On June 16, former FEAR FACTORY singer Burton C. Bell performed the group’s classic song “Replica” with the the house band at Frankie’s Pizza in Sydney, Australia after his DJ set. You can now watch video of his appearance below.
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 guitarist Dino Cazares launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of FEAR FACTORY‘s long-awaited new LP, “Aggression Continuum”.
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.”
Pressed about whether there is any chance of a reconciliation with FEAR FACTORY down the line, Burton said: “I’m done. I haven’t spoken to Dino in three years. I haven’t spoken to Raymond [Herrera, drums] and Christian [Olde Wolbers, bass] in longer than that, and I have no intention to. I’m just moving forward with my life.”
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 Herrera and 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.”
In explaining his reasons for starting a fundraising campaign, Cazares said that all donations would go toward covering newly incurred production costs involved with the making of “Aggression Continuum”, including re-recording the drums, guitars, bass and keyboards, as well as production by b>Damien Rainaud (DRAGONFORCE, ONCE HUMAN) and Cazares, and mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, TRIVIUM). Burton‘s original lead vocals, which were recorded in full in 2017, remain on the new version of the album.
FEAR FACTORY‘s fundraising campaign marked the first public activity from the band since it completed a 2016 U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, “Demanufacture”, in its entirety.
“Aggression Continuum” was released on June 18 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Bell‘s ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS project released its second full-length album, “Apocrypha”, last October via Dissonance Productions.
