2021’s Aggression Continuum reminded sceptics that there was still plenty in the Fear Factory tank. It was a brutally aggressive album, and one that still gets regular plays a year later. Now, Recoded has arrived, an album that reimagines the songs from Aggression Continuum and stands alongside it as a companion piece. Featuring artwork by Anthony Clarkson, and long-time collaborators Rhys Fulber, Zardonic, Tyrant of Death, Rob Gee, and Blush Response.
Unsurprisingly I’m not familiar with the collaborators on this album although I am assured by the blurb that they are some of the biggest names around. There are blackened grooves, electro aggression, drum and bass blends and plenty of programming. It’s always been part of the Fear Factory experience to go outside the box, adding dance and electronica to the driving riffs that Dino Cazares has pushed for over three decades under the Fear Factory banner. Produced by Cazares and mixed/mastered by Damien Rainaud (DragonForce, Once Human), Recoded is certainly a different take on Aggression Continuum.
Ironically, given the now settled legal battle saw Cazares take full rights of the band’s name, it is former singer Burton C Bell who is most prominent for much of Recoded. His vocals dominate every song, even the bruising rework of “Empires Fall” by Tyrants of Death. In fact, Bell’s vocals are once again genuinely ferocious throughout.
It kicks off big time with “Hatred will Prevail” (Fulber mix) which follows the industrial intro “Adapt or Die”. Huge thumping bass, relentless electronica, Bell’s instantly recognisable throaty roars and the main riff combine in a head storm of vicious chaos. It is the start of a pulsating journey that will either delight or destroy.
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I am always somewhere in the middle with the Fear Factory remixes. There is usually enough in the pounding industrial hammers that the band put out to sate my appetite and yet often it doesn’t push the right buttons. Yet Recoded is hypnotic. The bruising Zardonic mix of “Disobey” is colossal, a huge, punishing blast which will no doubt send packed clubs into a gyrating sweaty mess – assuming such things still exist! I really have no idea!
Fulber’s mixes really catch the ear on Recoded. “Pain to Salvation” provides a dronelike bass line that provides a thunderous low-end point, whilst “System Assassin” as a similarly punishing foundation, the latter suffocating in its intensity. That’s not to say that the other mixes do not work because each does in its own way. The other two standout tracks here are closing workout Recoded by Blush Response and the previously mentioned Empires Fall (Tyrant of Death) which is just massive. A huge, cavernous blasting track that is unrelenting from start to finish.
Overall, this may be an album suited more for the hardcore Fear Factory fan or even a fan of filthy drum and bass who has never even heard of the band. It’s not going to work for more mainstream metal fans unless they have broader, eclectic tastes. But if you want an adrenaline fuelled soundtrack to your daily workout, there are few better albums to drive you towards that goal … whatever it may be.
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Recoded is out on October 28th
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