While it’s been 6 years since ‘Genexus’ was released, it’s also been more than 3 since the songs for this album were all recorded too. Granted Dino Cazares did do some crowd funding last year to get Mike Heller to record all the live drum tracks, so those are only a year old. While Tony Campos is listed as the band’s bassist, I’m going to assume that Dino tracked all the bass for the album as he has done previously on other albums. and while I’m seeing plenty of online at the moment about the state of affairs of the band itself, it has nothing to do with the music here, so I’m just going to ignore it all and crack on.
The tenth album begins with a rising sound behind a declaration of resistance that would work well on any Sci-Fi movie, but it’s when the staccato drumming and chunky guitars kick in with the atmospheric keyboards that you know you are listening to Fear Factory, however it’s Burton C. Bell’s alternating clean and death vocals that seal the deal on “Recode”.
“Disruptor” is a mid-to-faced paced song with a very bouncy feel to it, but the very melodic chorus with its sweetly sung lyrics also give it a very gentle feel over the heavy guitars and sharp snare.
Starting off very slowly but building as layers of sound are added, the title track “Aggression Continuum” seemly blends the rapid-fire drum triplets with Dino’s distinct choppy guitar rhythm while Igor Khoroshev’s keyboards add that little touch of melody in the background.
I’m hard-pressed to decide whether I prefer Burton’s gruff or clean vocals on “Purity”, as both work perfectly over the music which does not alter in any way when the vocals do. On “Fuel Injected Suicide Machine” his anguished vocals are an excellent juxtaposition to the ultra-melodic clean vocals as they have a tortured edge making them sound strained and fast approaching wit’s end.
Slowing things down to a far heavier groove is “Collapse”, where the drums and guitars just keep getting slower and heavier as the song goes along. Whereas on “Manufactured Hope” they have a lightness about them that belies how fast and heavy they actually are, possibly owing to the accompanying keyboard melody, but it’s also appropriate considering the song title.
The industrial sounds I associate with Fear Factory are in abundance on “Cognitive Dissonance”, probably the work of long-time collaborator Rhys Fulber, but it’s the fast pace of the song that really makes it enjoyable to me.
Mostly mid paced, “Monolith” is the album drawing to a close as the mellower vocals give the song its harmonies, while the harsher ones add that extra punch, as does pretty much the only guitar solo on the album.
The final track, “End Of Line” is a rather lengthy affair, but that doesn’t stop it from being typical Fear Factory fair with its alternating melodic and aggressive movements and fast but catchy riffs and rhythm. The song and album end with a recitation of Frank Herbert’s ‘Litany Against Fear’ over an Alex Rice’s mellow keyboard outro.
I really enjoyed this album. Pity it’s probably going to be the last with these collaborators, but c’est la vie.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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