FEAR FACTORY Singer Says Inspiring Other Bands Is A Great Reward

FEAR FACTORY frontman Burton C. Bell recently spoke to OrlandoCityBeat.com about the departure of longtime guitarist Dino Cazares, negative stigmas in the extreme metal genre, and politics. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Orlando Citybeat: You're quoted as saying FEAR FACTORY was at the forefront of the scream/sing vocals and also full album remixes. Does it upset you that other bands have capitalized off this?

Burton C. Bell: "Honestly, no it doesn't. To me I get the reward that FEAR FACTORY has inspired younger artists to follow suit. The idea of becoming an artist and the idea of being a musician is to inspire people so they can aspire to do better things with their lives. Though we have not reached the success of bands that have followed suit of FEAR FACTORY, we have inspired all these artists to do new and interesting things with music. To me, that is a great reward."

Orlando Citybeat: The latest album, "Archetype", features former bassist Christian (Olde Wolbers) on guitar following the departure of Dino Cazares. Was their bad blood when Dino left the band?

Burton C. Bell: "(laughs) Uh, how can I say this? Well, we were definitely happy that the split was made. (laughs) And FEAR FACTORY would have not continued if Dino was to remain in the band."

Orlando Citybeat: What were the circumstances behind that?

Burton C. Bell: "It was bad blood that created the split to begin with. And that's pretty much the reason. You can't continue working with someone you can't work with."

Orlando Citybeat: How has that changed the dynamic of the band – both live and in the studio?

Burton C. Bell: "The dynamics have completely done a full turnaround. The personal relationship of the band is tighter. We're better friends than we've ever been. The stage presence… everyone enjoys being on stage. We're having a great time playing live. The dynamics of the live show are much tighter, more cohesive and the fact that it looks like we're actually enjoying being on stage just makes the presence a lot better. With Christian on guitar, he definitely understands the FEAR FACTORY vibe, the FEAR FACTORY philosophy of the percussive nature of guitar with the percussive nature of the drums. That keeps the industrial vibe strong and keeps it tight within FEAR FACTORY. Yet, he brought in his own style of guitar playing. It's STILL FEAR FACTORY, but there's something more to it. His guitar style is different from Dino's and, for me, it's a welcome change."

Orlando Citybeat: You've been together 14 years now. As a band, what does FEAR FACTORY have left to prove?

Burton C. Bell: "What we just have to prove is… with a leaving member there's really something to prove. Like, 'The band is not the same.' I think we proved that we are still the same band and some people would debate that we're better or not better. In my opinion, I think that we're a better band. And we've proved that by this album, 'Archetype'. All we've got to prove now is that we're a strong band and that we can continue to write good songs."

Read Burton C. Bell's entire interview with OrlandoCityBeat.com at this location.