A Short Review Of The Fear Factory Discography

1992 Soul Of A New Machine: Industrial tinged death metal. I would go as far as to say that Soul Of A New Machine is a groundbreaking metal effort. Much heavier in the traditional sense than their future releases and does not contain a lot of the bands soon to be signature sound and electronics. 7/10

1993 Fear Is The Mindkiller: Remixes of some tracks from Soul Of A New Machine...I'll pass... 4/10

1995 Demanufacture: Easily their most popular and well known album. Demanufacture brought the Fear Factory sound full circle and brought in a whole new fan base. Everything Fear Factory did from here on out would be directly influenced by Demanufacture. Heavy, progressive, well produced and catchy, Demanufacture remains in a tie for my favorite Fear Factory album. 8.5/10

1997 Remanufacture: Remixes of tracks off the Demanufacture album. Again, I'll pass...4/10

1998 Obsolete: Take the basic sound from Demanufacture, fatten up the mix, add more electronics, a bit more melody and a concept story and viola!, Obsolete is born! I can't decide whether I like this or Demanufacture better because they both kick your ass so hard. I would say that Obsolete is the bands all around most balanced release if not their best. 8.5/10

2001 Digimortal: Definite Nu Metal influence on this album divided a lot of fans. The album is instantly recognizable as Fear Factory but it seems that the band traded some brutality and technicality for a more simple and radio friendly approach. There are some scorchers on here such as Acres Of Skin but, tracks like Back The Fuck Up and Invisible Wounds are a definite stray from the sound. I applaud any band for breaking the norm and pushing musical boundaries but it just doesn't work here. Despite all the negatives, Digimortal is an album that I will stand behind and I consider it a merit to the bands career. 6.5/10

2002 Concrete: Recorded back in 1990 but ultimately shelved and then released by roadrunner in 2002. From what I understand, Fear Factory did not want this album released but the record company did it anyway and why not, it sold 34,000 copies! N/A

2003 Hatefiles: Same scenario as above. Only for die hards or completists. N/A

2004 Archetype: All hail Fear Factory for they have returned! Archetype is easily their heaviest album since Demanufacture. Bassist Christian took over guitar duties and Byron from SYL stepped in for bass duties. What Archetype lacks in innovation it makes up for with downright bludgeoning power. I was literally cheering the first time I heard Archetype as it showed great things to come for the reborn Fear Factory.
Drummer Ray Herrera is a stand out on Archetype as he lays the backdrop for arguably the most ferocious Fear Factory album to date. 7/10

2005 Transgression: Hot on the heels of Archetype, Fear Factory release Transgression. In a nutshell, The first half of the album is pretty kick ass and the second not so much. The production lacks as compared to prior FF releases and it seems rushed (admittedly, by the band, it was rushed). All the ground the band may have won back with Archetype they seemed to have lost with Transgression. By no means a bad album, it was just a disappointment after releasing an album as heavy and listenable as Archetype. 6/10

The Good: Innovation, excellent production (FF sounds awesome on a high end stereo), experimentation, top notch musicians, signature sound.

The Bad: Filler tracks, too many remixes/cover songs, losing Dino. Christian is an absolutely respectable replacement for Dino but he just doesn't quite nail it in the same way.

Buy Fear Factory Releases:

Webmaster Recommendation: Demanufacture, Obsolete, Archetype

Type O Negative-Dead Again Album Review

Being a fan of Type O Negative since the Slow Deep And Hard days I am happy to announce that although they have been around for nearly 2 decades and have released 7 albums, their sound is still fresh and undeniably Type O Negative. "Dead Again" show cases every aspect of the Type O Negative sound that makes them the well respected and accomplished band that they are today. From the haunting melody and excellent keyboard work on "September Sun" to the more straight forward and hooky title track "Dead Again" and the epic and intelligent sound of "These Three Things", they incorporate virtually every aspect of their sound and it blends wonderfully. I suppose fans could peg their 1999 release "World Coming Down" as a downtrodden, depressing album but you can do no such thing with "Dead Again". They cover topics such as drug abuse, the end of the world, heartbreak and an interesting take on the afterlife on the infectious "Halloween In Heaven". Peter, Kenny, Johnny and Josh are in full force on this release and the music really reflects that. While I enjoyed their last release, 2003's "Life Is Killing Me" it lacked the cohesiveness and flow of "Dead Again". With a running time of nearly 78 minutes you would think that the songs would get boring or monotonous but the album is written and performed so well that the only way to truly appreciate this album is to listen to it as a whole. The musicianship is top notch as usual. Peter sounds great and has some really excellent lyrics, Kenny's guitar work is his usual, not over the top technical but very consistent and memorable. His guitar tone sounds awesome and he also provides some great back up vocals. Johnny is right on the money drum wise (drum sound is great by the way) not over playing or trying to dazzle you with his technicality but instead providing the anchor in this sonic soundscape and Josh rounds it all out with his sometimes beautiful sometimes menacing but always excellent and atmospheric keyboard work. Some people have complained about the production of this album but I really don't see a problem. Everything sounds balanced very well and nothing is drowned out. My favorite track is "She Burned Me Down", a song about rejection and the concequence of love while the catchiest track is easily the title track "Dead Again". Not one song on here is a skipper and I really can't praise this album enough. I was skeptical about this release but Type O Negative delivered big this time and has sold at least 1 ticket when they come to my town. My rating 9/10. They will be on tour in October 2007 in support of "Dead Again" so make sure to check them out when they come to your town.