Fear Factory
Mechanize ()
Wydane przez AFM RecordsRok wydania Kraj USANapisał Wouter7
In the mid-to-late '90s California industrial metallers Fear Factory were at the forefront of the mainstream metal scene, alongside contemporaries like Sepultura, Pantera and Machine Head. After the 2001 hit-and-miss record "Digimortal" founder/guitarist Dino Cazares left. Two more records followed with 2004's return-to-form "Archetype" and its ill-advised cynically named successor "Transgression". With "Mechanize" the classic and mark II line-ups of Fear Factory merge together with revered super drummer Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Testament) and the band have written what is arguably their best record to date. "Mechanize" holds the middle ground between "Demanufacture" (arguably the band's finest hour) and the pristinely produced "Obsolete" as far as songwriting is concerned while adding the lyrical and head-on intensity of "Soul Of A New Machine". Hoglan's drumming is superb and adds a lot of character to these songs while Cazares occasionally does fierce leads/solos to complement his mechanized staccato riffing assault. Burton C. Bell is his usual self, combining his streetwise barking and screaming with fragile clean sung passages. Bell's voice has suffered a lot over the years, but his performance is still miles above some of this contemporaries. Roll-out singles 'Powershifter' and 'Fear Campaign' form the template of this record, with tracks such as 'Industrial Discipline', 'Controlled Demolition' and 'Christploitation' being the most brutal the band have written to date. The slower 'Designing the Enemy' feels out of place and takes the flow out of the album. The glossy artwork continues the concepts explored on the earlier Cazares albums. "Mechanize" was co-produced by Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly, Paradise Lost) and mixed by Greg Reely (Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy) resulting in a lush production that combines the best of "Obsolete" and "Digimortal". It took some years for this band to regain its composture and channel its powers, but this album is a promise of greater things to come. The special edition of this album comes in a cool toolbox with neat FF logo engraved gadgets.
www.afm-records.de
