In a new interview with The Underground Australia, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares was asked what keeps him motivated t o play music more than three decades after the band’s formation. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The love of music. The love of discovering new things and new topics to sing about. New movies. New books. Anything that’s gonna inspire me, that’s what motivates me. And just the simple passion and love of what you do and love of what you create. ‘Cause when it comes to creating music, I believe in myself, I believe in my idea, I believe in what I’m creating, and I go in headfirst and go for it. So I don’t fear change, I don’t fear the future, and I don’t fear what people are going to say, because I really believe in what I do and I really have that love and passion for what I create. And so that’s what motivates me.”
FEAR FACTORY‘s new album, “Aggression Continuum”, will be released on June 18 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP features Cazares alongside drummer Mike Heller and former vocalist, lyricist, and co-founder Burton C. Bell. It was produced and engineered by Damien Rainaud (DRAGONFORCE, ONCE HUMAN), with keyboards by Igor Khoroshev (ex-YES), and programming on two songs from longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber (FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY). “Aggression Continuum” was mixed by A-list rock and metal producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, TRIVIUM), who also mixed FEAR FACTORY‘s previous album, 2015’s “Genexus”.
Last September, Bell issued a statement officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY, saying that he “cannot align” himself with someone whom he does not trust or respect.
Bell‘s exit from FEAR FACTORY came more than two weeks after Cazares launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of FEAR FACTORY‘s new LP.
Bell later told Kerrang! magazine that his split with FEAR FACTORY was a long time coming. “It’s been on my mind for a while,” he said. “These lawsuits [over the rights to the FEAR FACTORY name] just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from bandmembers, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it.
“With FEAR FACTORY, it’s just constantly been, like, ‘What?!’ You can only take so much. I felt like 30 years was a good run. Those albums I’ve done with FEAR FACTORY will always be out there. I’ll always be part of that. I just felt like it was time to move forward.”
In October, Dino issued a statement in which he said that the door for Burton to come back to FEAR FACTORY wouldn’t “stay open forever.” The guitarist also revealed that Burton “lost his legal rights” to the FEAR FACTORY name “after a long court battle” with drummer Raymond Herrera and bassist Christian Olde Wolbers. “I had the opportunity to do something right, and I felt that obtaining the name in full was the right thing to do for the both of us, so after nearly four years we can continue as FEAR FACTORY, to make more records and to tour,” he said. “That is why it is sad to hear that he decided to quit and, in my opinion, for whatever issues he has it seems like it could’ve been worked out.”
