FEAR FACTORY — Mechanize (review)

Album · 2010 · Industrial Metal

4/5 · 2010-10-29
UMUR

"Mechanize" is the seventh full-length studio album by US, California based death/thrash/groove/industrial metal act Fear Factory. The album was released through AFM/ Candlelight Records in February 2010. "Mechanize" was released after a 5 year recording break and it´s the successor to "Transgression" from August 2005. There have been a few lineup changes since the last album as Lead vocalist Burton C. Bell and guitarist Dino Cazares opted to patch up their differences and decide to work together again. The latter had left Fear Factory after the release of "Digimortal" (2001) after disputes with the other members of the band. Bassist Byron Stroud, who had worked with Fear Factory since 2003, was asked to rejoin the reformed band and drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dethklok...etc.) was asked to fill the drum seat. Alledgedly this lineup started working as a project and only later decided to use the Fear Factory name. Former guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers and former drummer Raymond Herrera weren´t asked to rejoin and didn´t even know that Fear Factory had reunited until they read it in the press, to their great discontentment. Lawsuits followed for the legal rights to the Fear Factory name.

Well with all the nasty business details out of the way it´s of course the music most people are interested in. The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Fear Factory. The hard edged mechanical death/thrash riffing, the industrial/Sci-fi atmopsheric sound effects/keyboards, and Burton C. Bell´s harsh, growling, and clean vocal styles. They latter have of course always been one of the core elements of Fear Factory´s sound and continue to be so on "Mechanize". The addition of new drummer Gene Hoglan and the return of Dino Cazares means a lot for the sound. No one can take away from Raymond Herrera that he is a great and very techncially skilled drummer, but there´s just something really special about Gene Hoglan. In otherwise mechanical and razor sharp music he is actually able to add a human touch to his playing that is greatly appreciated in my world. Other than that he just adds so many intriguing details to the music that I´m just breathtaken. The man is a true powerhouse and a technical genious on his instrument.

The fact that Dino Cazares is back is also very audible. The quality of the guitar riffs is simply much higher than on the last two albums "Archetype" (2004) and "Transgression" (2005) where he wasn´t a part of the lineup. While those albums are not bad as such ("Archetype" is actually a pretty great album), the band sounded a little different and in the case of "Transgression" even a little uninspired. Thankfully the lineup changes seem to have revitalized the band because "Mechanize" is like a kick in the ass. I mean... this is really an aggressive album. Fear Factory sound like they mean it and that´s one of the most important elements in making a successful and effective listening experience.

The 44:43 minutes long album features 10 tracks. It´s not like the band reinvent the wheel or anything like that during the playing time but the songwriting is inspired, the musicianship is outstanding, and to top it off the production is sharp and powerful. One of the things I greatly enjoy about "Mechanize" is that the songs are not too formulaic. There´s a nice development in the songs and even though most feature memorable choruses, there´s always a surprise middle section, an outro, or other changes in structure to make the songs interesting. The album is pretty varied too. While songs like "Industrial Discipline" and "Fear Campaign" feature clean sung and memorable choruses you also have a song like "Christploitation" which is quite a raw track with mostly harsh vocals. The album is brought to a great end with the atmopsheric and epic closing track "Final Exit".

When I listened to "Mechanize" for the first time I was pleasantly surprised and my thoughts were that Fear Factory were back on the right track after the lacklustre "Transgression", and many listens and years later I find that I still feel the same about "Mechanize". It´s definitely one of the standout releases in Fear Factory´s discography and at the time of the release, probably their best album since "Demanufacture" (1995). A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.