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"Soul Of A New Machine" was the debut album from Fear Factory. Mixing influences such as Napalm Death, Sepultura, Ministry and Godflesh, Fear Factory created a distinctive sound that took the brutal drumming, beefy guitars and shredded vocals of metal and crossed it with the harsh soundscapes, pulsing beats and sampling from industrial. This culminated in a dark, brutal album of varying quality. The album begins strongly with arguably its best track, 'Martyr' which cycles between a tense building rage in the verse, and the all out violence of the chorus. Most of the first half continues in a not too dissimilar vein, the most notable tracks being 'Scapegoat', in which there is the first appearance of Burton C. Bell's distinctive ethereal, clean vocals and 'Scumgrief', which is more indicative of the direction the band would take in the future. At that point there is a short grinding industrial track called 'Natividad' which heralds the opening of the second half. From here the songs get a little less memorable, a little more repetitive and less inspiring. Still there are strong tracks like 'Self Immolation' and 'W.O.E.'; and Dino Cazares' beefy riffage (he actually played all guitar and bass parts on the album, despite the inclusion of short-term bassist Andrew Shives in the artwork) is always worth listening for. Perhaps even more interesting is the crushing drumming of double-kick fiend Raymond Herrera, which adds an extra dimension of brutality to this band. In summary, "Soul Of A New Machine" is a good album that will mostly appeal to those curious about Fear Factory's past.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Martyr |
| 2. Leechmaster |
| 3. Scapegoat |
| 4. Crisis |
| 5. Crash Test |
| 6. Flesh Hold |
| 7. Lifeblind |
| 8. Scumgrief |
| 9. Natividad |
| 10. Big God / Raped Souls |
| 11. Arise Above Oppression |
| 12. Self Immolation |
| 13. Suffer Age |
| 14. W.O.E. |
| 15. Desecrate |
| 16. Escape Confusion |
| 17. Manipulation |
: 55.12
| Buy other Fear Factory albums |
