Fear Factory is:*
Burton C. Bell Resonating Biodroid/Vocals
Dino Cazares Energized Riff Traumatizer/Guitar
Christian Olde Wolbers Subsonic Assassin and Auxiliary Resonator/Bass
Raymond Herrera Automated Rhythmic Attacker/Drums
About the Music
Ah yes, Digimortal. Considered by many to be the worst Fear Factory album. The hardcore metal fans as well as the dedicated Fear Factory fans found this album to be too nu metal and mainstream. It's not difficult to see their point.
The band's style seemed to be all over the place ever since their 1992 death metal debut Soal of a New Machine. After an interesting remix EP (Fear is the Mindkiller, 1993), Fear Factory released what still seems to be their strongest, most powerful album yet: Demanufacture.
It turned out to be more of an industrial metal peice. But the dark follow up LP Obsolete (1998) wasn't bad in any sense. Nor was the most recent release Archetype. In 2001, Fear Factory's new studio album was released. While there was so much excitement at first, that quickly faded. As well as the number of Fear Factory fans.
People began to turn their backs on the band because they lost all hope for Fear Factory and the new style. Hatefiles and Concrete didn't help much either. But those who stuck through the thick and thin of Fear Factory's career in recent years were rewarded with Archetype. But enough about that. Let's concentrate on Digimortal.
I suppose I am one of the few Fear Factory fans that really enjoyed listening to Digimortal. Some of the songs came out weak, but there's a fair amount of strong tracks left. And the overall concept of digital mortality still interests me to this date.
And now onto the music...
What Will Become? 3:23
A pretty good opening for a metal album. But it's nothing compared to earlier openers "Demanufacture" and the kick *** "Shock" riffs. But overall, it's not a bad opener. It tells you right from the get-go, "This record you're about to listen to sounds like this!" The track enters with some odd beats followed by an explosive guitar riff with Burton's first yell. The keyboards on this track fitted well with the riff. When we hit the 2:13 spot on the track, we get a quiet bizzare plucking as wel as Burton whispering the main lyrics. It tries to sound eerie but never really does. The thing that messed this song up was the little "us" spoken by the kid at the end. It fits the message and album concept, but it just didn't work with the song. 3/5
Damaged 3:02
The intro riff doesn't really catch my attention. But when the keyboards came in, I got more into it. The drumming on this track was powerful and the chorus sounded cool with the keyboarding. But Burton's vocals on this track begin to get annoying after a while. When we get to the bridge, we get some screaming followed by another "quiet-hush-hush" part. I'm not a big fan of those types of bridges. I prefer an awesome breakdown which this song doesn't consist of. 2/5
Digimortal 3:02
The Fear Factorty title tracks usually come out to be one of the strongest of the album. Well in Digimortal's case... it's no difference. The track starts off with Burton screaming breathlessly until the riffs and beats kick into an explosive intro leading into a powerful verse with slammin' guitars. Even the melodic chorus works. There's some minor scratching though, but it doesn't really bother me. 5/5
No One 3:36
We start this track with what sounds like a mass of marching robots that need to be oiled. Then we get into the smacking of the double bass with the overlapping guitars. Something that bothers me is the constant dance club sirens that come up. Besides that, this track stands strong. But this song does include one of the greatest single parts of the entire album. At 2:44, Burt does a screamingly melodic peice that I just love. This track was great! Except for those ****ed sirens! :angry: 4/5
Linchpin 3:25
The single! This one opens with some KICK *** beats. Then it freezes as Burt comes in with "CAN'T KEEP ME APART!" I can tell why this song was released, it's so tight and has just the right amount of heaviness for the public ears to hear. :thumb: 5/5
Invisible Wounds 3:54
This song is so powerful. It's a slow melody with a rythmic chorus. This was actually the first Fear Factory song I ever heard. :D This was at one time going to be a single, but instead Roadrunner cut funds for the band and concentrated on their new band of that time Nickleback. Go figure. :rolleyes: Anyways, this track is one of my all time favorites but from what I understand, Roadrunner tampered with the track and made the band record it a certain way. I heard the original demo (which sounds way different in certain aspects) and I found this final version to be stronger than the two. The track features an awesome heavy bridge that I can't get enough of. 5/5
Acres of Skin 3:55
I never really had a liking of this track. It just doesn't have anything new that I'm interested in or looking for. However, the chorus sounds good. The lyrics create an atmosphere that I can imagine. However it is slow and sounds... out of it. 2/5
Back The **** Up 3:09
Back the **** up! The most forgettable (and hated) track in Fear Factory history. I know the band likes to experiment with things like techno and eletronica... but rap?!? C'mon, guys! They should've known that metal heads hate, hate, HATE rap! I like listening to hip hop and stuff, but this is so out of whack for the band. I thought the combination of rap and metal on this track worked (like on "Bring the Noise", remember that? :D). But it really didn't fit the album. They should've made it a b-side. B-Real from Cypress Hill does guest vocals on the track. Maybe they should've stuck it on a Cypress cd? 1.5/5
Byte Block 5:20
This song gradually swells into something that seems powerful at first but later turns out to get repetitive and quite boring. Especially at the slow, quiet "I got no more memories" bit. However, the lyrics on the rhythmic verses were pretty cool. "I am nothing more, nothing less, than a single peice of flesh!" 2.5/5
Hurt Conveyor 3:40
I don't really like it when Fear Factory uses samples from movies and stuff like that. But the sample on this track works. We hear a shotgun cock and fire whilst listening to fast beats with some simple guitaring and fastish drums. Not a bad song but not really that good. 2.5/5
(Memory Imprints) Never End 6:47
It seems to be Fear Factory to end the cd with a slow, yet powerful and lengthy song. This is my favorite of them all after Demanufacture's unforgettable "A Therapy For Pain." The lyrics are tight as well as the music itself. It's normal to expect at least 3 minutes of just sound effects at the end of Fear Factory cd. Same thing goes for this one. 3.75/5
To score this album overall, I think it was really good but had many flaws at the same time. It hurt Fear Factory's career and they have yet to fully recover from the damage and repurcussions of what is known as the mainstream nu metal Fear Factory album. While it's easy to recommend this to your nu metal fans, it's gonna be hard to find a true metal fan that's gonna really enjoy this cd. 3/5 smilies!
:) :) :) :upset: :upset:
Happy Listening!!
*Actually it should say, Fear Factory was because the line up has changed since this 2001 record. Today, Bell still does vocals and Herrera still does drums. But Dino left and was replaced by Christian and a new addition was made as Strapping Young Lad's Byron Stroud joined on bass.
