One of metal’s most versatile acts, Fear Factory maintains its die-hard cult base by throwing in a little something for fans of all the music’s various crunchy subgenres. Vocalist Burton C. Bell and bandmates Christian Olde Wolbers (guitar), Byron Stroud (bass) and Raymond Herrera (drums) can slip in and out of them easily, as seen on their recently released Transgression. With hints of punk (“540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit”), speed (“Transgression”), death (“Contagion”), plain old rock (“Supernova”) and even angsty nü-metal (“Echo of My Scream”), Fear Factory is anything but a bunch of one-note headbangers or Cookie Monster-sounding growlers. The band’s cheery choice of topics, such as annihilation, war, pain, isolation, death and disease, won’t likely win them a spot on Live with Regis and Kelly anytime soon, but Bell’s words have a, dare we say, poetic quality that similar acts lack. Formed in 1990 with only Bell and Herrera remaining from the original lineup, FF also experiments with industrial sounds, and band members find time to work in side bands like Brujeria, G/Z/R and Nailbomb. Apparently the only fear these guys have is of a day with nothing to do.
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2005.
