Out Now
Nuclear Blast Records
Words by Jimmy Glinster
There I was driving home this afternoon when all of a sudden, the Fear Factory version of Cars came on Rebel FM. I was quickly reminded of how much I hated that song when it first came out, and also that I was meant to review Fear Factory’s new remix album Recoded this weekend.
Now, I’m going to be brutally honest here, I’ve never really liked any of the remix stuff that Fear Factory have done because to be even more honest, I fucking hate electronic dance music and anything to do with it. I do however realise that the whole electronic sound of Fear Factory was inspired by the Electronic Dance Music that was pumping over the airwaves and underground back in the 90’s when the Fear Factory beast was birthed.
So, I’ll give it a chance and try not to hate on it too much. Apologies in advance, Dino.
The intro track Adapt or Die is simply that … an intro track, so, adapt or die. Heavy gated kicks bring in Hatred Will Prevail, and after the 117th repetition I’m almost done with this already. Luckily, though, that tight right hand of Dino’s kicks in just at the right time. Enter Burton, and I’m quickly reminded that I still have no idea who the fuck the new Fear Factory vocalist is.
As annoying as the repetitive kicks are, it’s still heavy as fuck, so I can’t complain just yet. Disobey should have been renamed Discobey because I’m getting some serious Saturday Night Fever vibes. It really is the heavy guitar that saves this album so far.
I Am the Nightrider shows off Dino’s flawless right hand again, and when the chorus opens up to let the techno breathe, Burton’s voice pushes through with the clarity that he is so well known for. Who the fuck is going to replace him though, will we ever know? Got an answer for us on that one yet Dino?
The synth bass line in Path to Salvation takes over from the thumping techno kicks in the rest of the album, which is a nice break. It’s a slower track, but probably one of my favourites so far because it lacks the repetitive doof-doof thumping … until it doesn’t.
Is this album Worthless, did we really need it? Have we ever really needed any of the Fear Factory remix stuff? Well, I guess that depends on how many pinga’s you’ve dropped before you listen. And on that note, I’ve not dropped enough for this track, and probably never will.
Empires Fall has a lot of talking at the start of it, which I can’t remember is part of the original or not. Anyway, this track has the original kicks in its intro instead of the doof-doof which is a nice touch. This track is heavy as fuck.
Basically, the band is on roids, with not so much of the 90’s doof vibe that’s flooded this album earlier on.
Someone must have scratched the CD this was burnt from. Either that or the intro to System Assassin was created to sound like a jumping cd, which seems to be the case, as the jump vibe repeats throughout the track. It’s very repetitive, which I guess is what it’s meant to be.
The next track This Is My Life is mixed by a bloke by the name of Rob Gee who I happened to bump into one night at a Korn and Hatebreed after party. He was Dj’ing alongside DJ Starscream (Sid Wilson) and Jasta. They were mixing up some metal bangers. Korn didn’t even turn up to their own after party the slack fucks, but Rob and the other guys were all top blokes. Funnily enough, that metal concert after party was in an old church, which, similar to this track, was a bit of a Hypocrisy of Faith.
Anyway, that’s my epic name-drop for the week, and This Is My Life. This one is super heavy again, which is fucking great. Yeah, I like this one, especially the Atari and Casio keyboard sounds all through it …
Just as I’ve reached the last track, I’ve finally figured out that apart from this song, all of the track titles are different to their original titles. Even this one actually, it has an extra bit of D, which no one ever complains about. Anyway, You’ll have to figure out which track is which yourself because they weren’t even nice enough to put ‘em in order. Oh, and this track sounds like Ministry.
Well, I didn’t hate it, but did it need to be done? Did any of the Fear Factory remix stuff even need to be done? Probably not, but it is what they do, so I guess I’ll let them have their fun because they do it oh so well.
More importantly, though, Dino, who the bloody hell is going to replace Burton?
