Artist: Fear Factory
Album: Mechanize
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Candlelight

Fear Factory is one of those bands that people listen to but don’t talk about. After listening to Mechanize, the band’s upcoming album, my eyes were open to the group and I found they are quite talented. I wouldn’t be surprised to go to a concert and see old bald guys moshing right along with the young crowd because that’s the best way to describe the feel of Fear Factory. The kind of metal that can transcend ages. This isn’t a band for the young or the old, but for those whole love metal.

In a purgatory of being too heavy for main stream but not metal enough to be considered underground for “real” metal heads we find Fear Factory. The fact that they are caught in both worlds is what really gets me. Such an interesting blend of metal and singing just caught me by surprise. Don’t get me wrong it’s a solid album, intricate guitar work with solid drums and vocals make this album great. Still, it’s just the fact that there is no genre for Fear Factory to be found, at least, after my efforts that has stuck with me. After listening to the album over 17 times on my computer (Dead serious I have), I still cannot place a genre over their band and this is the only time a band has ever done that to me.

The diversity of the album reminds me of a young Black Dahlia Murder. Breakdowns with technicality, mind blurring drum fills, and vicious vocals bring the album to life throughout. Not to give it too much of a credit in the metal aspect though because their singing parts remind me of Theory Of A Deadman. How can a band mix Theory Of A Deadman and Black Dahlia Murder you may ask? Exactly my point. Still, somehow, Fear Factory does it [and they do it surprisingly well].

I have no idea how Fear Factory creates their sound, but they do it with talent I must say. Built on a solid base of rock, metal, and hardcore, they create a interesting listen on Mechanize. To put it simply, it [initially] blew my mind. Still, after continuous listens I found the band to rely too much shifting [and balancing] from singing to metal to create a well structured record. Fear Factory should focus on one and stick with it. My opinion? Keep it metal.

SCORE: 7.5/10
Written by: Matt “Hurricane” Haines

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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