Fear Factory: entire new album available for streaming
Plugd is a promotional tool that allows artists to share their music in exchange for digital word of mouth (i.e., a Facebook status update and/or tweet). The first track is available to stream with no stipulations, but in order to hear more, fans must let the band know what they think of the song by writing a comment or giving the track a rating from 1-5. Comments and ratings will serve as Facebook and/or Twitter posts for all of their friends to see.
"Mechanize" will be released in the U.S. on February 9, 2010 via Candlelight Records and February 5, 2010 in Europe via Afm Records. The CD, which was co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Paradise Lost), was recently mixed by Greg Reely (Paradise Lost, Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy).
Fear Factory's current lineup - featuring original Ff members Dino Cazares (guitar) and Burton C. Bell (vocals) alongside bassist Byron Stroud (who was credited on the last two Fear Factory albums in addition to touring and recording with Strapping Young Lad and Zimmers Hole) and legendary drummer Gene Hoglan (Dethklok, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, Death, Testament) - took part in a press conference prior to the group's December 12, 2009 concert in Mexico City, Mexico.
High-quality video footage of the press conference can now be viewed below (courtesy of Search & Destroy).
Regarding the new album's lyrical approach, Bell stated, "In the past, the lyrical concept was of a futuristic, 'sci-fi' nature. An attempt to protect the ideas and logic of those involved in Fear Factory; because those who incite progressive thought are always chastised and persecuted. By placing the 'story' into a futuristic, fictional narrative, the words and ideas may not have seemed threatening. Not so for 'Mechanize'. These are the words of a reality that once seemed distant, that are now apparently, and evidently real. These are the words of the world in which we live; for what once seemed like a story of another time, has come to be our reality today. Welcome to the world of 'Mechanize'."
The new Fear Factory lineup made its live debut on December 4, 2009 at Espaço Lux in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Quality video footage of the "Edgecrusher" performance from the São Paulo gig can be viewed below.