FEAR FACTORY — The Industrialist (review)

FEAR FACTORY — The Industrialist album cover Album · 2012 · Industrial Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Industrialist" is the 9th full-length studio album by US death/industrial metal act Fear Factory. The album was released through Candlelight Records in June 2012. The band returned to the scene after a 5 year recording break with the critically acclaimed "Mechanize (2010)". An album that also saw the return of founding member/guitarist Dino Cazares but also the inclusion of bassist Byron Stroud (Strapping Young Lad) and drummer Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad...etc.). A strong lineup that recorded a strong album. However on "The Industrialist" the two latter mentioned are already out of the band again and former Chimaira guitarist Matt DeVries has taken over the bass duties. A bit more controversial maybe, the drums on the album are programmed.

If you are familiar with the industrial tinged death/extreme metal style of Fear Factory, "The Industrialist" is not an album that holds many surprises. Compared to it´s predecessor the intensity level is slightly lower and the music is a bit more groove based too. The fact that the drums are programmed is not a major deal really (although I would have prefered a "real" drummer). It gives the album a slightly more metallic/industrial sound, but that´s not really unusual for Fear Factory. All the trademark Fear Factory traits are present on "The Industrialist". Burton C. Bell´s raw semi-growling vocals and his clean vocals too, the heavy precision riffing and rythms and a sci-fi lyrical theme. This time around it´s a concept story.

The album is well produced, the musicianship is solid and the songwriting decent. While there aren´t many highlights on "The Industrialist", there are a couple of standout tracks on the album like "Recharger", "New Messiah" and the closing 9:04 minutes long ambient "Human Augmentation". While the first two mentioned stand out because they are hook laden and memorable the latter stand out because it´s tedious and quite frankly redundant. Had it lasted 2 minutes intstead of 9 it could probably have worked well as an atmospheric outro to the album, but as it is now I´m half asleep before it ends. Despite the album being a bit of a "flat" experience in terms of highlights and my issue with the length of "Human Augmentation", "The Industrialist" still comes off as a quality product with a distinct sound. It might be Fear Factory "by the numbers", but even Fear Factory "by the numbers" is better than most of the competition and I´d say a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) is warranted. I do hope they´ll be helped by a more creative muse the next time around though.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 5 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 6 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed