Fear FactoryArchetype
By
Chris Hawkins,
Contributor
Monday, March 22, 2004 @ 8:57 AM
(Liquid Records)
“The soul of this machine has improved,” proclaims vocalist Burton C. Bell during the title track for Fear Factory’s latest disc. Back in the early ‘90s, this band managed to reshape the collective Metal conscious with their insane rhythms and Death Metal/melodic vocals. Peaking with their second release, Demanufacture, Fear Factory had gained a momentum that rendered them unstoppable. It seemed no other band was like Fear Factory, and no other band could achieve that precedent of creativity, precision, and power that said album set. After many tours and two other albums (both of which could not compare to their older siblings), the status of Fear Factory as legends remained intact, but as active legends, the truth remained to be seen.
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2004 is a new year, though. Founding guitarist, Dino, is no longer with the band, while bassist Christian has taken his vacant slot. Many will be wondering if Christian can hang with the Fear Factory ethos of ultra-syncopated rhythms, but truth be told, he does it better. The guitar tone itself sounds less processed, and this rawer tone gives the entire band a more natural feel. Also, it seems Christian has a wider selection of chords to choose from which definitely adds to this effect. Handling bass duties is newcomer, Byron Stroud from the almighty Strapping Young Lad. His in-your-face tone and technical prowess compliment Raymond Herrera’s mastery of the drums. Having always been the central core of Fear Factory’s sound, Herrera continues to amaze. His playing is definitely shattering all records as he leaves the comfort of double bass and snare often to flirt more with his toms. Lombardo would be proud.
What have always put Fear Factory ahead of the rest are Burton’s vocals. So many bands have tried to recreate his perfected clean/dirty approach, but always miss the mark. Burton sounds better than ever at times even echoing his awesome performance on the G/Z/R record a while back. Perhaps it’s easiest to hear the excitement surrounding this band’s rebirth in the vocals. A half-ass performance can rarely be hidden vocally, and Burton approaches the entire situation as if he was just signed.
The overall production of Archetype allows the top-notch songwriting to clearly shine through the mix. Songs like “Slave Labor” and “Corporate Cloning” show that this album has much more to do with Demanufacture than any later work. It’s even cooler to see that “Cyberwaste” was chosen as the first single, since it is the most brutal track since their debut, Soul of a New Machine. The intensity and innovation of the past is met with a band sounding more like a band. Fear Factory sound like a band that thrives off playing together, and thus are able to reap the benefits of their collective creativity. “Archetype” and “Bite the Hand That Bleeds You” showcase a more melodic side, but without losing any credibility. Songs as such remain in your head hours after listening to the record. This process increases with each successive listen.
Let it be known that Fear Factory have returned, and in fact, been reborn. The conviction is self-evident as is the quality of the material. The band has once again proven that they are at the forefront of creativity, and especially on this album, it seems they are at the top of their game. As Nu-Metal dies more and more each day, the true innovators, not he imitators have risen to the top!
Kwest - 7/12/2004 4:25:04 PM Spineshank and 36 crazyfists are also good nu-metal bands but aren't as heavy as FF.
theDevilman - 4/20/2004 4:08:00 PM $7.99 at BestBuy, WITH bonus DVD! I can't believe it! I've got mine on backorder...
MnemicFFxX - 4/5/2004 5:48:20 PM FF Have and ALWAYS will be my fave ever since 1992, the drop of demanufacture, i am 18 almost 19 now and they have owned my top of the list for 12 years, and Archetype seals the fucking deal it is equal to and i stand by this EQUAL to demanufacture in all its glory. Archetype is amazing, and having met FF a number of times, i wont miss dino at all, burt ray and christian are my real heroes, funn i might add to, despite burt being somewhat soft spoken. AND even in being soft spoken, his voice OWNS.his voice is angelic and posessed and he can go from one to the other in a snap of the finger, KUDOS FF!!! YOU ARE AT THE TOP AGAIN
Slave_Labor20 - 4/3/2004 12:03:46 AM Archetype is fucking awesome i swear this album blow's away Digiemortal that is for damn sure. i swear Christian did an amazing job on this album he truly is a badass Guitar player that could not of picked a better Guitarist. i'm sorry but i won't miss Dino Christian definetly filled his shoes they should of headlined the jager tour all tell ya that. not only there album fucking own's ass but there set at the jager tour was awesome loved it man i saw my favorite band in the flesh. Fear Factory has been my favorite band for 9years and i have always stood by what there were gonna do i still remember when they first got back together and they had 30second samples. i was shcoked when i found out Christian wrote Slave Labor,Corprate Cloning and Archetype i herd them all at first i thought it was Dino. i was like fuck yeah man there back and even more badass then ever the only thing i can say when this album comes out get it cause it fucking rules the only thing i'm gonna say about the album is that is has all the classic Fear Factory elments and they still maintain there signature sound but they have also a new flavor as well. when i herd Slave Labor it had there signature sound but was also really diffrent it's an awesome song well enough said buy Archetype cause i sure as shit am. Fear Factory forever there back and there gonna start kicking ass again believe it there still crushing Metal.
NOTHING YOU SAY MATTERS TO US!!
skunt666 - 4/2/2004 7:45:42 PM nu metal? there is no nu metal there's a few select 'new' bands(chimiara, shadows fall, killswitch engage, etc.) that know how metal should be played all the good shit is old school like fear factory and sepultura and how the fuck did korn kill heavy music? they were one of the greatest bands in the 90's and still are
buddspiker - 4/2/2004 11:53:31 AM FEAR-FACTORY ***** SNAPT ***** MAY 21/ventura CA,
buddspiker - 4/2/2004 11:53:28 AM FEAR-FACTORY ***** SNAPT ***** MAY 21/ventura CA,
buddspiker - 4/2/2004 11:53:25 AM FEAR-FACTORY ***** SNAPT ***** MAY 21/ventura CA,
liquidsky - 4/2/2004 8:49:19 AM shit and, even though it sucks that dino left, it was fucking brutal!!!!!
liquidsky - 4/2/2004 8:46:58 AM Ive been listening to FF since i was 9 im 17 now and theyre still kickin ass!!! I heard some of the new eh
pivawasted - 4/2/2004 5:41:54 AM this really is a resurection, death to all the goofy bands wanna be's of crap,Ray you still my idol now more than ever, you don't even have to use od-times to show your kick fucking ass, not even tomas haake of meshugga nor mike portnoy of dream theater, both who I admire too, are compare to you man
AndroidSpirit - 4/1/2004 5:52:59 PM stop your whining. all of you. I grew up with metal, so it's ALL metal to me. It's not my fault that you don't have the capacity to refine and expand your musical tastes. Thats pretty sad, AND what's more, you had to drag other bands into it that have their OWN sound, and stereotype them as "Nu metal". I didn't start listening to KoRn or deftones because they are (so you say)"nu metal", I started because they kick ass. As a matter of fact, it wasn't 'til a few years back that I first heard the term. If I'm not mistaken, either one of those bands would prefer their fans not think of them as "nu metal".
now my question... why the hell is FF not headlining the Jager tour???
biggodrapedsoul - 4/1/2004 2:43:35 PM nu metal is shite and fear factory conquer all
otepsoul - 4/1/2004 6:33:50 AM like that i made 2 diff posts about the same thing.
otepsoul - 4/1/2004 6:33:12 AM † All these punk ass bitch fake metal bands like;korn,def tones ect. that pretty much killed the real heavy metal music. †
ff is the shit but fuck off korn been going for 10 years on there own sound they are all metal.
“The soul of this machine has improved,” proclaims vocalist Burton C. Bell during the title track for Fear Factory’s latest disc. Back in the early ‘90s, this band managed to reshape the collective Metal conscious with their insane rhythms and Death Metal/melodic vocals. Peaking with their second release, Demanufacture, Fear Factory had gained a momentum that rendered them unstoppable. It seemed no other band was like Fear Factory, and no other band could achieve that precedent of creativity, precision, and power that said album set. After many tours and two other albums (both of which could not compare to their older siblings), the status of Fear Factory as legends remained intact, but as active legends, the truth remained to be seen. 
