Soul of a New Machine

Soul of a New Machine
Studio album by Fear Factory
Released	August 25, 1992
Recorded	May 1992 (Hollywood)
Genre	Death metal, thrash metal
Length	55:14
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Colin Richardson
Fear Factory chronology
Soul of a New Machine (1992) Fear Is the Mindkiller (1993)

Soul of a New Machine is the debut studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was released on August 25, 1992. Although Soul of a New Machine was Fear Factory's first full-length studio album to be released, it was actually their second album to be recorded, after Concrete, which was recorded in 1991 but not released until 11 years later. The album was remastered and re-released on October 5, 2004 in a digipak, packaged together with the remastered Fear Is the Mindkiller EP.

Album information

Guitarist Dino Cazares has stated that this album is a concept album, concerning man's creation of a machine that could be either technological or governmental. It was also confirmed by bassist Christian Olde Wolbers in an interview.^[1] The machine-human connection would play a more prominent role in the later Fear Factory concept albums.

The sound of the album is different from the later albums for it was heavily influenced by Napalm Death and Godflesh, therefore this one featured more of a death metal and grindcore sound. Many feel this album is ground breaking as this is the first album to mix death growls with clean vocals.^[2][3]

While Fear Factory's main concept is man vs. machine, this album featured different themes. "Martyr" is about how Burton C. Bell was bored with his lifestyle; "Leechmaster" and "Manipulation" are about relationship troubles; "Scapegoat" was based on how Cazares was once wrongfully accused by the law; "Crisis" is an anti-war song; "Crash Test" concerns animal testing and "Suffer Age" is based on serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The other songs contain different themes as well. Samples from the movies Full Metal Jacket, Blade Runner, and Apocalypse Now are heard sporadically throughout the album.

Then-bassist Andrew Shives only played live with the group; the bass tracks on the album were performed by Dino Cazares (though Shives was credited as the band's bassist on the album). In 1993 Fear Factory released a 7" single under their Spanish name Factorio De Miedo called Sangre De Ninos. This is the only material that was ever recorded in a studio with Andrew Shives on bass. He was forced to leave the band due to some internal disputes and was replaced by Christian Olde Wolbers in December 1993.

Professional wrestler Jerry Lynn used the song "Scapegoat" as his theme music during his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling. "Big God/Raped Souls" was used in The Crow: City of Angels.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]

• Kerrang! (p. 61) - "[The album] contains all the unrefined qualities that would soon make Fear Factory legendary."

Track listing

All lyrics written by Burton C. Bell except where noted; all music composed by Dino Cazares and Raymond Herrera. 

Credits

• Burton C. Bell – lead vocals
• Dino Cazares – guitar, bass guitar (studio only), drums (studio only), backing vocals arranger, mixing
• Raymond Herrera – drums although credited as Fear Factory's official drummer, Herrera did not record in the studio due to a foot injury.
• Andrew Shives – bass, backing vocals (although credited as Fear Factory's official bassist, Shives only played live)
• Colin Richardson – producer, mixing
• Steve Harris – engineer, mixing
• Bradley Cook – assistant engineer
• Rober Fayer – assistant engineer
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering
• Ted Jensen – remastering (Expanded Edition)
• Satok Lrak, Karl Kotas (spelled backwards) – computer graphics, art direction
• Joe Lance – photography
• Lora Porter – executive producer
• Otis – sampling, credited as "Sample god"
• Darius Seponlou – introduction on "Crash Test"
• Monte Conner – A&R

References