FEAR FACTORY:

• Soul Of A New Machine (1992, Roadrunner) A great album. They flawlessly combine death metal, techno, industrial, samples, and super aggressive riffs. And the drumming is out of this world. The singer growls with the best of them, but also includes some clean vocals as well. Such diversity isn't seen often, and is rarely as successful as in this CD.
• Fear Is The Mindkiller (1993, EP, Roadrunner) This album is a set of techno / industrial remixes of "Soul Of A New Machine", some of them suck, some of them are really good. At least the band is willing to try new things.
• Original Motherfuckers (1994, Live Bootleg) A live mike in the audience type of bootleg (From Lyon, 1994). It's pretty clear, but there's not a double kick to be heard on the album, either because one of the kickdrum mikes wasn't working, or just the way the album was recorded one of the bass drums just totally disappears. 13 songs, ok quality, but probably only for fans who need to own everything.
• Demanufacture (1995, Roadrunner) Combining the best elements of their industrial CD with their death metal past, the result is probably the very best album I've heard this decade (I'm safe to say that since ...And Justice For All was last decade). Great riffs, great sound, super fast drumming and double kicks, and some of the best keyboards I've ever heard in any form of extreme music. I can't recommend this album enough. A digipak version is available with 4 bonus tracks.
• Dog Day Sunrise (1995, EP, Roadrunner) Contains the original 'Dog Day Sunrise', an edited version of the song, 'Replica Electric Sheep Mix' (previously available on the "Demanufacture" Digipak) and a new song called 'Concreto'. The new song is really good, really industrial, with some heavy riffs.
• Remanufacture (Cloning Technology) (1997, Roadrunner) An album of techno / industrial remixes of "Demanufacture", and I'm sorry to say that I'm a bit disappointed. The songs just aren't as brutal as the originals, and aren't as brutal as the band's last album of remixes "Fear Is The Mindkiller". It's pretty hit and miss, some of the songs are good (like the title track), some sound almost like hiphop. I think they could have done a better job.
• Burn (1997, EP, Roadrunner) Three new remixes in the spirit of "Remanufacture" and one track from "Remanufacture". If you liked "Remanufacture", you'll like this EP. The quality of the songs seem to be a bit better, a little more abrasive, which is how I like my remixes. Still not as good as "Fear Is The Mindkiller".
• The Gabber Mixes (1997, EP)
• From Inside The Machine (1997, Live Bootleg) Decent bootleg from the "Demanufacture" tour (recorded in Sydney Australia, Jan 27th 1997). 10 songs, most of their best, the sound is clear overall with the exception of the bass, which is this big muffled mess underneath the clear crunch of the guitar. Also don't expect the super precision of Fear Factory from the studio in the live situation. That's not so say there isn't still plenty of power, and raymond keeps those kick drums fast, clean and accurate for the most part, so I still recommend it. However, for overall sound, you may wish to check out their "Live At The Wireless" recording instead, since many of the same songs on this album are on that album and a better overall recording.
• Obsolete (1998, Roadrunner) Here we are, the Fear Factory we all love. With Obsolete, the band has taken the core sound of "Demanufacture" and improved on it. The guitars are lower and tighter, the bass lines are more varied instead of being a carbon copy of the guitar, and the drumming is even more electronic and brutal. Sadly, there are not as many passages of continuous, super fast double kicks as in previous albums. There's still lots of nice spurts of double kicks, but nothing like 'Self Bias Resistor' or 'HK'. This is probably due to a more dance oriented beat that permeates the album, but the new beat does not interfere with the brutality or aggression of the band. Burton does his usual mix of angry screams and operatic wailing. There's lots of variety here too, a few pieces with strings, some really strange sounds, samples, keyboards, some softer songs, and some really heavy songs that make your ears bleed. An excellent album overall.
• Obsolete DigiPak (1998, Digipak, Roadrunner) Obsolete plus 5 bonus tracks, 'Cars' (with Gary Numan), 'O-O (Where Evil Dwells)', 'Soulwound', 'Messiah' and 'Concreto'. 'Cars' is a little cheesy, but the three new tracks are amazing, more industrial sounding than the rest of the album. And 'Concreto' is a great song too, previously released on the "Dog Day Sunrise" EP. Also, some great new artwork by Dave McKean on the package. Just get it already.
• Resurrection (1998, Single, Roadrunner) A copy of 'Resurrection', and then 'O-O (Where Evil Dwells)' and 'Soulwound' from the digipak. Basically, if you own the digipak, the only reason to pick up this single is to get some new Dave McKean artwork (which is cool, of course).
• rEvolution (1998, EP) Not much to say, a compilation including one song from each of their previous albums. Includes 'Edgecrusher', 'Remanufacture', 'Replica', 'Your Mistake', 'Scapegoat (Pigfuck Mix)', and 'Martyr'. If you own all of Fear Factory's albums already, there's really no reason to have this EP except for the cool McKean cover art.
• Cars (1999, EP) 3 songs, the band's "Cars" originally released by Gary Numan, available on the Digipak of Obsolete, slightly remixed with a bit of extra stuff but virtually identical, and then two remixes of 'Decent' and 'Edgecrusher', which are both soft and ambient, but good songs. For those who want a break to their usual diet of mind grinding blastfests.
• Prepare For Salvation (Live At The Wireless) (1999, Live Bootleg) High quality bootleg from the Obsolete tour (recorded by JJJ radio in Melborune Australia 1999). High quality because it's just about as high as you can get short of a full official live album. Everything is clear, good sound, and good mix of songs. Hell, the album starts out with 'Zero Signal' and 'Self Bias Resistor', probably two of their best songs (10 songs in all). My only comments are the same thing I'd say about any Fear Factory show, in the studio, they're all about precision, live, expect some missed notes, some rushed passages and a few wrong notes as well. But otherwise, a definite must get if you can find a copy.
• Digimortal (2001) I'll admit, I was a little worried about this album, Dino's been saying some things in the press that sound like he's treating the band now more like a business then a form of artistic expression, and a friend told me that he heard a promo of the album and it blew. Now that I've heard it, I see where the comments are coming from, the band has certainly gone more techno, more groove, and not a single fast song on the album. However, that does not mean it's a bad album. There's a lot of good solid riffs on the album, they just fall more into a Prong type vein of danceable metal (think 'Replica' or 'Edge Crusher') . The move from Obsolete to Digimortal is like Metallica's move from Justice to the black album, it's still a good album, but the band is on a slippery slope. A lot of people love their more faster, brutal side, it was the mix of techno and metal that made them special, take away the metal and you're left with just part of the equation. A little more growling from Burton, less pseudo-rapping, some faster songs, and I wouldn't be complaining. I still have to recommend the album, I just hope the band doesn't go soft on us. The digipak is out the same time as the album, and contains 4 extra songs, all of which are good, so definitely pick up the digi instead of the regular album.
• LinchPin Special Australian Tour EP 2001 (2001, EP) Contains 'Frequency', 'Linchpin', 'Machine Debaser', 'Demolition Racer', 'Invisible Wounds (Suture Mix)', 'Replica (live)' and 'Edgecrusher (live)'. The live tracks are well done, although not exactly my two favorite FF songs. Tracks 1, 3 and 4 are must owns, if you have them from elsewhere, then there's not much reason to buy this EP, if not, then you should definitely pick this EP up.
  
• Digital Connectivity (2002, DVD) A 80 min DVD of the band, overall, a good buy. Unlike say Pantera videos, this tends to showcase the music a whole lot more instead of just showing the band on tour burning and breaking things. All 4 music videos from the band are on this release (I never liked music videos, so I won't comment), and about 2-3 live songs from each of their albums. The live performances range from great to not so good, the band said they didn't do overdubs and I believe them, a few of the lives tracks are very raw, you can barely hear the guitars or drums. A few are really high quality though, the best of which is an MTV performance of "Self Bias Resistor" (hmmmm, my favorite song, what luck). They even have some live shots of the band performing in their backyard in the very early days. Some good interview material with the band, and then a whole lot of extras including a new song called 'Frequency', which is pretty cool, it ends with a very vicious stop and go riff that I really enjoyed. As far as band DVDs go, this is one of the better ones I've seen, simple, to the point and with a lot of music.
• Concrete (2002) Remastered early demo material from the band. Although the production is a little muffled (not enough crisp high end), it's actually pretty decent, there's definitely some good bass kicking around. Most of the songs are off their debut, but there's also a few songs that aren't available elsewhere, as well as some songs that eventually got cannibalized to create other songs off "Demanufacture". Overall, a good look back at the origin of the band, even as a standalone album it's worth getting.
• Hatefiles (2003) Various Bsides and such. Contains 'Terminate', the last recorded Fear Factory song, which is ok, nothing special, 'Frequency', 'Machine Debaser' and 'Demolition Racer' (if you're thinking about buying the "LinchPin Special Australian Tour EP 2001" album, you may wish to pick this release up instead). A few remixes, some of which are available as bsides on other EPs. Two alternate mixes of songs off Demanufacture by Colin Richardson, similar but inferior to the final album cuts, I'm glad they kept tweaking. A demo from a song off of "Digimortal", some stuff from the "Burn" EP. Anyways, you get the idea. Again, if you already own all the songs separately, probably best to steer away from this release, but if you're missing some of this stuff, you may want to grab the disc, it's a decent catch all collection of some obscure songs.
• Archetype (2004) So a quick recap. Fear Factory breaks up after a mediocre 4th album. Soon all sorts of stories are flying around about how Burton (vocals) couldn't stand Dino (guitar) anymore, and that's what caused the breakup. Then all these articles where Dino started talking shit about other members of the band. Then articles from the other members of the band fighting back. All very ugly, and, well, never being a fan of band politics, a little sad. I mean, this band is probably one of my favorite metal bands of all time, it's kinda like watching your parents fight. But then, the unthinkable happens, the band reforms, except without Dino? Christian (bass) is going to play guitar now? Is this really going to work out? I mean, all of a sudden the big question for me was just how much did Dino really have to do with the sound and songs of Fear Factory? I was always under the impression that he was integral to the band, and without him I didn't know if Fear Factory could be Fear Factory anymore. Well, the answer to my question was at 10 seconds into the first track, 'Slave Labor'. We had thick spacy keyboards, a complex bassdrum riff, the robotically precise guitars we all knew and loved. Not only was this still Fear Factory, but it was a hell of a lot closer to the Fear Factory I knew and loved since the opening kicks of "Demanufacture" than the work they've done since. It's cliche, but Fear Factory was back, and they were better then ever. After an excellent first track, they kick it up about 10 notches with track 2, 'Cyberwaste', which is certainly the fastest and angriest Fear Factory song I had ever heard. By track 3, which starts with a tight start-and-stop riff that the band is known for, there was no question in my mind, the band had delivered the goods and this album was gonna kick some serious ass. Track 4, 'Drones', is my favorite of the album, it has everything a good Fear Factory song should have, complex and ultra fast doublebass riffs, a really killer chorus with Burton doing his clean vocals thing, and super tight and low guitars. If I had one complaint it's that the album could have used one extra fast song at the end ('Bonescraper' is certainly fast, but the main riff is a little too upbeat for my taste), since many of the later songs are a little slower and feature the clean vocals more. Productionwise, absolutely stellar like normal. The snare is a little more live sounding, although the bassdrums are heavily triggered as usual, there's even some blast beats here which we haven't heard for years. What can I say, Raymond just has this inhuman precision about him that no other drummer can match. Christian on guitar sounds every bit as good as Dino. And Burton sounds genuinely angry again, which makes sense considering all the stuff the band has been through in the past few years. The album comes with a bonus DVD that has about 40 minutes of band interviews talking about the record, and the video for 'Cyberwaste'. This has already become my second favorite album after "Demanufacture", and is already my top album of the year. If you ever loved this band, you must check this thing out, I am simply blown away.
• Transgression (2005) Despite what you may have heard, this is not a bad album. This may not be a Fear Factory album, but it's not bad. What did Burton call it in a recent interview? "Experimental?" Well, not experimental in terms of the band doing something no one else has done before, but certainly experimental for Fear Factory, whose style has always been very consistent (even when they produced a so-so album like "Digimortal", it still sounded like the band). As far as the usual Fear Factory style goes, something about the chugging riffs they use, the super tight and triggered doublebass, the vocal melodies and way the samples interact with the music, when you hear a Fear Factory song, you know it's Fear Factory. This album breaks that rule almost completely. In fact, in many ways it almost sounds like Burton with a different band. Drumming is a little simpler without as much doublebass craziness, Raymond also uses more toms which is a bit of a departure for him, and the drum sound is far more natural, far less triggered. The guitar sound is also more raw, less processed, Christian experiments with a lot of different sounds too, different clean sounds and some semi dirty guitar tones vs full on distortion all the time. And overall the guitar sound is a little thinner. Less overdubs maybe? Far fewer keyboards as well, which also may be why the sound is thinner. The one element that remains pretty much unchanged is Burton's vocals. Anyways, things live and die by the songs, and it's a mixed bag. There are still plenty of heavy bits, like the break in 'Contagion', the break in '540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit' or the intro to 'Spinal Compression'. But lighter songs like 'Echo Of My Scream' fail to be as catchy somehow as previous Fear Factory "ballads" such as 'Resurrection' or 'Bite the Hand That Bleeds'. And there really are no fast songs at all, even just 2 well placed fast songs would have helped pick the album up tremendously. The best song on the album IMO is 'Moment Of Impact', which is certainly sludgier than a normal Fear Factory song, but it's brutal pretty much all the way through not unlike 'Concrete'. The Best-buy only bonus track 'Empire' is also good, it's heavy and has an odd sounding chorus. The album also contains 2 covers, a U2 cover and a Killing Joke cover (why have the covers before the end of the album? Why not tag them at the end as bonus tracks?) The U2 cover doesn't sound like Fear Factory at all, it's not a heavier reinvention of the song as much as it's the guys from Fear Factory playing that song just like U2 played it. The Killing Joke song is actually one of the heavier songs on the album. The Dualdisc version of the album has 3 videos (basically hastily put together music videos containing primarily footage of the band performing live) and a 20min making off, which is mostly just footage of the band in the studio while the studio tracks play in the background. The Making Of did have a few brief interviews with Christian and Raymond talking about their approach to the album, where they said they felt this album sounded more like them right now, instead of being worried about whether the songs were really Fear Factory songs. And that would be a good description. We have a few filler songs, a few good songs that sound very different. I'd still recommend picking the album up, I have a feeling it will grow on me, but I really hope that future cds include more of the trademark Fear Factory style, because overall that style is far superior to much of the material on "Transgression".
• Live On the Sunset Strip (2005, Live EP) 3 song Live EP. The sound is definitely bootleg quality, everything is clear (even the bass drums), but you'll need to pump up the volume, and even then don't expect a lot of bass. But on the upside, these are 3 of my favorite songs off "Archetype": 'Slave Labor', 'Cyberwaste' and 'Drones', the performance is good, and the cd is $2. Yes, that's right, for the cost of keeping that pesky paperboy off your back you get 3 live tracks! So all things considering, I'd recommend grabbing this if you see it at your local record store.

• Slaves Of Virgo (2007) Crazy math metal in the vein of Dillenger Escape Plan, Ion Dissonance, Candiria or Meshuggah. Most of the CD almost feels like an exercise in freeform jazz, except horribly distorted and filled with screams. While I'm generally not a fan of Dillenger Escape Plan type stuff, this CD has a few things going for it. First, the sound is so ridiculously thick and brutal that it's fun to listen to just from a sonic perspective. Second, great production value, the guitar sound is just monstrously distorted, and the drums are really hard hitting. Third, the vocals are fun, they range from low growls to high screams to gurgling to chanting to something akin to Donald Duck on crack. There are a few lighter breaks between the craziness, just enough to add variety, the tribal female singing in 'The Rise And Fall Of Red Sparrows' is pretty cool. And I enjoy the sludgy closing track 'The Harridan Marathon'. Highly brutal stuff, if you dig the style, this is worth checking into.
  

• Destined For Defilement (1997)
• The Seeds Of Abysmal Torment (2000) Pretty straight ahead American death metal in the style of Suffocation, Disavowed or Skinless. What makes this all worth while is some really good riffs and some obvious skill on the part of the musicians. The vocals are varied from higher screams to Disgorge level grunts. Reasonably complex drums with blasts and double bass, although the vibe is mostly on the slow and groove-related side. If I had one complaint it's that the guitar sound is a little muffled, while the production remains heavy, they could have done a slightly better job eqing everything. Like Skinless' "Foreshadowing Our Demise", the riffs are imaginative enough that you find yourself putting the CD into your CD player again and again even if there's nothing here you can point to that's particularly inventive. Worth the cash.
• Live In Germany (2002, EP)
• Murder Without End (2003) Very similar to their last album, but everything's pushed up a notch. First off, my issues with the production on the last album are gone with this album, this has just the right level of low end and high end. Some of the songs remind me a bit of Internal Bleeding's first album, in style, not that they're copies or anything. Some very good slow chugged riffs that cling to the brain, very memorable. Good song writing is key here, I've been hearing a lot of albums recently that resemble a series of notes strung together instead of real songs, and like a one night stand, it may be fun for the evening, but in the morning you wake up from your drunken haze and realize she wasn't nearly as good looking as she seemed the night before. And what was her name again? This album on the other hand is that really cute girl who you can expect to have a loving long term relationship with. Oh ya, and this girl has horns, fangs, claws and her voice sounds like satan gargling. Just the way we like it. Hmm, hmm. Seriously, this stuff is really good, and I highly recommend the album to fans of the genre.
  

• Here Among Thorns (2001) Sometimes you can tell a lot from a band by the cover songs they perform. In the case of Fleshtized, it's no huge surprise that the album ends with a cover of Morbid Angel's 'Rapture', although really this album reminds me more of Hate Eternal's "Conquering the Throne". So while it may have some similarities to post "Covenant" Morbid Angel, it removes most of the the slow stuff and centers on the angry, furious parts that Hate Eternal did so well. And these guys do it really well too. In fact, I'd have to mark this down as one of the best albums in this genre I've heard in awhile. Right from the first riff I knew this was something worth listening to and not just another one of these "ok, I'm a reviewer, so I have to review this cd" kind of albums. Great blast beats and double bass, really low and thick guitarwork, some unusual riffs that standout as creative, and good decent midrange vocals. Put this one on your list of cds to buy for the week.
  

• Here Down To Earth (1991, Demo)
  
• The Green God (1992, Demo)
• Revolt (1994, Demo) I saw Foreshadow live about 3 years ago, and was unimpressed. But then I got a hold of this demo tape, and boy have they improved. Sort of a goofy style of death metal, very technical, great riffs, excellent production, lots of bass, they have a wacky streak to their music as well as crushing riffs.
• Do We Disturb? (1996) The band's first and last CD. While the production is as good as Revolt, the song writing just isn't up to the same level. Not that the song writing is bad, it's still way better than most bands, and keeps generally with the same style as the demo. A shame the band has recently broken up.

• Non-Physical Reality (1995, Demo) This band broke up, but you'll want a copy of their demo. It's a great mixture of death and melodic music. The guitar player has a guitar synth, and plays these really serene, beautiful interludes, which work as a great counterpoint to the powerful, in your face thrash of the main band.

• Wake The Demons (2004) This hardcore / metalcore band from New York sure packs a punch. Their powerful rhythm section really knows how to slap you around with a riff. Not a bit of melody or harmony to be found here, just single note riffs (usually low E, or whatever actual note that string is tuned to) that are loud and pummeling. If you know Bury Your Dead, you'll know what to expect from this band. While enjoyable, the lack of variety does hurt this album. The songs all tend to blend together, and many of the riffs sound recycled (like the beginning riff in 'Fore Warned' and 'Strength Within' are almost identical to the beginning of Slayer's 'Payback', right down to the punches). A little bit of calm may have made the angry bits that much more effective. But as it stands, you have an vicious band who write decent riffs and perform them with so much conviction you'll be thrashing around in that pit before you know it. A for anger, C for originality and variety.