FEAR FACTORY „Transgression”

Music: Modern Metal
Country: USA
Website: http://www.fearfactory.com
Duration: 65.47


Cool Songs: 540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit, Contagion, I Will Follow, Millennium, Transgression.

Mmmm….this is a tricky one. After the triumphant ‘return’ of Fear Factory via 2004’s ‘Archetype’, it was always going to be interesting as to the direction they would head with the follow up. Clearly, ‘Archetype’ was a statement of intent – loaded with aggression and anger born from the frustrating Dino Cazares days, it had much more to do with ‘Demanufacture’ than ‘Digimortal’. The move of Christian Olde Wolbers to the vacated guitar slot and the addition of Byron Stroud (from SYL) to the bass duties also provided a significant amount of light and renewed enthusiasm throughout the entire band. With their confidence back and brimming, here we are less than a year later with ‘Transgression’.

It is pretty much a given that you know exactly what a new Fear Factory album will sound like. And while they have experimented with various aspects of their sound in the past, they have a standard signature sound – tight mechanical riffing with that unmistakable stop-start chugging approach; the Ray Herrera locked down double kick and those harsh/clean vocal combinations of Burton C.Bell. ‘Transgression’ has all of those features. However, there has been a definite wind of change blow through the camp since they began writing for this new album and right from the opening moments of ‘540,000 Fahrenheit’ it is clear that this is most certainly a different FF album. For me, this is a good thing – I’m not too fond of the straight up rehash – so the fact that this is not ‘Archetype II’ is immediately refreshing. If you were expecting more of the same or you are one of the moral majority who still pine for ‘Deman II’ then you’ll be sadly disappointed.

‘Transgression’ has been touted as somewhat of an ‘experimental’ album (even by Burton himself, perhaps as an attempt to keep the hounds at bay), however as far as I can tell, there hasn’t been too much meddling with their overall core sound. If Burton means experimentation with production qualities and melody, then I suppose he’s on the money, because in all honesty this is the sole crux of ‘Transgression’. This album represents the more melodic side of Fear Factory – the production (courtesy of Toby Wright) is noticeably drier in feel and markedly toned down from the Rhys Fulber abrasive heaviness of past efforts. I don’t have too much problem with this fact, actually it’s quite appealing, however their will be a core section of metal fans that will (and have) unleash unforgiving abuse re the lack of real bite that ‘Transgression’ emits.

With a decidedly subdued production, much more emphasis has been placed on the melodic side of the bands compositions, in particular Burton’s vocals. The aforementioned ‘540,000 Fahrenheit’ is the most obvious example of the melodic play that ‘Transgression’ conveys. It’s a risky move, but with Burton opting for a clean vocal approach for the entire length of the track, it exposes another side to the bands music and when that chorus kicks in, ‘540’ stands as possibly one of the catchiest tracks they’ve ever written. Of course, where this track works, there are times where Burton’s vocal risks don’t quite hit the mark – the almost poppy ‘Supernova’ and the introspective down time of ‘Echo of my Scream’ are prime examples of a band trying a tad too hard. Still, at least they’re willing to push the envelope at the risk of failure.

As much as ‘Transgression’ displays a more accessible vibe, there is still some typical, bog-standard, pit inducing slammers on this album. Tracks like the title track, ‘Moment of Impact, Spinal Compression and Empty Vision’ keep in tune with previous material. The problem I have is that they don’t really have anything else going for them other than being core-sound FF compositions. Memorability is the key and while these tracks are fine and solid in everything they do, they just don’t stick in the bank. Ironically (and unfortunately), aside from ‘540 and Contagion’ it is the cover versions of U2’s ‘I Will Follow’ and Killing Jokes ‘Millennium’ that work best for me.

At the end of the day, it is my belief that ‘Transgression’ will be viewed as a somewhat confusing album from their fan base. The more accepting, progressive fan will swallow the smoother melodic elements of this album whilst the harsher critic will be wondering what the fuck? Being a more diverse effort, ‘Transgression’ probably needs a few more spins to fully appreciate what has been laid down here. I like the fact that FF haven’t opted for the safe option and churned out another ‘Archetype’, however I don’t believe ‘Transgression’ is fully realised in its songwriting and as a result this album doesn’t quite hit the mark like it should.

note: Quote: 7.5

Tracklist

540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit
Transgression
Spinal Compression
Contagion
Empty Vision
Echo Of My Scream
Supernova
New Promise
I Will Follow
Millennium
Moment Of Impact
Slave Labor (Live)
Cyber Waste (Live)
Drones (Live)