Fear Factory – Burton C. Bell

www.fearfactory.com

Fear Factory have played a pivotal role in the evolution of the industrial metal movement since the early 90’s. Fear Factory return with the release of their eighth studio album, ‘The Industrialist’. What many consider to be the band’s most faithful industrial release since, ‘Demanufacture’.

Metal Obsession had the opportunity to speak with Fear Factory vocalist and lyricists Burton C. Bell, regarding the band’s latest release and the band’s upcoming Australian tour.

Metal Obsession: First things first. Are Mike Heller and Matt DeVries considered permanent members of Fear Factory?

Burton C. Bell: No! They’re in fact just touring members. Me and Dino [Cazares] haven’t got to that point yet where we want to make an executive decision and make them full time members of Fear Factory. We’re not just going to let them be full time members in the band just yet. They have to be in it to win it. You know what I mean?

MO: John Sankey of Devolved is credited on ‘The Industrialist’. However, you and Dino Cazares chose programmed drums over a live drummer. Why?

BCB: It’s real simple. It expedited the process of our recording session very well. There is one thing a lot of people don’t realise with the advent of pro-tools. When we started recording with pro-tools on ‘Digimortal’  back in 2001 and recording into pro-tools. What would happen is the drummer would play live into the pro-tools program, right? Then our engineer would move every single hit that drummer made and be absolutely precise and then change every sound of each note. We realise it would just be a lot easier and quicker to have a programmed drum track as appose to continually retaking drum tracks from a live drummer to learn, retake and execute precisely.

MO: Has John Sankey ever been a likely candidate to be a permanent member of Fear Factory?

BCB: He was actually. However, he’s having visa problems, so it made things a little difficult.

MO: What are your thoughts on the upcoming Australian tour?

BCB: We haven’t done a headline tour of Australia in a very long time. We’re very much looking forward to it. I can’t wait! Our setlists will be a mix of both new and old.

MO: I’ve noticed that Fear Factory rarely play material off ‘Archetype’ and ‘Transgression’ live. Are these albums the present line-up wish to forget?

BCB: Not necessarily forget. We aren’t trying to forget them. Dino [Cazares] isn’t really ready to play them. For us, ‘Transgression’ wasn’t a big record. I wouldn’t consider it a “classic record”, but there are people who do enjoy it. There are certain songs which we think don’t have to be played, so we insensitively go for our more popular records. However, we’re considering to play ‘Archetype’.

MO: When listening to ‘The Industrialist’ I got a sense of excitement. Something I haven’t felt since I first heard the opening tracks of ‘Demanufacture’ or ‘Soul of a new Machine’. I guess you would call it a sense of innocence.

BCB: This album has a lot of excitement in it. The fact that it was recorded quickly and we definitely had a focus on making something great is a clear indication of how excited we were. We were all very excited when recording ‘The Industrialist’, I think that it will be obvious when people first listen to it. Once we started writing it just escalated from there. I was working on the vocals and I was overwhelmed with pure adrenaline and excitement and I’m sure people who listen to the new album [The Industrialist] will definitely sense that.

MO: Is it safe to say that ‘The Industrialist’ shares similar aspects to ‘Demanufacture’?

BDB: To a certain degree, yes. I think ‘The Industrialist’ shares that industry element which is so present on ‘Demanufacture’. This return is what drove us and what we really wanted to focus on for the new album [The Industrialist]. Therefore we tried to not create ‘Demanufacture’ version 2, but create the sounds that were so dominate and made ‘Demanufacture’ so exciting for us and our fans.

MO: Have you, Dino [Cazares] and Rhys [Fulber] discussed the creation of a new remix album. Similar to ‘Fear Is A Mind Killer’, ‘Hatefiles’ or ‘Remanufacture’?

BCB: Of course, man! It’s something we’re very interested in doing again. Its certainly an element which Fear Factory have always played and we’d love to do again soon.

MO: The concept behind ‘The Industrialist’ is loosely based on the movie, ‘The Terminator’. How did you originally come about the story of ‘The Industrialist’?

BCB: We usually work with a title first then work on a concept after that. We find it a lot easier to work that way. It came about with me, Dino [Cazares] and Rhys [Fulber] just talking and discussing ideas and it just evolved from there. I really don’t know how it all started, but we all came up with the idea and just went with it.

MO: Have you always worked with the “song title first, lyrics later” formula?

BCB: The title really helps stimulate our creativity. Once we came up with the title it really put the entire album into perspective for us. Not just conceptually, but sonically. The title really does help us think and work together towards a common goal. When I was writing the story it came together so fluently and quickly. The story itself just worked its way in while I was writing. I don’t how I did it, but I did. [laughs]

The story of ‘The industrialist’ is about a sentient automaton [a robot with emotion] and the title [The Industrialist] reflects all the amalgamation of all the high tech industries and put into one. It’s essentially the best the industry could create at the time, so it’s called “The Industrialist”. It’s essentially a story of man versus machine. However, this machine knows of its existence and it fighting for its own survival before its outdated and replaced with something bigger and better.

MO: Is this a reflection of mans survival in an ever changing world?

BCB: That is a good observation. I’m glad you noticed that. I see man is fighting for survival in this present time. Fighting to exist with everyone else. I see certain individuals and institutions on this planet who deem others as not worthy and therefore not part of the human experience. I think we all see that regardless of who we are or where we come from. These individuals who are manipulated are essentially a manifestation of the story’s protagonist.

MO: The machine and human connection has always played a large role in Fear Factory’s legacy. Are you at all skeptical of the future of humankind with the acceleration of technology?

BCB: The idea of technology is to help humankind. However, there will always be negative along with the positive. There is always going to be a certain individual who wants to use technology which will either destroy or control others. I don’t think anyone should be frightened of technology. I honestly think certain technologies will inevitably happen and we should not be afraid of them. However, we should be mindful of certain individuals who wish to abuse these technologies.

MO: With so many ideas floating around in your head. Have you ever thought of writing science fiction books?

BCB: It would be cool. I’ve always been a fan of science fiction and I love reading it. If I was ever to write a book, I don’t know? I do write my stories through my records, but if I were to write a book I don’t know if it would be science fiction. I wouldn’t have a clue what it would be about. [laughs]

MO: Thanks for the chat, mate. See you in Melbourne.

BCB: Thank you! Can’t wait to get back to Australia.

Make sure to catch Fear Factory on their Australian tour this week. Tickets available via respected ticket outlets and venues.

26th September – Brisbane, Australia – 18+
Support acts: Amagon, Fifth Day Of Ice & Ire.
The Hi-Fi – http://www.thehifi.com.au/
Tickets from http://www.thehifi.com.au 1300 843 443

27th September – Sydney, Australia – 18+
Support acts: Thy Art Is Murder, Truth Corroded
The Hi-Fi – http://www.thehifi.com.au/
Tickets from http://www.thehifi.com.au 1300 843 443

28th September – Melbourne, Australia – 18+
Support acts: Thy Art Is Murder, Truth Corroded
The Hi-Fi – http://www.thehifi.com.au/
Tickets from http://www.thehifi.com.au 1300 843 443

29th September – Adelaide, Australia – 18+
Support acts: Truth Corroded, Alkira
Unibar – http://www.adelaide.edu.au/unibar/
Tickets from http://www.moshtix.com.au 1300 GET TIX

30th September – Perth, Australia – 18+
Support acts: Sensory Amusia, Inanimacy
Capitol Theatre – http://www.capitoltheatre.com.au/
Tickets from http://www.oztix.com.au 1300 762 545