Mechanize | ||||
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Released | February 5, 2010 | |||
Recorded | 2009 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 44:48 | |||
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Producer |
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Fear Factory chronology | ||||
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Singles from Mechanize | ||||
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Mechanize is the seventh studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on February 5, 2010 in Germany and February 9, 2010 in United States. It is the only album to feature Gene Hoglan on drums and the first since 2001's Digimortal to include original guitarist and founding member Dino Cazares, who rejoined the band after a reconciliation with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell, in April 2009. The album was produced by Rhys Fulber, who had not produced or been involved with a Fear Factory album since Archetype . The album has received mostly positive reviews from fans and music critics, being praised for its very aggressive and heavy sound. In its first week of release, the album sold 10,000 copies.
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 70% [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Blabbermouth | 9/10 [3] |
about.com | [4] |
On April 7, 2009, vocalist Burton C. Bell and ex-guitarist Dino Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Fear Factory bassist Byron Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad. On April 28, this project was revealed to be a new version of Fear Factory that effectively excluded former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers. [5] Asked about the circumstances of their exclusion, Bell stated that "[Fear Factory]'s like a business and I'm just reorganizing... We won't talk about [their exclusion]." [6]
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera finally spoke about the issue on the radio program "Speed Freaks." Herrera revealed that technically, he and Wolbers had not left the band: "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory...[Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it,". [7] Herrera went on to say that the original four members (Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and himself) are contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and said "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate." He also stated that he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had come up between them and Bell, which left Bell unwilling to continue work with the band. [7]
Despite issues between the two parties, Fear Factory moved ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell phone showed Dino recording over drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 9, 2009, album artwork for the album was revealed on blabbermouth.net. [8]
On February 2, 2010, the album's first official music video for the song "Fear Campaign" was released. [9] The song also includes a standard guitar solo passage, something highly uncharacteristic of Fear Factory's usual standard.
The song Controlled Demolition contains a sample of the last words of Kevin Cosgrove, Vice President of the Aon Corporation, taken from a 9-1-1 call from his office in the Number 2 World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. [10]
The song "Final Exit" is a title borrowed from Derek Humphry's 1991 book of the same name, which deals with the topic of self-chosen euthanasia.
The bonus track "Crash Test" is a re-recorded version from their 1992 debut album Soul of a New Machine . The band also re-recorded versions of "Martyr" (also from Soul of a New Machine), which is found on the Japanese edition of the album and "Sangre de Niños", [11] which ultimately would never be released.
On April 5, 2023, Fear Factory announced that "Mechanize" would be re-issued (alongside a remix/remaster of their 2012 follow up, "The Industrialist", under the name "Re-Industrialized") through their current label, Nuclear Blast, to be released on June 23, 2023. The re-issue will contain all three re-recordings as bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased "Sangre de Niños". [12]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Mechanize" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Gene Hoglan | 4:41 |
2. | "Industrial Discipline" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares | 3:38 |
3. | "Fear Campaign" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares | 4:54 |
4. | "Powershifter" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares | 3:51 |
5. | "Christploitation" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Gene Hoglan | 4:58 |
6. | "Oxidizer" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares | 3:44 |
7. | "Controlled Demolition" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares | 4:25 |
8. | "Designing the Enemy" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares | 4:55 |
9. | "Metallic Division" (instrumental) | Rhys Fulber, Dino Cazares | 1:30 |
10. | "Final Exit" | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Gene Hoglan | 8:18 |
Total length: | 44:48 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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11. | "Crash Test" (Re-recorded version) | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera | 3:40 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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12. | "Martyr" (Re-recorded version) | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera | 4:20 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Big God" (Demo '91) | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera | 1:48 |
2. | "Self Immolation" (Demo '91) | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera | 2:55 |
3. | "Soul Wound" (Demo '91) | Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera | 2:38 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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11. | "Martyr" (Re-Recorded Version) | Bell, Cazares, Herrera | 4:24 |
12. | "Crash Test" (Re-Recorded Version) | Bell, Cazares | 3:43 |
13. | "Sangre De Ninos" (Re-Recorded Version) | 3:22 |
Chart (2010) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums Chart [13] | 24 |
German Albums Chart [14] | 31 |
Finnish Albums Chart [15] | 31 |
Austrian Albums Chart [16] | 46 |
Swedish Albums Chart [17] | 51 |
Suisse Albums Chart [18] | 70 |
U.S. Billboard 200 [19] | 72 |
Dutch Albums Chart [20] | 87 |
French Albums Chart [21] | 198 |
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen frequent changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Guitarist Dino Cazares is the only original member still in the band. The band went on hiatus in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him on guitarist, while Byron Stroud handled bass duties. After a second hiatus in 2006, Fear Factory reunited in April 2009 with a new lineup that featured a returning Cazares, Gene Hoglan as the replacement of original drummer Raymond Herrera, and Bell and Stroud reprising their respective roles; this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Wolbers and Herrera — together comprising 50% of the band's legal ownership — disputed the legitimacy of the reunited band, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
Archetype is the fifth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was the first album by the band not to feature Dino Cazares, with Christian Olde Wolbers handling both bass and guitar duties. It was released on April 20, 2004, through Liquid 8. It debuted at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart and is their highest charting album to date.
Nailbomb was a heavy metal band formed in 1994 as a side project by Brazilian musician Max Cavalera of Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy and Soulfly, and British musician Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel. They played a combination of primarily industrial metal and thrash metal. The band recorded one studio album, Point Blank, and played a warmup live performance and their last ever performance at the 1995 Dynamo Open Air Festival two days later, after which the band disbanded.
Demanufacture is the second studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on March 3, 1995, by Roadrunner Records. It is the band's first album with their classic line-up, adding new bassist Christian Olde Wolbers, who performed on close to half of the album's tracks, with guitarist Dino Cazares handling the rest. Many regard it as the band's best album and a heavy metal classic. The album was certified Gold in Australia by ARIA and Silver in the UK by the BPI.
Digimortal is the fourth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on April 24, 2001, by Roadrunner Records. It is a concept album and the final part of a trilogy that started with Demanufacture and continued with Obsolete. It was the band's last album before officially breaking up in March 2002, though they reformed in 2003.
Obsolete is the third studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on July 28, 1998, through Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Fear Factory, Greg Reely and Rhys Fulber, the latter of whom wrote, arranged and performed all of the album's keyboard parts, and was the band's first full album to feature bassist Christian Olde Wolbers, who performed on around half of the tracks of the band's previous album Demanufacture (1995).
Transgression is the sixth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was released in the UK on August 22, 2005 through Calvin Records and released in the US and Canada the next day on August 23. Guest appearances include Billy Gould, the bassist of Faith No More, and Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton, who co-wrote the song "New Promise". The album was released as an enhanced CD with access to the exclusive Fear Factory website. It was also released as an enhanced DualDisc with the DVD side featuring the whole album in (48,000 kHz), music videos and "The Making of Transgression" video. One could also retrieve another bonus track, entitled "My Grave", by putting the CD into the computer and clicking the 'Music' section at the special website.
Dino Cazares is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares popularized the use of digital amp modelling processors, as well as the use of seven and eight-string guitars in metal music.
Christian Francis Olde Wolbers is a Belgian musician, songwriter and producer. He is the bassist and backing vocalist of the rap metal/nu metal band Powerflo and the bass player of the thrash metal band Vio-lence. He is also a former bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist of the industrial metal band Fear Factory, and the hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Beowülf.
Genexus is the ninth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on August 7, 2015. It is the third Fear Factory album since guitarist Dino Cazares rejoined the band in 2009, their first album to feature drummer Mike Heller, and the final album they released with vocalist Burton C. Bell before his departure from the band in 2020, although his vocals appear on the band's next album, Aggression Continuum, which was initially recorded in 2017 but not released until four years later. Genexus is also Fear Factory's first release through Nuclear Blast. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from critics.
Remanufacture – Cloning Technology is the first remix album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. The album is a remix of the band's second studio album Demanufacture, released on May 20, 1997.
Fear Is the Mindkiller is the first EP by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was released on April 14, 1993, by Roadrunner Records and is containing remixes of songs from the first album Soul of a New Machine.
Hatefiles is the second compilation album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released by Roadrunner Records on April 8, 2003. It contains rare, unreleased and remixed tracks. The album is notable as it contains "Terminate", the last song to be recorded with original guitarist Dino Cazares until his return to the band in 2009. Graphic designer Dave McKean's artwork is also used.
The discography of Fear Factory, an American industrial metal band, consists of ten studio albums, three compilation albums, two remix albums, one demo album, one video album, five extended plays, twenty-one singles and thirteen music videos. Fear Factory formed in 1989, signing to Roadrunner Records three years later. The band's debut studio album, Soul of a New Machine, was released in 1992. The following year, Fear Is the Mindkiller was released as an EP, featuring remixes by Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb of Front Line Assembly. In 1995, Fear Factory released their second studio album, Demanufacture, which peaked at number 27 on the UK Albums Chart, and was later certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI); it was followed two years later by another remix project, Remanufacture , which this time featured contributions from a number of different remixers, including many techno-oriented artists, as well as the band themselves.
The Best of Fear Factory is the third compilation album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on Roadrunner Records, featuring a collection of the band's music with the label. The record was released without Fear Factory's involvement, so it's unlikely that the album is officially recognized by the band themselves. Songs from Concrete, as well as their various compilation, live and remix albums, are not included.
"Shock" is a song by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was released as the lead single from their third album Obsolete (1998) and is the first track on the album. Its music was composed by guitarist Dino Cazares and drummer Raymond Herrera. The lyrics were written by vocalist Burton C. Bell. The introduction of a concept album, "Shock" introduces its protagonist, a political prisoner known only as Edgecrusher, who declares his personal mission to destroy the totalitarian society in which he lives.
"Linchpin" is a song by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. The song was released as the first single from their fourth studio album, Digimortal (2001). It peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Burton Christopher Bell is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of the industrial metal band Fear Factory. Until 2021 he was the only member to perform on all of the band's albums. His singing style mixes clean and shouted vocals with death growls.
The Industrialist is the eighth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on June 5, 2012.
Aggression Continuum is the tenth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on June 18, 2021. An instrumental version titled Aggression Continuum: The Instrumentals was released on September 17, 2021. A remixed version titled Recoded was released on October 28, 2022, featuring a compilation of remixes of the songs from the album.