635. Fear Factory / The Industrialist. 2012. 3/5

The return of Fear Factory with their eighth release was always going to be an interesting time. With Burton and Dino still reunited, but without any other semblance of band members, how was the writing and recording process going to go, and could it continue the revival of the Fear Factory brand?
I couldn't help but like this from the very start. Dino and Burton haven't strayed far from the tried and true Fear factory handbook, with heavy screaming vocals surrounded by the standard guitar riffs and double kick, double time drums. "The Industrial", "Recharger" and "New Messiah" are all solid tracks.

After two or three songs though, you just feel that the drums are almost mechanical, with a similarity of all of the rolls and fills througout most of the songs. It came as no surprise then to finally discover that the band (Dino and Burton) had actually programmed the drums on the album. Sure it might sound good for the most part, but it is a little disappointing. Perhaps they felt they had to bow to using a machine to get the most out of what they wanted for the album, but does that mean you resort to the same machine when you tour? Do they become basically a karaoke band, with just vocals and guitar standing in front of machinery on stage providing the rhythm section? Some love of the album is therefore lost because not only does it sound mechanised (no pun intended on the name of previous album), it actually is. Maybe they felt it was to much effort to find a drummer to produce what they wanted, but the result is that it now just feels too produced.
Even given this, I think it is a step up from Mechanize again. It most certainly has nothing new involved. Burton and Dino have gone back to grabbing the essence of what made Fear Factory the band they are, and drip fed it into the writing process to produce another solid effort.

"God Eater" is a different tempo from the opening tracks that grows on you after a few listens. "Depraved Mind Murder" and "Virus of Faith" restores the pace and vibrancy of the album, kicking along at a rate of knots. It is only when Burton's clear vocals come in that the songs seem to lose some of their gloss, it just feels as though it softens the output of these songs when that occurs.
"Difference Engine" starts off as true Fear Factory metal gold, hard guitars and vocals growling with intent. Great stuff. "Dissemble" is just as good, punching out the heavy guitar and vocals almost to the completion of the song.

But what is with the eleven minutes of rubbish that closes the album? OK, it's a concept album, and the last two songs, "Religion Is Flawed Because Man Is Flawed" and "Human Augmentation" is telling the closure of the tale. But nothing actually HAPPENS! What on earth is the point of doing that if the songs aren't't actually songs, it is eleven minutes of metallic industrial silence? They have effectively written a song that has been placed on an album that no one will EVER listen to again after their first playing. Good enough idea, but just far too long and unnecessary in the full scheme of an album to deal with again.

So there it is. Nothing new, different, ground breaking or sensational from the band. Fans will find enough here to keep them satisfied, while there is also enough here for the novice Fear factory listener to think it might be worthwhile checking out their back catalogue.