FEAR FACTORY — The Industrialist (review)

FEAR FACTORY — The Industrialist album cover Album · 2012 · Industrial Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Industrialist" is the 9th full-length studio album by US death/industrial metal act Fear Factory. The album was released through Candlelight Records in June 2012. The band returned to the scene after a 5 year recording break with the critically acclaimed "Mechanize (2010)". An album that also saw the return of founding member/guitarist Dino Cazares but also the inclusion of bassist Byron Stroud (Strapping Young Lad) and drummer Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad...etc.). A strong lineup that recorded a strong album. However on "The Industrialist" the two latter mentioned are already out of the band again and former Chimaira guitarist Matt DeVries has taken over the bass duties. A bit more controversial maybe, the drums on the album are programmed.

If you are familiar with the industrial tinged death/extreme metal style of Fear Factory, "The Industrialist" is not an album that holds many surprises. Compared to it´s predecessor the intensity level is slightly lower and the music is a bit more groove based too. The fact that the drums are programmed is not a major deal really (although I would have prefered a "real" drummer). It gives the album a slightly more metallic/industrial sound, but that´s not really unusual for Fear Factory. All the trademark Fear Factory traits are present on "The Industrialist". Burton C. Bell´s raw semi-growling vocals and his clean vocals too, the heavy precision riffing and rythms and a sci-fi lyrical theme. This time around it´s a concept story.

The album is well produced, the musicianship is solid and the songwriting decent. While there aren´t many highlights on "The Industrialist", there are a couple of standout tracks on the album like "Recharger", "New Messiah" and the closing 9:04 minutes long ambient "Human Augmentation". While the first two mentioned stand out because they are hook laden and memorable the latter stand out because it´s tedious and quite frankly redundant. Had it lasted 2 minutes intstead of 9 it could probably have worked well as an atmospheric outro to the album, but as it is now I´m half asleep before it ends. Despite the album being a bit of a "flat" experience in terms of highlights and my issue with the length of "Human Augmentation", "The Industrialist" still comes off as a quality product with a distinct sound. It might be Fear Factory "by the numbers", but even Fear Factory "by the numbers" is better than most of the competition and I´d say a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) is warranted. I do hope they´ll be helped by a more creative muse the next time around though.
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