by Alex S. Johnson
Featuring the long-awaited re-infusion of original Fear Factory member, guitarist Dino Cazares, this brand-new studio album from the L.A.-based industrial metal unit does not disappoint. It’s being touted as a return to roots, fusing the raw attack of their Soul of a New Machine debut with the kind of maturation that’s bound to come over nearly two decades’ toil in the gear mesh. Based in part on the work of futurist Alvin Toffler, Mechanize summons the sound of high-tech alienation, a tone singer/songwriter Burton C. Bell made deliberately cold and artificial. But boring it is definitely not–Fear Factory have mastered the art of dynamic flow, alternating rapid-fire passages of tightly-knit, percussive assault with strong melodies. Standout tracks include “Powershifter” (the album’s first single), which rocks like a mofo; “Christploitation,” which comes on like Godflesh meets Nine Inch Nails, and the hardcore-inflected “Designing the Enemy.” While I’ve gotta admit the lyrics aren’t as strong as they could be–c’mon Burton, “always question authority”–isn’t that a bumper sticker?–and the whole harrowing Brave New World meets 1984 thematic has been pretty well pulped by now, Mechanize is a solid, durable album from America’s top driller killers, and what more could you ask for these days, besides a job with a future?
