Search - Fear Factory :: Mechanize

Fantastically Brutal!!!

Frank Rini | Maryland | 02/16/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes folks it's here-the Fear Factory comeback album that we were all hoping would come out one day. I gots to say that Mean Gene Hoglan drumming for ff is an upgrade. Sound is a more organic and while the double bass is still triggered, it's the fills and rolls that hoglan adds that makes up for better drumming. Also be prepared for blast beats. They are brutal and will kick you in the mouth. Dino obviously was sorely missed in the riff creating dept. Riffs are catchy and super heavy. Burton's vox are brutal, he returns w/some death metal screams and his vocals have never sounded this angry before, coupled w/his more melodic vocals this is the best he has ever sounded. The bass-well it's pretty much buried, so Byron is barely heard throughout the disc. This is the best ff cd since Demanufacture-I would not say it's better than demanufacture though, but it comes pretty darn close. All the tracks are pretty much pummeling. Fantastic to finally hear ff add the death metal influence back and have retained their industrial heaviness. This is review is for the bonus edition, which you should pick up. They redo crash test from s.o.a.n.m.-sounds really brutal here. Other 3 bonus songs are the demo from 1991-really had a huge godflesh influence back then, songs are really slow, they sure sped things up for the debut cd that was to come out the next yr. Anyway this cd smokes and the it's like fear factory '95 all over again. Killer, hope they continue and don't cave in."

New CD that recalls FF's great earlier work

Scott Hedegard | Fayetteville, AR USA | 02/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You sometimes just can't argue with chemistry and music. Like Plant and Page, Lennon and McCartney and countless other team efforts, sometimes what was needed was a creative tension or cohesion that brought out the best in both partners. And like these famous partnerships, the solo efforts, while in some cases weren't bad efforts at all, they just didn't equal the heights the combinations did. While it would be a stretch to compare Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell with Lennon and McCartney, in the world of metal, their collaboration far outshines solo efforts. Cazares' first Divine Heresy CD has some punch, but the follow-up, "Bringer Of Plagues", for all its ferocity just doesn't have the tunes and although this reviewer gave it a good review in hopes it would grow on me, I'm sorry to say it hasn't. In fact, it's pummeling without purpose and sadly bereft of hooks.

So Dino hooks back up with Burton C. Bell, and suddenly the spark has been rekindled, very much so. It's been a wait for classic FF fans worth waiting for. "Mechanize" also brings along Gene Hoglan, possibly the greatest heavy drummer out there, with the possible exception of Dave Lombardo, and that's good company. Hoglan fires away with machine gun precision and can also cool it when necessary, which lots of thrash drummers seem to have lost the ability or interest in doing. But the real stars of course are the riffs and great synth programming of Rhys Fulber. This slab has musically squeezed in between "Demanufacture" and "Obsolete", which one may have thought impossible. While the claims on the CD promising new ground breaking territory aren't exactly accurate, "Mechanize" still proves that FF are the quintessential metal industrial band.

A few tracks stand out, including "Christploitation", that has a few lead licks in it, not a common thing for Fear Factory, and the ghostly "Designing The Enemy", which is the musical highlight. "Final Exit" fades away with Fulber's patented synth work, reminiscent of some of the more musical moments on the "Demanufacture/Remanufacture" series. And after all, you shouldn't own "Demanufacture" without its remix partner.

It's high time Fear Factory give Rhys Fulber his due and feature him as a full blown member. Relegating his contributions to the credits section is not giving this guy the attention he deserves. Other than that, "Mechanize" is a great addition to the FF catalogue, more so than the last disc, "Transgression", which seemed to lack a cohesive direction."

Fear Factory Remanufactured.

Andrew Estes | Maine | 02/09/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The story of how Fear Factory's seventh album, "Mechanize," came to be is a rather messy one. After putting Fear Factory on the back-burner last year, frontman Burton C. Bell patched up his toxic relationship with former guitarist Dino Cazares, only to re-form the band without the consent of its other half. Drummer Raymond Herrera and bassist-turned-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers were out, while bassist Byron Stroud (who played with the band on their two Dino-less albums) and drummer/workhorse Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Dethklok) rounded out the newest incarnation of Fear Factory. With some legal wrangling and a few dozen Blabbermouth headlines, the album has miraculously seen the light of day.



Re-united with longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber, the men that now make up Fear Factory are bound and determined to make "Mechanize" a glorious return to form. Truth be told, "Mechanize" is about as good as anything Fear Factory has produced in the last decade. Falling somewhere between the soul-crushing power of Demanufacture and the matured song-writing and dynamics of Obsolete, the album tries for and succeeds at recapturing the band's glory days. Burton and Dino sound as if they have entered a time-warp roughly somewhere around 1997, while drummer Gene Hoglan does a solid job of aping his predecessor. As for Byron Stroud, well, he delivers as expected, but let's face it: the role of the bass-player in Fear Factory has always been irrelevant.



The one thing that sets "Mechanize" aside from the albums it tries to emulate, though, is the shift from the "Man vs. Machine" theme so prevalent in the past. The bluntly-titled "Christploitation" finds Bell calling out organized religion, while "Powershifter" and "Fear Campaign" are more politically charged fare. While the topics explored are certainly nothing new for the metal genre, it helps the album stand on its own merits. As always, though, the main attraction is Burton's intense growl, which is matched only by his haunting melodies, as well as Dino's riffing and the insane drumming that comes with the Fear Factory brand, and this album more than does the name justice. There are plenty of songs here that will knock you off your feet, but there are also moments where the band brings on the melody and ambience in true Fear Factory fashion to ensure the experience is an authentic one.



In spite of the fact that "Mechanize" does little to expand on the tried and true Fear Factory sound, it's a strong return to form that will no doubt please fans who were confused by the experimental (and, in this reviewer's opinion, under-rated) Transgression and only help to further cement the band's legacy as one of the most distinct bands in the metal game. Even if you think Burton and Dino are a couple of unsavory characters for giving their former bandmates the cold shoulder the way they did, you can't help but love them for making the album they did and staying true to their name. Who knows how long the two can tolerate each other this time around, but hopefully there will be more albums like this one to come.

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