it's anything special either.
Adam's rating: 7.2/10
DIGIMORTAL 2001 (Roadrunner)
- Standouts: Er...
Alright, well this CD is probably more industrial than any of the last bunch, but it's also noticeably worse from the get-go. The year was 2001, and while this album does still sound like Fear Factory I guess, you can hear nu metal characteristics seeping their way into the riffs and overall attitude of the songs. Like I said, the album has also has a more industrial sound than usual because the use of the synths, sampling and whatever else has been emphasized greatly to the point where it's annoying at times. Sometimes you get all these pointless and unnecessary beeps behind the riffs, especially on songs like 'Linchpin' and 'Hurt Conveyor'. And since nu metal was the big thing in the early 2000's, the riffs have gotten even less inspired and sound like they are mostly played on the first two frets with occasional scratching sounds to go with them. Lame. 'Strain vs. Resistance' and 'Digimortal' are pure nu metal. There's also some other weird experimentation to be found - 'Invisible Wounds (Dark Bodies)' is a ballad that sounds completely out of place, even on this album. 'Back the Fuck Up' features B-Real of Cypress Hill and Burton C. Bell rapping on it, and the whole thing is just embarrassing, almost sounds like Limp Bizkit at times. I mean, I love Cypress Hill and when they collaborated with Biohazard it worked (probably because Biohazard always had some form of hip-hop influence), but mixing them with a band like FF is just a dumb idea in general.
Sadly a lot of bands were falling into the same nu metal mindset as FF at this point. Machine Head fucked up with 2001's Supercharger. Even Sepultura were giving it a go around this period, to an extent. And even though I try to keep myself from elitist tendencies, there's something in my brain that almost always makes me critical of nu metal. I don't really mind hearing a bit of Limp Bizkit or Slipknot from time to time, but that's probably just because they were nu metal from the beginning, rather than changing their sound to suit whatever was popular at the time.
Digimortal isn't the worst album I've ever heard, nor does it completely ditch every trait that this band is known for - it just adds some nu metal elements throughout. But don't think this is me recommending it either - I can't think of any standout tunes, and overall the album is pretty poor. So yeah, it's poor, but not poor to the point where the band should be ashamed of themselves either. Every year at my company the workplace closes for a week during summer, so for fun I spent a day checking out independent record stores outside of my town. I stumbled upon a shop in Newport and found a used digipak copy of Digimortal for £2.99, I wasn't deliberately looking for this album.
Adam's rating: 4/10
CONCRETE 2002 (Roadrunner)
A collection of material recorded in 1991, originally intended to be the band's first album but never happened because the band were apparently unhappy with the record deal they were strung up in. Half of this CD was re-recorded for Soul of a New Machine but the remaining songs that weren't are nearly as good anyway. The production is rawer, but I wouldn't say it makes the album any worse than the debut because this is death metal and different to albums that came later anyway, so it kind of suits of the music. After the silly nu metal experimentation of Digimortal the previous year, Concrete must have been a breath of fresh air. I found this one in my local record store for £1.99 and wasn't aware it even existed at the time.
Adam's rating: 8/10
