Fear Factory is a progressive metal band that formed in the late 80s in Los Angeles. During the existence of the group, the guys managed to develop a unique sound for which millions of fans around the world will love them. The band members ideally "mix" industrial and groove metal. Fir Factory's music had a great influence on the metal scene in the early and mid-90s of the last century.
The history of the creation and composition of the Fir Factory team
The group formed in 1989. It is interesting that initially the guys performed under the banner of Ulceration. Exactly one year later, the team decided to act as Fear the Factory. The fact is that the team decided to change the name in honor of the plant, which stood next to their rehearsal space. Soon they began to appear on the scene altogether as Fear Factory.
Regarding the composition, the "fathers" of the team are Dino Casares and musician Raymond Herrer. Some time after the formation of the group, two more members joined the team - Dave Gibney and Burton Christopher Bell. The last one took the microphone.
Alas, the group is no exception. Over the course of a long creative career, the composition of the team has changed several times. Only Bell and Casares remained loyal to the brainchild for a long time.
At this time, Fir Factory is associated exclusively with Dino Casares, Mike Heller and Tony Campos. In general, a little less than 10 musicians passed through the group.
The creative path and music of Fear Factory
Before the release of the debut LP, the musicians performed a lot, rehearsed and worked on the original sound. In 1992, the presentation of the album Soul of a New Machine took place, but the debut album is formally - Concrete (2002). The compilation, recorded in 1991, was produced by Ross Robinson.
The team did not like the terms of cooperation with the presented producer at all. The guys reserved the rights to the tracks, having re-recorded some of the compositions already on the 1992 LP. Ross acted incorrectly, and later, without the consent of the band members, he published the collection Concrete.
The album, which the musicians presented in 92, instantly made the whole team popular. The newcomers managed to take their “place under the sun”. The main difference of the collection lies in the industrial sound of death metal, which perfectly mixes Herrera's musical instruments, Casares' rhythmic samples, and Bell's sonorous vocals.
During this period of time, metalists tour a lot. Their performances covered the United States of America. Fir Factory toured with other bands, which allowed them to increase their fan base.
Demanufacture album release
After a couple of years, the group's discography became richer by one more longplay. We are talking about the Demanufacture collection. Interestingly, Kerrang! gave the record a maximum mark on a five-point system. This was quite enough for the team to act as a warm-up for the cult rock bands of that time.
To record the disc Obsolete - the musicians were forced to make sacrifices. They refused to attend prestigious festivals. The release of the album, which took place in 1998, showed that these sacrifices were not in vain. The LP's tracks were infused with progressive metal. The use of 7-string guitars definitely improved the sound of musical works. The record became the best-selling album of the metalists' discography.
Label Roadrunner Records felt the significance of the group. They decided to take the forbidden road. Representatives of the label tried to squeeze the maximum benefit out of the team. They put pressure on the band members and insisted that they recorded tracks ahead of the deadlines prescribed in the contract.
At the beginning of the XNUMXs, the premiere of the Digimortal record took place. Longplay was warmly received not only by fans, but also by music critics. But, from a commercial point of view, the collection cannot be called successful.
The dissolution of the "Fir Factory"
The mood of the team members left much to be desired. The team has a creative crisis. Bell soon told the musicians of his decision to leave the band. The guys could not coexist without a leader. Thus, Fir Factori announced the dissolution of the composition.
In 2004, already in an updated line-up, the guys presented a new album to fans of their work. We are talking about the record Archetype. The main thing that impressed the "fans" was that the musicians returned to their previous sound.
A year later, the premiere of the record Transgression took place. During this period of time, they celebrated the 15th anniversary of the founding of the group. In honor of this event, the musicians went on a long tour.
After the reunion in 2009, the guys released the Mechanize compilation. Somewhat later, the discography of the team became richer by two more LPs.
Fear Factory: our days
In 2017, the musicians got in touch with fans of their work. The guys said they plan to record a new LP. They even announced the name of the collection. "Fans" were looking forward to the release of Monolith. Meanwhile, the war between Christian Olde Wolbers and Bell and Casares for the rights to music continued. The guys visited the courthouse from time to time.
Wolbers shared that he is looking to reunite the old line-up. In 2017, the musicians did not release a new studio album. The guys commented that, most likely, fans should not wait for the release of the record in the near future.
At the beginning of September 2020, the musicians confidently announced that the band's discography would be replenished with a LP next year. At the end of September, it became known about the departure of Burton Bell.
The singer said that the reason for his decision was conflicts with the team. Meanwhile, he delighted fans with the information that the record, which will be released in 2021, will use his vocals, recorded four years earlier.
At the end of June 2021, a presentation of a new LP by artists took place. The collection was called Aggression Continuum. The musicians noted that the release of the album opens a new part of the creative biography of Fir Factory.
The collection was composed by Dino Cazares, Mike Heller and Burton S. Bell. The record was produced by Damien Reynaud and mixed by Andy Sneap, who also mixed the band's previous compilation.
With the release of the collection, the team celebrated a "modest" anniversary - 30 years since its foundation. It should be noted that the musicians presented a bright video clip for the track Recode, which was included in the LP.
