Industrial metal legends Fear Factory are back with a new album that has a most appropriate title – The Industrialist. A concept album from the mind of frontman Burton C. Bell, the album comes two years after the band’s 2010 comback effort, Mechanize. It is the band’s first concept album since their two-part effort, 1998’s Obsolete, and it’s continuation, 2001’s Digimortal. I recently got a chance to catch up with Bell on the band’s tour bus to talk about the concept of the new album, and what fans can expect from this Fear Factory outing. The album’s storyline follows a man, “The Industrialist,” and his battle against The Machine. Burton further explained the album’s concepts and visuals. He went on to say that he plans to include a mini graphic novel of the story (complete with illustrations) in the Deluxe Edition release of The Industrialist.
Fear Factory formed in 1989, and debuted in 1992 with the groundbreaking album Soul of A New Machine. Combining elements of industrial, death metal, and groove metal, Fear Factory followed in the footsteps of Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppies to set a new standard for industrial metal. The band is currently on their Noise In The Machine World Tour, which has them in Europe now, and returning to the states in July. The Industrialist comes out today. Get ready to fight The Machine. – by Matt Bishop