One of the more interesting developments in the metal world last year was the surprise reformation of Fear Factory, this time with founding member Dino Cazares on guitar. The cynical side of me thought that this was just Dino realising that Divine Heresy was never going to give him enough metallic/financial satisfaction, but the nostalgic side said fuck it, this is a chance to hear some of the most moshworthy metal around. Regarding the lineup changes, no-one can question the new members. If Gene Hoglan was good enough for Chuck Schuldiner back in the early 90's and Devin Townsend for the best part of ten years, then based on tonight alone he most certainly is capable of filling the void left by the departure of Raymond Herrera.
Luckly enough for us, the gig was in Academy 2, a wonderfully intimate venue for such as prestigious act. Greeted with a swarm of sweaty Mancunians chanting "you fat bastards" the band launch into the first song off the new record, a typically monolithic affair which has us warming up our neck muscles in anticipation. The set consists of songs spanning the bands entire career (don't mention Archetype and Transgression!), including gratuitious plugging of new album Mechanize, which grated after a while to be honest, even though its all pretty good stuff.
The vast majority of the crowd who probably came just to hear the old stuff were treated to a awesome rendition of "Resurrection", one of the band's most popular softer numbers (lighters in the air and all), but what really got the circle pits moving was the five song suite off Demanufacture - sounding as vital as it did back in '95. I defy any metalhead not to get goosebumps upon hearing that opening riff to albums title track.
Based on tonight's performance, Fear Factory's legacy won't be rendered 'Obsolete' any time soon. Fingers crossed Burton and Dino don't throw their toys out the pram again eh!
Jack
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment