Mechanize

For the concept and process, see Mechanization.
Mechanize
Studio album by Fear Factory
Released February 5, 2010
Recorded 2009
Genre Groove metal, industrial metal, death metal, thrash metal
Length 44:48
48:16 (Digipak)
Label Candlelight Records, AFM Records
Producer Rhys Fulber, Fear Factory
Fear Factory chronology

Transgression
(2005)		 Mechanize
(2010)		 The Industrialist
(2012)
Singles from Mechanize
  1. "Powershifter"
    Released: November 10, 2009
  2. "Fear Campaign"
    Released: February 4, 2010
  3. "Final Exit"
    Released: April 20, 2010

Mechanize is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Fear Factory. It is the only album to feature Gene Hoglan on drums and the first since 2001's Digimortal to include original guitarist and founding member Dino Cazares who rejoined the band after a reconciliation with vocalist Burton C. Bell in April 2009. The album was produced by Rhys Fulber, who had not produced or been involved with a Fear Factory album since Archetype. The album has received mostly positive reviews from fans and music critics being praised for its very aggressive and heavy sound the album mixes elements of the bands earlier albums such as the death metal influence mostly found on Soul of a New Machine and Concrete and the sound featured on albums Demanufacture, Obsolete, and Archetype. The album is also the first Fear Factory album to feature an 8-string guitar. In its first week of release the album sold 10,000 copies.

Background

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 70/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Blabbermouth [3]
Sputnikmusic [4]
about.com [5]

On April 7, 2009, vocalist Burton C. Bell and ex-guitarist Dino Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Fear Factory bassist Byron Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad. On April 28, this project was revealed to be a new version of Fear Factory that effectively excluded former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers.[6] Asked about the circumstances of their exclusion, Bell stated that "[Fear Factory]'s like a business and I'm just reorganizing... We won't talk about [their exclusion]."[7]

In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera finally spoke about the issue on the radio program "Speed Freaks." Herrera revealed that technically, he and Wolbers had not left the band: "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory...[Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it,".[8] Herrera went on to say that the original four members (Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and himself) are contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and said "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate." He also stated that he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had come up between them and Bell, which left Bell unwilling to continue work with the band.[8]

Despite issues between the two parties, Fear Factory moved ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell phone showed Dino recording over drum tracks with longtime contributor Rhys Fulber. On November 9, 2009, album artwork for the album was revealed on blabbermouth.net.[9]

On February 2, 2010, the album's first official music video for the song "Fear Campaign" was released.[10] The song also includes a standard guitar solo passage, something highly uncharacteristic of Fear Factory's usual standard.

The song "Final Exit" is a title borrowed from Derek Humphry's 1991 book of the same name, which deals with the topic of self-chosen euthanasia.

The bonus track "Crash Test" is a re-recorded version from their 1992 debut album Soul of a New Machine. The band also re-recorded versions of "Martyr" (also from Soul of a New Machine), which is found on the Japanese edition of the album and "Sangre de Niños",[11] which has yet to be released.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Burton C. Bell, all music composed by Cazares/Hoglan.

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Mechanize"  Bell, Cazares, Hoglan 4:41
2. "Industrial Discipline"  Bell, Cazares 3:38
3. "Fear Campaign"  Bell, Cazares, Hoglan 4:54
4. "Powershifter"  Bell, Cazares 3:51
5. "Christploitation"  Bell, Cazares, Hoglan 4:58
6. "Oxidizer"  Bell, Cazares 3:44
7. "Controlled Demolition"  Bell, Cazares, Hoglan 4:25
8. "Designing the Enemy"  Bell, Cazares, Sankey 4:55
9. "Metallic Division"  Cazares 1:30
10. "Final Exit"  Bell, Cazares, Hoglan 8:18
Total length:
 44:48

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[12] 24
German Albums Chart[13] 31
Finnish Albums Chart[14] 31
Austrian Albums Chart[15] 46
Swedish Albums Chart[16] 51
Suisse Albums Chart[17] 70
U.S. Billboard 200[18] 72
Dutch Albums Chart[19] 87
French Albums Chart[20] 198

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/music/mechanize/fear-factory
  2. ↑ Henderson, Alex. "Review: Mechanize". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  3. ↑ Ogle, Ryan. "Review: Mechanize". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  4. ↑ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/60984/Fear-Factory-Mechanize/
  5. ↑ http://heavymetal.about.com/od/f/gr/fearfactory-mechanize.htm
  6. ↑ "FEAR FACTORY Reforms With DINO CAZARES, BURTON C. BELL, GENE HOGLAN". BLABBERMOUTH.NET.
  7. ↑ "Blog Archive » Fear Factory Interview Part 2!". Metal Hammer. 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - FEAR FACTORY Members Embroiled In 'Legal Battle' Over Band's Name". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  9. ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - FEAR FACTORY: 'Mechanize' Artwork Unveiled". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  10. ↑ FEAR FACTORY Fear Campaign video - Videos on Demand. Metal Injection. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  11. ↑ "Bravewords.com > News > FEAR FACTORY - Set This World On Fire".
  12. ↑ Hung, Steffen (2010-02-28). "Fear Factory - Mechanize". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  13. ↑ ":: MTV | Album Top 50 KW 7 | charts". Mtv.de. 2011-01-07. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  14. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Fear Factory - Mechanize". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  15. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Fear Factory - Mechanize". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  16. ↑ Steffen Hung (2010-02-12). "Fear Factory - Mechanize". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  17. ↑ Steffen Hung (2010-02-21). "Fear Factory - Mechanize". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  18. ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - FEAR FACTORY: First U.S. Tour Dates Announced". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  19. ↑ Steffen Hung (2010-02-13). "Fear Factory - Mechanize". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  20. ↑ Steffen Hung (2010-02-20). "Fear Factory - Mechanize". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  21. ↑ http://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/feature-fear-factory-12-12/