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Cinemetal

FEAR FACTORY: NU-METAL OR NOT?

 Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 9:45am by

All this Fear Factory brou-haha got me huntin’ for Fear Factory live videos this morning… and I found this performance of the band at Bizarre Festival in 1998 performing “Edgecrusher.” Obsolete must have literally just come out. Watching this, I’m reminded of that fact that Fear Factory were totally nu-metal; I’m not saying this is a good or bad thing (that’s for ya’ll to argue about)… I’m just sayin’.

-VN

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  • http://www.decibelmagazine.com/blog nick

    This is a wonderful illustration of how bad this era of FF sucked. I guess this is nu metal, in that it is highly groove-oriented, but there’s always that weirdness that accompanies using “nu metal” as a blanket term for “industrial metal” *and* “rap metal.” More pictures of Dino’s lunch pls!

  • joshkid

    Haha. they’re pretty much nu-metal. Great job Vince. Start the fire, I see a great day comin’ up!

  • Brandon

    They’ve definitely been dabbling in nu-metal after Obsolete, though they did redeem themselves with Archetype, as that album was pretty solid (and not all that nu-metal).

  • Kye

    NOT A REAL GENRE

    • ozzyzak

      Not to mention I’ve never been able to find a reliable definition of what makes a band or song nu-metal. Guess that could be said for every genre though.

  • Dr schwine-hoot

    depends on what era… Soul of a new machine & Demanufacture era, no way. Obsolete, debateable. Digimortal, absolutley. Archetype, debateable. Transgression was not good either way u look at it. I say its 50/50. I don’t but it that just cuz’ a band has groove their nu-metal… Is Sepultura- Roots considered NM then also? Nu-metal or not FF influenced a hell of a lot of badass bands over the last 10-15 years. Those 1st and 2nd albums kill!

    • justin

      i bought “roots” the day it came out too… it was one of my most highly anticipated metal albums at the time, and one of the biggest disappointments ever. i hate ross robinson for ruining sepultura and machine head. between “load” and “roots” both being abominations to metal, “the great southern trendkill” was the only saving grace of the “big” metal bands in 1996.

    • Biff Tanner

      Roots was most certainly nu-metal. In fact, that and the first Korn album are by and large considered to be the most influential on the shittly style. Roots especially. Check out the metal archives reviews for Roots, they get pretty indepth about Roots’ influence on 90′s mallcore.

    • http://www.myspace.com/437666934 Noel

      I think the label “nu metal” has more to do with the overall attitude of the band, along with their sound. Like if they have fred durst guest vocal on a song of theirs, or if they all died their hair at the same time, etc. But some people would conclude a groovy lower pitched band is nu metal out of no where.

      EXAMPLE: play Helmets meantime to a “troo” metalhead type who has never heard the band, they might say that band is “nu metal” even though the album is from before nu metal was a friggin term…

      • phale

        nu-metal is not a genre– as somebody already said– its a scene. nu-metal bands are related socially (i.e. theyre on the same label, tour together, and share lyrical themes) more than they are musically (i.e. similar riffs, tunings, and arrangements). korn and coal chamber might sound a little like sepultura, but linkin park, limp bizkit, deftones, etc, do not. more like faith no more. at best, they sound like a rap dj picked up a sepultura album. and isnt that kind of the point of nu-metal?

      • RICHARD DAWKINS

        SHUT UP ‘NOEL’.

        • Phro

          You have no idea how much I wish you really were Richard Dawkins. The thought of Richard Dawkins commenting on a metal blog is just stupid funny.

          • http://richarddawkins.net/ RICHARD DAWKINS

            WELL WHO IN THE NAME OF BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?

            OF COURSE I AM ‘REALLY’ RICHARD DAWKINS.

            WHY ANYONE AS ESTEEMED AS I WOULD BOTHER USING A PSEUDONYM ONLINE IS QUITE FRANKLY BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION.

  • justin

    “demanufacture” was fear factory’s pinnacle, and not nu in the least. i remember buying “obsolete” the day it came out and definitely scratching my head at parts of that record… it definitely wasn’t as bad as when machine head put out “the burning red.” what a piece of garbage that record was… not to mention robb flynn in his missy-elliott-red-vinyl-suit.

    • Anthony

      I don’t mind Burning Red that much. It has some decent tracks.

      Supercharger, though……

  • ian

    Nu-metal is such a ridiculous term. As a grown man who has been listening to all kinds of metal for a LONG time, I simply cannot understand the kids’ obsession with trying label these so called “sub-genres” of metal.
    But I guess it makes for a great dialogue on an internet forum, so more power to you.

    • Kye

      I can completely understand the idea of wanting to label different genres of metal, because, quite honestly, there is quite enough different between say Firewind and Darkthrone that they shouldn’t be lumped together.

      What I don’t understand is grouping together a large number of bands, some metal and some not, under an umbrella term that essentially carries no meaning other than “WE DON’T LIKE IT! FOR TEH GAYZ!”

    • SolaceInNothing

      Amen brother!!

  • Anselmowitz

    Watching this video reminded me that Dino is a fat motherfucker. Yeah its numetal but Demanufacture kills.

  • Johnny Death

    It didn’t take Fear Factory long to jump on the bandwagon on nu-metal. I won’t take the time to find it but i do remember that shortly after Obsolete came out they played a bunch of songs on MTV with guys from WWF or WCW wrestling. I remember thinking it was awesome at the time (not the wrestling but the music) but after listening to Obsolete about 3 months ago i realized how on-point the album title is is regards to the music on it, IT IS OBSOLETE!!!!

  • groverXIII

    Fear Factory didn’t start to head toward nu-metal until Obsolete (Edgecrusher being the most nu-metally song on the album, although I actually still really like this song)… Demanufacture is definitely not nu metal, and even then a lot of the songs on Obsolete aren’t quite nu-metal. It got really bad on Digimortal.

    Still, they used quite a bit of double bass, something you didn’t really hear that much on nu-metal, and Raymond Hererra is a badass.

  • griffo110

    nu metal bands normaly have a dj which is why i think this is industrial metal with bands like minstry and godflesh but i like neither genres so fuck it all

  • bucketochicken

    FF definitely slid downhill quickly after “Obsolete.” I don’t know that I’d call them Nu-Metal though, but that’s really only because to this day I *still* don’t really know what constitutes something being defined as such, other than it simply being an easy way for people to classify “metal they don’t like.”

    Staying out of this one.

    /starts listening to “Demanufacture.”

  • Mike

    i’d say they are more industrial metal than nu-metal… Demanufacture definitely is industrial metal, i have it and i give it a listen sometimes, i don’t know about the rest of their discography…

  • Lord Bling

    /in b4 ‘OMG STOP ARGUING ABOUT GENRES YOU FAGGOTS’

    • Bill

      spell check: it’s “fagits”, remember?

      • groverXIII

        I thought it was ‘faggits’…

  • Chip Northcutt

    They always sucked, none of it is good. Saw them open for Megadeth in the 90′s and it sucked, for real>

  • JRTME

    Yeah I would say more industrial metal than nu-metal. Cause they were out way before Nu-Metal was coined.

    • Kye

      so was Korn

      • JRTME

        So if Korn is NU-Metal then they pretty much invented right?

        Korn was just considered an alternative type metal band at first. NU-Metal the name came along later.

  • http://www.welovemetal.com We Love Metal

    Isn’t Nu-Metal something that was made up so Slipknot could wear masks and play with turn tables?

  • Ziltoid

    Obsolete and Digimortal are COMPLETELY nu metal albums. The rest don’t have the complete simplicity to be nu-metal, but calling FF industrial is an insult to Godflesh (seriously, what industrial elements do FF have besides a random noise here or there). Other than their nu metal years, FF are groove metal, which really isn’t much of a step up.

    • earthsherm

      man give it up, your opinions are garbage… stop posting on here

      • Ziltoidburger for Dino Cazares

        Amen.
        And I have to say… WHO GIVES A FUCK WHAT GENRE FF ARE in your opinion?
        Stating a band is Nu Metal or Groove Metal doesn’t have anything to do with their music.
        It doesn’t make the band’s music bad or good, whether you like them or not. AND not liking a band also doesn’t them bad or good either.
        All the idiots on this site forget that pigeon-holeing a band by placing it in a genre originally was started by A&R men for the convenience of radio station’s playlists. It was fucking stupid back in the 50′s-60′s and it’s still fucking stupid.

  • wata

    7 string. Nuff said.

    • gnarlk

      yeah didn’t dino bitch and moan about the nu metal bands stealing his “sound” at the time?

    • slave_screams

      Necrophagist use 7 string guitars, Ihsahn uses 7 string guitars, they nu metal?

      • Sammy

        And Dream Theatre uses 7-strings.

    • Sammy

      And when are you stains going to realize that just saying “nuff said” doesn’t mean you’ve won an argument?

      • phale

        whos arguing? maybe you need to learn the meaning of the word ’nuff’.

    • drumb

      Since when does the guitar you choose to play or tuning you use define your genre?

  • Martin

    Hard so say. More extreme than most nu metal bands.

  • Matty O’Shea

    Wata, don’t be an idiot. Morbid Angel used 7 string guitars around the same time as KoRn, and they were never nu-metal. Cannibal Corpse started using 7 string guitars around “Gallery of Suicide,” and they were also not nu-metal. Nevermore started using them on “Dead Heart…” and they are 100% not nu-metal. I could go on and on…

    • Sammy

      Thank you. I had totally forgotten about Nevermore.

  • Bill

    I won’t lie, I was a big FF fan up to the Obsolete album. They really got me into the heavier stuff, so I credit them for that. The really lost me after Obsolete and that bullshit they did with Cypress Hill still makes me want to vomit. Like was stated, I felt they made a move in the right direction with Archetype though.
    I’m sad to see how ridiculous and irrelevant they have become.

    • Bill

      I also love how the crowd goes limp during the breakdowns like they have no fucking idea what to do with the music they’re being presented with.

  • Sammy

    Dino’s next band should just be called Bow to the Buffet.

  • (required)

    I have every FF album up to and including Obsolete or, as I sometimes call it, my toilet-side drink coaster.

  • http://metallattorney.blogspot.com shadowking86

    Their material on Obsolete and Digimortal was definitely close to nu metal, but I don’t really think it was nu metal. They definitely seemed to have an influence on the scene though.

  • grymmbear

    Demanufacture was a classic.

    Still play “Self-Bias Resistor” whenever I can.

    The rest of the albums… meh.

  • Fufkin

    Whatever it was, I was looking away.I still don’t know how four men could get so carried away with an imaginary conflict between man and machine.

    • Sammy

      That may be the comment of the year.

      • Superhans

        seconded…

  • earthsherm

    if your considering limp bizkit, system of a down, and linkin park as nu metal, then fear factory is no where near the same genre, but if you consider godflesh, ministry, and nine inch nails nu metal, well then i could see where you’re comin from. edgecrusher does have some turntables in it, and there are plenty of songs with actual singing on them. but for the most part it’s a pretty crushing cd. i don’t see any ray herehas on any nu metal albums

  • http://* *mancubus

    Nu or not, Obsolete is a kickass album.

  • seasick

    almost a korn song

  • zhitnik

    Anyone seen these guys live? I heard they kinda suck…but I like their older shit anyway.

  • UpInSmoke

    I’ve seen them live a couple times and it was kinda of uninspiring and boring but i must say that the song “Slave Labor” absolutely slays…..

  • http://www.myspace.com/437666934 Noel

    dude, FUCK YOU, metalsucks. You want to call this song nu metal? Why dont you look up a pantera song called “No Good (Attack The Radical)” ? So, let me guess, youd never go and call Pantera nu metal, would you? No, your not that stupid. So, please explain to me how THIS SONG is nu metal? And, even if it does possess SOME possibly nu metal qualities, does that mean it is a bad song?

  • Seth

    I love watching Dino try to headbang

  • http://manmanmanman.man Man

    Not nu-metal.

    They predate the genre entirely, first of all. They can’t be held accountable if later nu-metal bands adopted aesthetics. You might as well call Pantera nu-metal then, given that logic.

    Second, Edgecrusher is an out-of-context example. Yes, there’s some DJ work in that song, but that’s the only one.
    They are industrial metal. If they employed, rarely, things that appear somewhat nu-metal, you can’t call them nu-metal. Or else you could go back and give a hundred undeserving bands that disrespect then.

    Not. Nu-metal.

  • http://manmanmanman.man Man

    I will admit, however, that FF’s lack of soloing always put then dangerously close to the nu-metal camp though.

    Why didn’t Dino ever solo. Sometimes I listen to FF songs and think, all those empty bridge passages, could have been filled with some good solos and not just repetitive chords.

    • Superhans

      i think you hit the issue straight on the head, no-one would question this if it had a solo

      • http://www.myspace.com/437666934 Noel

        yes, that is the point. things like solos seem to deem whats metal or not[to some people].
        to me, that is sad. to me, that says a bunch of egotictical guitar players make up the musical side of the metal community…

        • drumb

          Burton probably wouldn’t let Dino play any solos.
          (It HAS been rumored that Burton is a controlling dick)
          I’ve heard some solos by Dino and they were pretty good, so it’s not like he isn’t capable.
          FF could really kick-ass if they’d dump the 80′s keyboard shit and throw some shredding git solos in.

  • You Don’t Know Me

    Soul of a New Machine – Definitely death metal.

    Demanufacture – I’d call it an industrial/groove metal hybrid. It grooves in places but still cold an mechanical when necessary.

    Obsolete – Borders on nu metal but still has a little bit of a “Demanufacture” feel to it. A progression from the previous album, if you will.

    Digimortal – Definitely nu metal. (Am I the only one that actually likes this album? Not as good as their other albums but there’s some good stuff on this one.)

    Archetype – A return to the “Demanufacture” sound that isn’t quite there (Christian isn’t as good as Dino but I do applaud the effort and this album is pretty damn good)

    Transgression – Who’s cares? It sucks! When the cover songs are the best songs on an album, you know that it’s garbage.

  • Ziltoid burgers for Dino Cazares
    • Ziltoid burgers for Dino Cazares

      SORRY!
      I take back my last comment;
      This new Divine Heresy is mainstream crap. (like I was expecting different? pfft)
      Sure Dino totally rips all the way through this new stuff, with his trademarked machine-gun palm-muted chunking, but the singer is almost as bad as the other bum that Dino ground-up to make his bread. And then there’s the lackluster recording that has No bottom end.
      This (to me) is exactly the same reason that FF doesn’t quite manage to blow my load…. off-key wimpy clean vocal just sucks in this environment. Hey singer-guy: Man-up Fucker! You’re in a heavy band now. (Oops, not a pun directed at Dino’s weight)

      At least I can soothe my frustration with both Asesino albums….

  • The Goat

    Soul of a New Machine, Concrete, Demanufacture…. Yeah nu-metal! Sure christian “toki wartooth” Wolbers had his wigger moments, but i’ll take nu-metal fear factory any day over the nu-nu-metal (metalcore/deathcore/emocore) or any other stupid band this site loves.