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All hail the return of Fear Factory! Well…sort of. Mechanize is the collaborative return of Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares – the arguable soul of Fear Factory. After mending fences over the last couple of years, Bell and Cazares recruited the legendary rhythm section of Gene Hoglan and Byron Stroud (SYL, Dethlok, etc., etc.) to replace the band’s original rhythm section (who have filed a legal dispute over the name).
What matters here is the sound though right? Honestly, this sounds a lot like what Archetype (the band’s return to the music scene minus Cazares) should have sounded like. It’s cold, calculating, and chock full of the Sci-Fi references that put the band on the map in the early to mid-nineties. The title track is an all out assault on the listener that rallies the fold and prepares you for what is undoubtedly to come. The melodic “Fear Campaign” and the brutal and anthemic “Powershifter” come back to back early on and they are easily the album’s highlights. Hoglan’s drumming is particularly amazing on the latter. The machine gun fire “Designing the Enemy” is another highlight, reminding me a lot of Fear Factory’s most successful moments.
Overall, this sounds more like Fear Factory than you’d expect. This could have been the follow up to Obsolete. Maybe it should have been the follow up to Obsolete even. As a fan of both eras of Fear Factory, I was skeptical about this seeming hijacking of the band by Bell and Cazares but they quickly and thoroughly make a believer out of you with Mechanize.
Bottom Line: This is the sound of classic Fear Factory, complete with haunting samples and industrial noise.
Key Tracks: "Fear Campaign," "Powershifter"
Reviewed by: Mark Fisher
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