 This is an incredible album. I went into this under the impression that Fear Factory was above average, but nothing more. This album has turned me into a big fan of Burton and his factory workers. Let me get the bad stuff out of the way, so I can have fun.
Out of eighteen tracks, there are three that I'm not big on. "Resurrection" doesn't have anything special, "Refueled" is kind of average, and the quality of the recording for the live version of "Replica" is sub-par; it sounds shallow, and there's a little distortion.
The only other knock I have here is the same knock I've always had on Fear Factory: when Burton tries to sing aggressively, his voice has very little quality, and he can't sing a note. When he sings normally, he's not much more than passable, but when he screams, he can be positively abrasive, and not in the way he intends. There, that was painless. Now on to the good stuff. This is an incredible collection of the B-sides and unreleased stuff that Fear Factory has compiled over the years. As the liner notes inside say, this empties the vault in terms of leftover music. Also, the liner notes say that the band is planning on continuing without Dino, the guitarist, so they'll replace him and have some new stuff soon, I figure. I hope. Starting at the top, Fear Factory put in all their stuff that was on the "Digital Connectivity" DVD that had never been released, so all that good rare stuff is here. Also included are the songs they recorded for the video game "Demolition Racer," and even though the game was mediocre, the stuff Fear Factory did was incredible, so "Machine Debaser" is here in full glory. The remixes of "Edgecrusher" and "Descent" are both excellent; they have an undeniable funk to them, which except for some interludes, would almost make you forget you're listening to Fear Factory. There's also two mixes of "Invisible Wounds," one is a mix, the other is the original demo called "Dark Bodies." Even though it's the same song, it's a good song, so I don't mind listening to it twice. The recording of "Cars" with Gary Numan is also present, and that version takes everything that was crappy and eighties about the original and makes it rock metal style. The CD finishes out with "Cyberdyne" and three remixes of "Transgenic," which although they're the same song, the mixes are very different. If you didn't know they were supposed to be the same, you wouldn't know; that's the kind of variety we're dealing with here. I have to draw special attention to the final song and remix of "Transgenic," which they called "New Breed." This is an incredible piece of electronic workmanship. It's all the fun of techno without the usual inherit wussiness. This is totally different from anything Fear Factory has ever done, but it's undeniably addicting, and it's so intricately woven that the skill and writing involved is undeniable. This album is an excellent showcase of Fear Factory's versatility. The first tracks are decidedly metal; they have drive, head-banging force, and power chords to support the whole structure. But as the album moves, it transitions to the two previously mentioned funk-style songs, into some powerful dark wave KMFDM style tunes, and then it twists again into industrial, finishing with "New Breed." I can't describe how pleased I am with this album. This isn't just some stuff that got sloshed together, this is material that a lot of work went into, and it shows just how much talent and unpredictability Fear Factory can have. A must for all FF fans, and I strongly recommend this to any fans of metal or industrial. This might be the best metal CD that gets released all year, so jump on this one as soon as possible. Certainly an 8, maybe a 9 for fans. |
