Fear Factory

Fear Factory is an industrial metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1990. The group’s sound combines industrial metal with death metal, groove metal and alternative metal, using a mechanical, rhythm-driven approach and a contrast between harsh and clean vocals.

Formation and early years

The band first forms under the name Ulceration, then briefly uses the name Fear the Factory before shortening it to Fear Factory. Early members include guitarist Dino Cazares, drummer Raymond Herrera, vocalist Burton C. Bell and bassist Dave Gibney. Cazares and Herrera shape much of the early songwriting, and Cazares also plays bass on early recordings. Fear Factory’s demo material draws on bands such as Napalm Death and Godflesh, helping establish its mix of extreme metal and industrial textures. The group contributes tracks to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990 and plays its first live show the same year.

Recordings and breakthrough

After recording early material with producer Ross Robinson, later issued as Concrete, Fear Factory releases its debut album Soul of a New Machine through Roadrunner Records in 1992. The album helps build an underground following through touring with Biohazard, Sepultura and Sick of It All. The remix EP Fear Is the Mindkiller follows in 1993.

The line-up stabilises in 1994 with Bell, Cazares, Herrera and bassist Christian Olde Wolbers. This period produces Demanufacture in 1995, widely regarded as the band’s breakthrough. The album is followed by extensive touring and by wider exposure for songs such as “Replica” and “Zero Signal”, which appear in film and video game soundtracks including Mortal Kombat and Carmageddon. The remix album Remanufacture - Cloning Technology appears in 1997.

Later 1990s and 2000s

In 1998, Fear Factory releases Obsolete, a concept album set in a dystopian future dominated by machines. It becomes the group’s most commercially successful release and includes “Descent” and a cover of Gary Numan’s “Cars”, which features Numan himself. The album is supported by major touring and festival appearances including Ozzfest. Digimortal follows in 2001 and continues a more mainstream-oriented approach, though it does not match the success of Obsolete.

Internal tensions lead to the band’s breakup in 2002 after Bell leaves. Material recorded earlier is issued as Concrete, and the compilation Hatefiles appears later. Fear Factory reforms in 2003 without Cazares, who is replaced on guitar by Wolbers, while Byron Stroud joins on bass. This line-up releases Archetype in 2004 and Transgression in 2005. Archetype is often seen as a return to the band’s earlier style, while Transgression takes a more experimental and stylistically varied direction, with tracks including “Echo of My Scream”, “New Promise”, “Supernova” and a cover of “I Will Follow”. The band goes on hiatus in 2006.

Reformations and later albums

In 2009, Bell and Cazares reform Fear Factory with new members including Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan, although Herrera and Wolbers dispute their exclusion and legal disputes follow. This line-up records Mechanize, released in 2010. Further albums include The Industrialist in 2012, a concept album that uses programmed drums, and Genexus in 2015, released after the band signs with Nuclear Blast. Tony Campos becomes the bassist during this period.

Bell leaves in 2020, leaving Cazares as the sole original member. The album Aggression Continuum, which uses Bell’s recorded vocals from earlier sessions, is released in 2021, with “Disruptor” issued before it. In 2023, the band introduces vocalist Milo Silvestro after an audition process involving more than 300 candidates, along with drummer Pete Webber, later confirmed as a permanent member. A revised edition of The Industrialist, titled Re-Industrialized, also appears in 2023, with re-recorded instrumentation and additional tracks.

Line-up and status

Fear Factory remains active and has included members such as Dave Gibney, Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera, Burton C. Bell, Andy Romero, Andrew Shives, Christian Olde Wolbers, Byron Stroud, Gene Hoglan, Matt DeVries, Mike Heller, Tony Campos and Milo Silvestro. The band is associated with Roadrunner Records and Nuclear Blast, and its style is commonly placed within industrial metal, death metal, groove metal and related metal forms.