Fear Factory - soul of anolder machine

Wed 20th Sep, 2006 in Features

LA cyber metal quarter Fear Factory is in Australia… again. In fact, since the group’s inception in 1989 (under the moniker Ulceration), the lads have toured here on six separate occasions, each time in support of a new album.

Vocalist Burton C. Bell is taking it all in his stride, however; he exudes the calming confidence and professionalism of a man who knows Australia is one of Fear Factory’s most successful markets and he’s here to do business. Although this is the final interview at the end of a long day, the man who built a reputation for interspersing his guttural growls with haunting melody is far from reticent.  

“Australia has been a type of phenomenon throughout our history,” says vocalist Burton C. Bell. “Aussies like our style of music and we’ve had the opportunity to play in front of so many people here, either through our own shows or through the Big Day Out, so the word just keeps spreading.”

Despite this popularity, Fear Factory definitely started at the bottom, recalls Bell, who learned the true meaning of connecting with the audience while touring in support of the band’s seminal death metal classic, Soul of a New Machine.

“During our first ever Melbourne show, I was knocked unconscious,” Bell says. “We were playing the Sarah Sands Hotel (now Bridie O’Reilly’s, Brunswick Road, Melbourne), and some guy jumped on stage during our set. Anyway, he was headbanging and so was I but I wasn’t really paying attention. I went forward, he went back, and I ended up on the ground. I was out for about 15 seconds but I shook it off, and finished the gig.”

Here in support of Demanufacture just two years later, the band’s profile was considerably heightened after the cancellation of a performance sparked riots through the Sydney streets. Inciting public violence might lead some singers to brag carelessly, but Bell remembers it well and recalls the event with sensitivity.

“Oh, my god, we still talk about that tour,” Bell explains. “Everything was just so insane. I contracted laryngitis after the previous performance and I couldn’t even talk. The doctor said I could try to sing, and fuck my voice forever, or I could just take two weeks off and let it heal. We really had no option but to cancel.”

More than a decade has passed and, this time, it’s Transgression, the 2005 release that further pushes the group’s incessant fixation with futuristic themes such as a sharp increase in government intervention and the birth of artificial intelligence. While critics and fans attacked the band’s apparent loss of intensity, highlighted particularly by the inclusion of a U2 cover, the lukewarm response to the album hasn’t affected the group’s status as a hot live act.

“So far on this tour, the shows have been mind-blowing,” Bell says, “and we sold out in Sydney and Brisbane.”

Fear Factory is familiar with the fickle nature of fans, experiencing a substantial backlash over the decision not to include founding guitarist and high-profile metal darling, Dino Cazares when the group reformed after a short break in 2003. The split, which rapidly became acrimonious, polarised the metal community and eventually resulted in the termination of its contract with long-time label Roadrunner Records USA. Amazingly, this came despite the release of Archetype; Fear Factory’s sixth studio album, (remix and covers albums aside), was a vicious diatribe against the former guitarist widely considered to be a return to previous compositional strengths.

In a rare show of support, Roadrunner moved quickly to embrace Cazares, promptly signing his new band Asesino and, just this year, awarding him a leading role in a project to commemorate those artists most important to the label’s 25-year history, Roadrunner United: the All Star Sessions.

It was widely interpreted as a huge slap in the face to the remaining members, given the pivotal role that Fear Factory had played in elevating the label’s fortunes, but Bell remains stoic.

“The Roadrunner Sessions? Man, I wasn’t asked,” he says, his eyes carrying perhaps a hint of regret that things had not finished on a more amicable note. Hardening his gaze, he continues, “And I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway. I’m not interested in doing anything for that label.”

Rather than fill the crucial guitar role externally, then bass player Christian Olde Wolbers accepted the load and Byron Stroud, bassist with Canadian metallers Strapping Young Lad, was recruited – according to Bell – to add heaviness.

“Byron brings a certain weight to the right side of the stage,” he laughs. “Seriously, he’s an excellent bass player and the Fear Factory machine is operating smoothly without Dino. We’re tighter on stage and off, a nice family now.”

Despite this newfound harmony, record company problems continue to plague the group. The latest being the decision by Fear Factory’s new US label – Carvin Records subsidiary Liquid 8 – to include a cover of U2’s “I will Follow”. Such an obvious move to produce a chart single angered fans and damaged the band’s credibility, and Bell is determined to make his opinion known.

“We’ve always done covers,” Bell explains, “mostly as b-sides and bonus tracks.

With Transgression, it was the label’s idea to include the U2 song. We chose it but it was their idea to put them on the record. It really sucked and that won’t be happening again.”

It seems no coincidence that the set-list on this tour features just a smattering of Transgression songs, though Bell disagrees that the negativity surrounding the album has caused the group to dump the material. In fact, he appears visibly defensive of the album, like a mother of a newborn, though seems to accept that it has been less well-received than previous albums.

“No, we’re just at a stage where we’re doing songs from all of our records,” he says. “Ultimately, you can’t control what people think. There are those that love the album and those that hate it. It doesn’t affect anything. The show is still the show and we’re selling more tickets than ever so we must be doing something right.”

Still, one might question whether the forthcoming Machines of War tour that places Fear Factory alongside brutal death metal acts Decapitated, Hypocrisy and Suffocation is an effort to win back some credibility from the extreme music fans. Again, Bell disagrees:

“We started off touring with those bands. Bands like Brutal truth, Cannibal Corpse and Obituary have shared stages with Fear Factory, and we have so many songs in our catalogue that fit those bills.

“For the most part, it’s pretty much the same crowd anyway. Overall, Fear Factory is still a death metal band and our crowd is still a death metal crowd.”

And with those words, Bell left to prepare for a death metal show.