Fear Factory - Adelaide, 29th September 2012
Words: Jo Taylor
Los Angeles Industrial Metal band Fear Factory have certainly been through a lot in their twenty-three years of existence. With numerous line-up changes, hiatuses and internal legal battles, it hasn’t been a smooth ride. But there they were, celebrating 20 years since their first release 1992 album Soul of a New Machine and supporting this year’s release The Industrialist.
A sell-out crowd filled the Adelaide Uni Bar with many old school fans spotted wearing previous Fear Factory tour t-shirts, one or two even going back to their first Australian tour in 1992. The energy in the room was electric and as usual, going completely against all stereotypes of metal fans, the audience was one of the friendliest, brought together by one common goal. Enjoy some damn good heavy music!
Returning for their first headline tour since last playing Australia in 2010 as support act for Metallica, Fear Factory welcomed the return of founding member and guitarist Dino Cazares as well as introducing new bassist Matt DeVries and drummer Mike Heller. Expectations were high. With a catalogue spanning eight studio albums, there was a lot of ground to cover.
And suddenly, there they were! The band took stage and was met with a roar of appreciative from the crowd. New track The Industrialist had them start with a bang before breaking into older tracks Shock, the epic Edgecrusher, which saw the room’s energy go through the roof, and the sonically rich Smasher/Devourer, all from 1998 album Obsolete.
A sell-out crowd filled the Adelaide Uni Bar with many old school fans spotted wearing previous Fear Factory tour t-shirts, one or two even going back to their first Australian tour in 1992. The energy in the room was electric and as usual, going completely against all stereotypes of metal fans, the audience was one of the friendliest, brought together by one common goal. Enjoy some damn good heavy music!
Returning for their first headline tour since last playing Australia in 2010 as support act for Metallica, Fear Factory welcomed the return of founding member and guitarist Dino Cazares as well as introducing new bassist Matt DeVries and drummer Mike Heller. Expectations were high. With a catalogue spanning eight studio albums, there was a lot of ground to cover.
And suddenly, there they were! The band took stage and was met with a roar of appreciative from the crowd. New track The Industrialist had them start with a bang before breaking into older tracks Shock, the epic Edgecrusher, which saw the room’s energy go through the roof, and the sonically rich Smasher/Devourer, all from 1998 album Obsolete.
The drum driven Powershifter gave Mike Heller a good work out followed by Fear Campaign, both from 2010’s Machanize. The only track to get a look in from 2001 album Digimortal was Linchpin, which was greeted with a great reaction and the sound was layered well. Sometimes Adelaide Uni Bar’s sound is a bit hit or miss but on this night it was mastered well; vocals were clear (well, as clear as it gets with Fear Factory) and with little to no distortion hampering the sound.
Lead singer Burton C. Bell, complete with big grin, embraced the Adelaide crowd. “So, here we are in Adelaide, finally doing a headline tour!” he proclaimed, before introducing more new songs to the live set with Recharger and New Messiah from the latest record. Judging by the reaction, it’s yet to really gather momentum with fans, but still met with warm appreciation.
To celebrate 20 years since the release of their first album Soul of a New Machine, they played Matyr, Scapegoat and Self Immolation. Accompanying them on stage was Jason from Truth Corroded to join in the celebration (a truly awesome fan-boy moment). The songs still carried the energy and vigor from 20 years ago, even if band and crowd weren’t quite as young as they use to be.
But the real buzz didn’t come until the final songs of the night. Saving the best for last, the band played half of 1995’s Demanufacture in one hit. The first two tracks from the album, the title track and Self Bias Resistor, tore the room apart. Pisschrist kept it going, followed with Zero Signal and ending with an epic version of Replica.
No-one in that No-one in that room was the same person they were 20 years ago when that first album was released, but to still play sell out shows and have fans who know every word to every song, proves that despite all the turmoil that Fear Factory have been through over the years, they still have a strong connection with fans and mutual respect for their Australian audience. Throughout the night Bell thanked the crowd for their ongoing support through their career and it looks like it’ll continue for years to come.
Lead singer Burton C. Bell, complete with big grin, embraced the Adelaide crowd. “So, here we are in Adelaide, finally doing a headline tour!” he proclaimed, before introducing more new songs to the live set with Recharger and New Messiah from the latest record. Judging by the reaction, it’s yet to really gather momentum with fans, but still met with warm appreciation.
To celebrate 20 years since the release of their first album Soul of a New Machine, they played Matyr, Scapegoat and Self Immolation. Accompanying them on stage was Jason from Truth Corroded to join in the celebration (a truly awesome fan-boy moment). The songs still carried the energy and vigor from 20 years ago, even if band and crowd weren’t quite as young as they use to be.
But the real buzz didn’t come until the final songs of the night. Saving the best for last, the band played half of 1995’s Demanufacture in one hit. The first two tracks from the album, the title track and Self Bias Resistor, tore the room apart. Pisschrist kept it going, followed with Zero Signal and ending with an epic version of Replica.
No-one in that No-one in that room was the same person they were 20 years ago when that first album was released, but to still play sell out shows and have fans who know every word to every song, proves that despite all the turmoil that Fear Factory have been through over the years, they still have a strong connection with fans and mutual respect for their Australian audience. Throughout the night Bell thanked the crowd for their ongoing support through their career and it looks like it’ll continue for years to come.