Fear Factory – The Industrialist (2012)

At two year distance, following “Mechanize”, Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares are back, they still using the Fear Factory name although the other former half of the band, drummer Raymond Herrera and bass player Christian Olde Wolbers still did not give up on their right of using the name and still pretend they are, legally and morally, still part of the band, so, there are – at least – some “legal complications”.
“Mechanize” was a very intense one, but not the best Fear factory album so far, this time Burton described the new material to be another concept album “sonically, conceptually, and lyrically”. And getting through the album for two-three times only confirmed that they definitively delivered an excellent product this time, and this is the perfect mixture of everything what Fear Factory have been.

Burton Bell said about the concept: “The protagonist (The Industrialist) is the incarnation of all industries in the form of an automaton. The mechanical, technological, and scientific advances through the industrial age led to the creation of The Industrialist. In the story, the automaton becomes sentient as it collects memories with each passing day. Through observation and learning, it gains the will to exist. What was meant to help man, will eventually be man’s demise.”
The album was produced by Rhys Fulber (ex-Front Line Assembly) and Fear Factory. Among vocalist Burton C. Bell and guitarist Dino Cazares, in the recording John Sankey contributed with the drum programming.

Tracklist:

01 – The Industrialist
02 – Recharger
03 – New Messiah
04 – God Eater
05 – Depraved Mind Murder
06 – Virus of Faith
07 – Difference Engine
08 – Disassemble
09 – Religion is Flawed Because…
10 – Human Augmentation

Fear Factory have spirit, they have soul, they are a killer machine, but somewhere inside is a muscular, but kind, gentle, pumping heart. The perfect mixture of brutal and sensitive, mechanical and human, of heavy and contorted, noisy and pounding moments with trippy, cinematic, sometimes even abstract layers and soundscapes, musical constructions. There is a perfect balance between strength and subtle musicality, Fear Factory is a mature band now in their best possible form. Impossible to define if this is the best, but definitively one of the best release of the band. 48:45 minutes of maximum intensity!

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