All Photos By Geoff Ketler/Aces High Photography
Two decades after releasing the ground-breaking Demanufacture record, FEAR FACTORY - the pioneers of industrial metal, machine-gun guitars and blistering kick drums, was back in Cleveland at the world-famous Agora Theater, ready to celebrate. The show, originally slated for the much smaller Ballroom was moved to the more spacious theater due to increased ticket sales. Bravo Cleveland…bravo.
I arrived at the venue in time to catch a rowdy set from the Los Angeles-based SPADES AND BLADES. The self-described progressive metalcore quartet brought a ton of energy to the stage, especially bassist John Douglas with his jumps and bass spins. Vocalist Jason Todd spent a lot of time down in the pit, hanging on the barricade and stirring up the crowd. Their persona was enough to get me to seek out their album at the merch table afterwards. The End Is Near is worth checking out.
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It was a snappy set change and then time for SOILWORK. FEAR FACTORY and SOILWORK were two bands that I was able to catch on separate tours last year. It was nice to see them together and though they are completely different styles, they manage to be a cohesive touring package. As SOILWORK took the stage, something was amiss. Unbeknownst to me, guitarist David Andersson was forced to stay in Sweden to fulfill his doctor duties. Stepping in for this tour was guitarist Ronny Gutierrez of Stephen Marley and Shaggy fame. He absolutely shredded. If I was blindfolded, I would have never known there was a fill-in touring guitarist on stage.
The band continued to rip through a flawless set. It was nice to see that, especially since last October, while performing at the Agora, they were plagued with technical difficulties. It was a different story on this night. Bassist Markus Wibom alongside guitarists Ronny Gutierrez and Sylvain Coudret seemed to have great chemistry and charisma as a group. The set was full of highlights including “This Momentary Bliss”, “Tongue” and my personal favorite, “Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter”.
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Setlist:
- “The Ride Majestic”
- “Nerve”
- “The Chainheart Machine”
- “The Crestfallen”
- “This Momentary Bliss”
- “The Living Infinite 1”
- “Petrichor By Sulfur”
- “Tongue”
- “Let This River Flow”
- “Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter”
- “Stabbing The Drama”
The crew opened up the stage for a wide, stripped down appearance before FEAR FACTORY took the stage. All that was present was a drum riser and the famed FEAR FACTORY logo back drop. Vocalist Burton C Bell strutted out on stage and simply stated, “This is Demanufacture”. That was all it took. Guitarist Dino Cazares unleashed the opening riffs to the song “Demanufacture” and the pit stirred up in a hurry. His palm-muted triplets and sixteenth notes were perfectly syncopated with Mike Heller’s drums. Also on stage was bassist Tony Campos of STATIC-X and SOULFLY fame who had teamed up with FEAR FACTORY just late last year. It was a total onslaught of machine-gun riffs, blue lighting and strobes.
From tack #1 all the way through track #11 – the Demanufacture record was covered in its entirety. This was then followed up by a massive encore filled with fan favorites and new material alike. “Soul Hacker” and “Regenerate” off of the band’s 2015 release Genexus made it in there as well as the set staples “Shock”, “Edgecrusher” and “Martyr” – the first track off of the debut album, Soul Of A New Machine. I can still hear the crowd chanting, “I’ve got to get away”.
The 20th Anniversary celebration rolls on through the first week of May before the band heads down under for a string of Australian dates and eventually makes its way over to Europe for festival season.
http://fearfactory.com/
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Setlist:
- “Demanufacture”
- “Self Bias Resistor”
- “Zero Signal”
- “Replica”
- “New Breed”
- “Dog Day Sunrise” (HEAD OF DAVID Cover)
- “Body Hammer”
- “Flashpoint”
- “H-K (Hunter-Killer)”
- “Pisschrist”
- “A Therapy For Pain”
Encore:
- “What Will I Become?”
- “Archetype”
- “Soul Hacker”
- “Regenerate”
- “Shock”
- “Edgecrusher”
- “Martyr”
Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Geoff Ketler/Aces High Photography
