FEAR FACTORY — Soul of a New Machine (review)

FEAR FACTORY — Soul of a New Machine album cover Album · 1992 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
Soul of a New Machine is the debut full-length studio album by American death/ industrial metal act Fear Factory. The album was released in September 1992 by Roadrunner Records. Soul of a New Machine was re-released in October 2004 as a digipack with the Fear is the Mindkiller (1993) EP as bonus. While Andrew Shives is credited as playing bass on the album, Soul of a New Machine was actually recorded by the trio of Burton C. Bell on vocals, Dino Cazares on Guitars and Bass and Raymond Herrera on Drums. The loads of samples on the album are credited to Otis.

The music on Soul of a New Machine is influenced by death metal/ grindcore in the vein of Napalm Death and harsh industrial metal like Godflesh. Add to that technical precision playing on a high level and the outcome is actually quite unique. The fact that Burton C. Bell sang clean vocal parts in addition to his more brutal harsh growling was considered very original in 1992. Soul of a New Machine is one of the earliest examples of mixing growling and clean vocals. This was something new and fresh on a death metal scene that had already started to stagnate a bit. Songs like Martyr, Scapegoat, Scumgrief and Self Immolation were simply something that people hadn´t heard before.

The album is produced by Colin Richardson who creates the right raw and industrial feel for the songs. The production tends to be a bit too muddy in the fast parts, but on the other hand it´s actually pretty great that the sound is not too polished.

The first time I was exposed to Fear Factory was when they supported Cannibal Corpse on the tour where the latter promoted Tomb of the Mutilated (1992). I had never heard about Fear Factory before and therefore didn´t have any expectations to how they would sound. They more than delivered though and I remember being spellbound by their sound. Those clean vocal parts were something unique and new and the tight almost mechanical playing greatly intrigued me too. The headliners paled in comparison. Not long after that show I purchased my copy of Soul of a New Machine. Listening to Soul of a New Machine is therefore always a nostalgic trip down memory lane. I think the album has aged a bit though and not always in a positive way so while it´s definitely a seminal album that will never leave my collection a 3.5 - 4 star rating is warranted. If you had asked me back when Soul of a New Machine was released I would have given the album a full 5.
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