3 years later and a new studio drummer, Fear Factory are back with a new piece of machinery – ‘Genexus‘
[tracklist]
01. Autonomous Combat System
02. Anodized
03. Dielectric
04. Soul Hacker
05. Protomech
06. Genexus
07. Church Of Execution
08. Regenerate
09. Battle For Utopia
10. Expiration Date
[/tracklist]
[details]
[length]47:55[/length]
[record_label]Nuclear Blast[/record_label]
[release_date]7th August 2015[/release_date]
[/details]
With 3 years passing since ‘The Industrialist‘ smashed into the scene, Fear Factory have had a bit more time to think writing the record. We have seen a fairly regular cycle with the band that tends to produce a new album every couple of years with tracks that follow standard Fear Factory construction methods. With that little more time available to them, could ‘Genexus‘ be the offering that shakes up Fear Factory to produce a new masterpiece?
Almost instantly the answer is simple, ‘Genexus‘ is a continuation of where ‘The Industrialist‘ left off. The same style intro of low register piano and dark voices create the ambience before the hammering of 8-string guitars and thundering drums burst in to ‘Autonomous Combat System‘. The standard Fear Factory has returned again, and could be a relief or disappointment to fans – the band have maintained an mechanical approach to the music which does fit in with the general theme of the band, however many are looking for a return to days of old where Fear Factory wrote albums that shot them straight up to prominence. ‘Genexus‘ does however offer a small does of the unexpected…
When the album moves onto ‘Andodized‘ we find the peaks of interest that ‘Genexus‘ offers – a bolder attempt at bringing out a more melodic Fear Factory. While these melodic sections are infrequent and tend to be in choruses, it is odd to hear that the writing style sounds like pop-punk with 8-string guitars, surrounded with mid-tempo verses with riffs that rarely venture outside the 4 lowest notes on the instruments.
This kind of writing continues on tracks like ‘Dielectic‘ and ‘Regenerate‘, and while many Fear Factory fans will enjoy the well-produced aggression found in verses and bridges, the seemingly simplified approach may raise a few eyebrows with others considering we all know the band are capable of writing complete masterpieces such as ‘Demanufacture‘.
The controversial outlook is underlined where the band make attempts at a pop-ridden power ballad in the form of ‘Expiration Date‘, that also disposes of the only consistently good element of the speedy industrial-esque drumming.
‘Genexus‘ from our point of view can be seen as a simplification of ‘The Industrialist‘, and perhaps an attempt to make the recent effort more accessible to those who are content with the straight-forward approach to heavy and melodic clashing. Whether the writing style for ‘Genexus‘ was conscious or not, many old school fans of Fear Factory may not approve – but there will be some who will enjoys this album.
[verdict]Maybe[/verdict]
[why]’Genexus’ is Fear Factory at their simplest – verses with notes that never really stray away from the bottom of the fretboard and low-register melodic choruses. An appreciation for some, and a cause for depreciation for others.[/why]
