I bought this used because I heard a few samples from it that were good, and sure enough, this is about a million times better than that "Digimortal" piece of shit. Why it's better I don't know, I can't imagine the band lineup tension was that problematic to have yielded such a terrible record, but with Cazares out of the band, Olde Wobers moving to guitar, and a new bassist, Fear Factory sounds much better. The only thing missing are some of Dino's superbly heavy melodies, as most of these tracks are based around the similar sounding staccato rhythms for which the band is known. But the faster riffing and almost hardcore-ish chord progressions in "Cyberwaste" are very reminiscent of their debut, whereas more melodic pieces like "Archetype" and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds" (which uses clean guitars and some of the most exceptional singing herein) hint at (but never quite reach) the insanely catchy and memorable plateaus of the finer moments on "Obsolete". And, of course, there are some really bland moments that bring back some of the shortcomings of "Digimortal" - the verse parts of "Drones" are too simplistic and groovy, the verse parts of "Corporate Cloning" are almost painfully irritating with monotone singing and dull repetition of the same chords, etc. It's definitely an all over mix of all of the band's past work, making more intelligent use of synths and electronics as per the later work, but mixing those elements down a bit and letting the meat of the instrumentation drive the tracks. And hell, honestly, even the songs that sort of suck have really good choruses, so... they're not total wastes. The last track is a cover of "School" by Nirvana, which, while not a bad cover (nor is it great), is out of place and servers little purpose... I like the recording for the most part. The drums are, as always, very mechanical sounding, which can get frustrating, but the bass tone makes the record, really. It's thicker than hell and beefs up everything. The guitar tone is heavy but does have that slightly unnatural industrial lean, which I'm not fond of, but it all works out. The vocals are really improved upon across the board, so I wouldn't screw with those. The layout's so-so. The disc and bonus DVD come in a large digipack with an immense booklet with plenty of art and text, but I'm not really into the whole meat/bones/metal collage thing with emblems and such, it just looks too clean and crisp, clearly digitally manipulated and such. I love the fact that all of the text throughout the design is handwritten, however. And unlike past efforts form the band, this isn't really a concept record, and despite some of the song titles the tracks seem to deal more directly with personal issues, some with underlying commentary on larger issues, but definitely less sci-fi or what have you. The disc comes with a bonus "Australian Tour 2004" DVD that runs about an hour and includes mostly random behind the scenes footage from the tour: Goofing off, traveling, cheesy overzealous fans, the filming of the "Cyberwaste" video, and so on. The video itself is included as well and the picture quality is insanely perfect, but since they're just performing in a rundown warehouse with a crowd surrounding them it's not that exciting or anything. In the end, longtime fans of the band should enjoy this set of songs. I've been a come and go supporter of Fear Factory ever since "Soul of a New Machine", but I'm 100% certain that this record will win back a number of fans who rightfully jumped ship after "Digimortal" hit the streets. It's the Fear Factory you'd expect - not their best work mind you, but a solid return to form after a serious misstep. Dino's absence does make a difference, but not one that holds the band back from succeeding.
[Liquid 8]
Running time - 59:02, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Cyberwaste, Archetype, Bite the Hand That Bleeds, Human Shields]
Fear Factory - http://www.fearfactory.com
