Fear Factory's latest tour - the Fear Campaign Tour - was originally slated to kick off today, December 29, and run until January 8, 2011. However, for the time being, the industrialized cyber metal act has pulled the plug on the tour.
The band didn't go unnoticed in 2010, a fact mostly due to the release of their seventh studio album, Mechanize. The success of the album has been attributed to the reconciliation between original guitarist (and founding member) Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell. (Read More)
On December 4, a revamped Fear Factory made its live debut at Espaço Lux in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil. The "new" Fear Factory features original members Burton C. Bell (vocals), Dino Cazares (guitar) alongside bassist Byron Stroud (who, in addition to being credited on the last two Fear Factory albums, toured and recorded with Zimmers Hole and Strapping Young Lad) and the legendary drummer Gene Hoglan (Death, Dark Angel, Dethklok, Testament, Strapping Young Lad).
The band will play a handful of dates in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico later in the month. In addition, they will embark on a four-date U.K. tour in February. The dates are as follows:
Feb. 16 - Manchester, UK @ Academy 2 Feb. 17 - Wolverhampton, UK @ Wulfrun Hall Feb. 18 - Glasgow, UK @ Garage Feb. 19 - London, UK @ Camden Electric Ballroom
Fear Factory's new album, Mechanize, is scheduled to be released in Europe on February 5, 2010 and on February 9, 2010 in the U.S. via Candlelight Records. The album was co-produced by the band with Rhys Fulber (Paradise Lost, Front Line Assembly) and was mixed by Greg Reely (Paradise Lost, Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy).
The following is the track listing for Mechanize:
01. Mechanize 02. Industrial Discipline 03. Fear Campaign 04. Powershifter 05. Christploitation 06. Oxidizer 07. Controlled Demolition 08. Designing The Enemy 09. Metallic Division 10. Final Exit
Referencing the album's lyrical approach, Burton C. 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."
Regarding the musical direction of Mechanize, Bell told Sergio Alvite (of Mexico's Search and Destroy, "It has the raw aggression of what Soul of a New Machine [1992] was but it has- I would say it has the maturity of Obsolete [1998]. When I say 'maturity,' I mean that it has the songwriting skills that Soul of a New Machine did not have whereas Obsolete did."
Below is a video from the live performance in Brazil on December 4:
Fear Factory's latest tour - the Fear Campaign Tour - was originally slated to kick off today, December 29, and run until January 8, 2011. However, for the time being, the industrialized cyber metal act has pulled the plug on the tour. 
