jordan 5 CD Review – Fear Factory Mechanize (2010

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2009 was an interesting year for American heavy metal pioneers Fear Factory. Founding guitarist Dino Cazares reconciled with vocalist Burton C. Bell [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and subsequently re-joined the band for the first time since 2002. This move came at the expense of then-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and founding drummer Raymond Herrera, who Bell opted to replace with former Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan.
Opening track "Mechanize" underlines this perfectly, four a half minutes of pure high-speed aggression, starkly presented with brutal intensity. There's a much harder edge to the music than that to be found in the band's darker nu-metal days, and in general the sound is quite stripped down and stark. Gene Hoglan's drumming plays no little part in this, as he hammers out a frighteningly fast and precise hailstorm of beats, driving the entire band along at an urgent pace and in many ways forcing them to up their game.
"Christploitation" opens with a haunting piano line (courtesy of Canadian electronic musician Rhys Fulber, who also produced the album), before exploding into one of the heaviest songs on the album, featuring a fast and heavy riff backed up by machine-gun double-bass drumming. Bell eschews clean vocals altogether in an aggressive song where the only concession to melody comes via the keyboard and piano parts.
The return of Cazares sees Fear Factory emulating the kind of style they were playing while he was still in the band, a more industrial kind of sound which harks back to 'Digimortal' but mainly to 'Demanufacture' and 'Obsolete', and the band's 90s heyday. It's all harsh, angular riffs, extremely fast, precise drumming, and roared vocals - Burton C Bell taking the clean, melodic approach relatively rarely, preferring a more aggressive shout for the most part.
'Mechanize' Track ListingMechanizeIndustrial DisciplineFear CampaignPowershifterChristploitationOxidiserControlled DemolitionDesigning the EnemyMetallic DivisionFinal Exit
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Classic Album Review
Wolbers and Herrera took legal action over their removal from the band, forcing Bell and Cazares to postpone their on-stage reunion and indeed a whole string of tour dates. The band still managed to get into the studio, however, and immediately set to work recording 'Mechanize', the seventh Fear Factory album and the first to feature Cazares since 2001's 'Digimortal'. 'Mechanize' was released on Candlelight Records on February 5, 2010.
The whole album plays out along these lines, hard, harsh and heavy metal with a decidedly thrashy tinge to it, and while there's nothing wrong with each song individually, after a while it just gets a From "Mechanize" to "Powershifter" [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], there aren't that many efforts to change the format; indeed, the songs which do attempt to diverge from the band's new template are actually the ones which come off the best.
Stand-Out Songs on 'Mechanize'