Fear Factory

Soul Of A New Machine

This Is What Death Metal Should Have Been...

Review Score:

(8/10)
Fear Factory, needless to say, have been one of the heavyweights in the metal scene for the past few years. They mixed death metal, thrash metal, grindcore, techno, industrial, hip-hop, electronica, orchestral music, and a ... stage show together to entertain fans and listeners alike for close to ten years. With the release of Concrete, now anyone can watch the transformation and growth of this phenomenal band over time. However, Soul Of A New Machine is an album that should be mentioned in its own right as a landmark album. Here's why:

In 1992, death metal was still relatively new and unexplored. Bands such as Obituary(yikes), Deicide(ummm...), Cannibal Corpse(cough, cough), Death(sure), Morbid Angel(oh dear), and Napalm Death, were key players in this brutal form of underground music. Not much innovation had talen place. People were still trying to be faster and heavier than the next band, and it all kept getting elevated to the point of noise. Industrial was also being developed by Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. The idea of fusing the two was both crazy and ingenius. Fear Factory pulled it off.

This album has demon growls, insane double bass, technical guitar, and a gutter production--all trademark of death metal in 1992. What set this apart was the abundance of dance beats, samples, lack of solos, and clean singing. Plus, the fact that it was accomplished with ONe guitar, ONE bass, and little to no vocal distortion was very odd. It was revolutionary. It scared people. Death metal fans were eager to see what this band would do...if only they knew...

Many reviews here mention that the tracks are redundant. Duh, it's death metal! It is slightly better than Obsolete, but Digimortal beats it by a long shot. Eardrum-piercing mayhem does grow tiresome, but never boring. ... Speaking of Dino, on this album, his guitar is a lot crunchier than on others. I have yet to find an equally crunchy album. Not to mention that Raymond is also awesome here. His blastbeats are great, and he never overuses the double-kick. Bell is awesome as usual. He loses the growl soon, and that's good, but I really like the way he sings on this album. It beats Obsolete and Digimortal's wailing by a mile.

Key tracks are "Scapegoat," "Big God/Raped Souls," "Crash Test," "Self-Immolation," "Crisis," "Scumgrief," "Desecrate," "Martyr," and "Manipulation". "Natividad" is a minute-long industrial tribute to Dino Cazares's late father, and provides a nice intro to track 10. Many signs here point to what was to come on Demanufacture. That album is a classic. This is a major-label debut. A salute to a great band. ..

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