Fear Factory - Archetype

 So Much Violence in OUR name!!!!
I admit, I was just as skeptical about the survival of this band after Dino Cezares, by many considered the chief architect of the FF sound, suddenly parted ways with the group. The circumstances surrounding his departure are unclear, but it appears they were far from friendly and pleasant. After all, the title track refers to Cezares: "The infection has been removed, the soul of this machine has improved", implying rather hostile relationship between Burton and FF's former main guitarist. And yet, although I have already stated otherwise on "Obsolete" review, THIS is the best Fear Factory album to date. They haven't sounded this fresh, innovative, focused and energetic since "Demanufacture", which I now consider the second best, making "Obsolete" a third. The only reason why I initially considered FF's third album their best, is because I had yet to hear "Archetype".
True, the music doesn't offer much more than "good old Fear Factory", but that is precisely why I find it so appealing. On "Digimortal", which I don't find as hopeless as a lot of metal heads, nevertheless the music began to sound a little stale, tired and comfortable, too comfortable at times. It was an album where you could still hear metal, but it was piled up with the roots-meets-third machine head generic riffing that had more to do with Korn and other simple-riffers than with Pantera or Sepultura. Fear Factory's sound became slightly run-of-the-mill. Saddest of all, they became predictable, which for any musician is the beginning of the end.
And the end came, indeed. The band almost (or actually DID) break up when D. Cezares left. Perhaps he wanted to continue this new sound, and perhaps Burton wanted to preserve the trademark FF heaviness and originality from "Demanufacture". What favors such a position is the fact that "Archetype" borrows heavily from that album: the sound is very selective, and yet huge ("Bite the Hand that Bleeds", "Human Shields"), and Burton even managed to write some of his best and most provocative lyrics, including the mock-judgment of god's ambiguous and mysterious ways on "Default Judgement" (assuming god is TOTALLY in control, which to me, too, sounds like horse manure, man-made theology)).
Burton is a very observant and witty social commentator. He returns to the idea of spiritual purity known from "Obsolete" with the same extreme description of a man who disgruntled with his corrupted position in the socioeconomic fabric, proceeds to absolve himself by self-immolation (Slave Labor).
But I particularly like Burton's stand on the Bush administration and his policies, especially foreign (Iraq). The system is a combination of religious bigotry and callous materialism, where, again, human beings are no longer ACTORS but FACTORS on the political arena. The anti-war "Human Shields" even specifically questions and condemns the "bully of the world" attitude of current executive toward the Middle East, as Bell sings in the creepy, sad, but clearly still angry voice: "children running in the streets, solders' boots are on their feet". Vietnam, Somallia, Afghanistan, Iraq, all these were and continue to be plagued with the despicable idea of forced child armies, trained to kill and die like adults. This song hits home more than others, because having witnessed such pictures in human misery myself (as the Quartermaster supply specialist in Iraq 2003/2004), I know that Fear Factory paints reality here. No longer are we lured by the sci-fi story of machines vs. men. Instead, the grievances echo the facts of our very lives...
The overall sound reminds of the quality of the first two Machine Head albums and the intensity of Fear Factory's second. Burton is a vocal giant, his clean and brutal voice are both flawless, probably his best performance ever (just listen to the title track, "Bite the Hand that Bleeds" or "Human Shields")
Fear Factory achieves a very tight, well-constructed and a very catchy set of mostly brutal cuts, such as the Thrash Core impressive "Cyberwaste" highly reminiscent of "Vulgar Display of Power" and Pantera, or very "Demanufactural", highly controversive and bold "Act of God", which actually borrows certain riffage from "Self Bias Resistor". Yes, there's also room for "Digimortal" and "Obsolete" (Drones) as well as even "Soul of the New Machine" in the spectacular "Bonescrapper", arguably the best track on the album. It features genuine BLASTBEATS as it is an example of no less than of pure, extreme Death Metal (check out the laugh at the end, very similar to "Where the Slime Live" Morbid Angel and "Domination").
I can honestly say that the material is so equal, that no fillers are present, unless you count "Ascension", which is not an actual song, but rather an epilogue to "Human Shields" and the entire CD. FF even managed to turn a Nirvana cover into a devastating slab of thrashcore fury (School)
I have yet to listen to "Transgression" so it is too early for me to judge if they stayed this fit to date, as the tile track, which I actually did hear is insufficient for the judgment of Fear Factory's progress. "Transgression"-the song, reminds me of Ministry and Thrash Metal (seemingly disparate elements), but also Gojira (yeah, the French sensation), and overall I like it. Nevertheless, I predict that once I'd familiarize myself with "Transgression"-the album, "Archetype" will still have remained Fear Factory's best work, one I dare say they will have a tough time to top in all future endeavors.
March 4, 2007

 Their best since 'Demanufacture'
Thats all i can say about this cd. Excellent sound, drums are phenomenal and the tracks are smoking. Very little filler here. Even the subdued 'undercurrent' is an exceptional FF track. I love this cd that proves Dino was not a necessity. Great job! November 30, 2006

 An Awesome comeback!
I have been an early fan of Fear Factory, since the days of "Soul of a New Machine" thinking they were doing something original: mixing death-styled vocals with clean melodic singing, machine-like industrial percussion with detuned grindcore guitars.
All these elements mixed together are almost necessary for young metal bands today, but back in the early 1990s, they were unheard of.

Fear Factory were basically the precursors of "nu" and other types of modern metal music, long before such things existed.

After their great 1995 Roadrunner album "Demanufacture" the band were on the verge of a major breakthrough that would catapult them to the next level, but, perharps sensing this, their songwriting and direction took a wrong turn with the "Obsolete" and "Digimortal" albums, which were basically uninspired affairs with a more "accessible" sound.

Then the band had a bitter break-up with guitarist and founding member Dino Cazares, and disintegrated.
Cazares, who also formed Grindcore project band Brujeria with members of Faith No More and Napalm Death, was basically the architect of the band's sound, so most fans, including myself, had pretty much given Fear Factory for dead, specially after the band was dumped by Roadrunner and it was rumored to have reformed sans Cazares, with bassist Christian Olde Wolbers as his replacement.

Fortunately, i was wrong.
The new Fear Factory album "Archetype," not only crushes "Obsolete" and "Digimortal" in terms of intensity and songwriting, but it sounds like a worthy successor to "Demanufacture."
All of the elements that made Fear Factory such a great band are back: the relentless machine-like drumming, the mixed vocals, the intensity and great, memorable songs, paired with some new-found anger, undoubtely inspired by the band's dealings with their former label Roadrunner.

Fear Factory have something prove, and they certainly sound like they do, and we can thank them for providing the fans with an awesome album. August 23, 2006

 Fear Factory doing what they do best!
Fear Factory is back from the dead. After the disappointing reaction to 2001's "Digimortal" album, it appeared certain that Fear Factory was no more. They'd split up and moved on. But with the notable exception of Dino Cazares, the guys have reformed to once again unleash their industrial edged death metal onto the world. So is this a continuation of the nu-metallish "Digimortal" or a return to the "Demanufacture" period of yesteryear.

I'm happy to announce that it's the latter of the two. Fear Factory are once again doing what they do best, without trying too hard to be a successful, commercially viable proposition. Perhaps it was Dino that was leading them down such a strange path towards the end of their previous time together, as this album would have been a much better follow-up release to "Demanufacture" or even "Obsolete" than what actually occurred. The lyrics of the title track seem to be heading that way. "The infection has been removed, the soul of this machine has improved". Everything that made Fear Factory great is back in full force. Raymond Herrera's distinct clinical drumming style, Burton's aggressive growls countered by his outstanding clean choruses and they've lost nothing by Christian taking on both lead and rhythm guitars. They may have left the grind-like era of the debut behind, but the power of tracks like "Cyberwaste" cannot be ignored.

Unfortunately, "Archetype" doesn't quite live up to the very lofty standards of "Demanufacture", mainly due to a slightly weaker second half to the album, as well as a lack of absolutely killer tracks. It's a very solid release though and I'm satisfied with it. Here's hoping they stick together and learn from their past mistakes, as this is great stuff. May 21, 2006

 Fear Factory, You Know Them, You Love Them (4.5)
This was the first CD that really got me into FF, even though I knew of their existence since, like, I think Digimortal. Anyways I heard "Drones" back in 2004 and instantly loved it. I searched the rest of it and found many more to love. Apparently their history was cut short after the not-so-well-recieved Digimortal, as we all know.

Band split, Fans sad, Called back, Dino ditched, Archetype born.

The first three tracks didn't grab my attention because I am a sucker for Fear Factory's cleanly done sungs, such as "Drones", "Archetype" (Is there anyway not to dig the chorus?), the pretty redundant but good "Bite The Hand That Bleeds", the sweet "Default Judgement", and "Human Shields".

Factory favorites are all over their past albums and some on the new but not as good Transgression, which only tells us what might be instore for the Factory. This would be on my Top 3 FF list, right behind Obsolete, which is eating the dust on Demanufacture.
All three are great, but since this review is on Archetype, I will have to act like a reviewer and tell you to buy this, but you should have done so already. April 4, 2006

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