Review by Sam on October 14, 2026.

I love Obsolete. I consider it to be Fear Factory’s magnum opus and crowning achievement. It seems like over the past ten years or so, we haven’t heard much out of the FF camp other than their seemingly endless legal battles and general inability to get along. Even at the time of the here-discussed album, there had been significant fallout among the band, as embattled guitarist Dino Cazares had already departed once after the half-baked effort known as Digimortal. That one did have a couple bangers on it in the form of 'Linchpin' and 'Dark Bodies', but it was mostly forgettable. The two subsequent records left much to be desired as well. Well, in 2010 we have the return of Cazares to the fold, and we see the departure of longtime percussionist Raymond Herrera. An artist of Herrera’s stature should be exceedingly difficult to replace, if not altogether irreplaceable. However, this is hardly the case with Mechanize. With this album we get the Midas touch of the Atomic Clock, one Gene Hoglan.

Before I proceed with this Gene Hoglan puff piece, let me tell you about Raymond Herrera. The dude is a fucking madman who has written and recorded some of the fastest and most creative double bass patterns in the history of metal. When I was discovering extreme metal in the late 90s, Herrera was the first drummer to cause my jaw to drop in sheer disbelief. I thought that there was no way the stuff he was doing was real. My initial reaction to his kick drums on Obsolete and Demanufacture was “sounds like a typewriter.” And while Herrera may be one of the first extreme drummers to turn to triggers for high-velocity double bass, that’s him doing it. And he plays heels up for fuck’s sake.

Hoglan plays heels down, but he does not use the heel-toe double stroke method. That means he achieves his scorching double kick speeds by using his ankles like wrists, which is just fucking insane. He also leads with his left foot. The guy is right-handed. Mind. Blown. Add to all of this the fact that he plays open-handed, and what we have here is a bona fide (if slightly chubby) freak of nature. Hoglan’s use of ankle weights for resistance training is well documented, and no doubt his coming of age behind the drum kit with the legendary blitzkrieg of Dark Angel helped propel him to his own status of hero. After Gene left Dark Angel, he became something of a mercenary with stops in formations such as Death, Strapping Young Lad, and Testament, just to name a few. This match made in hell with Dino was just waiting to happen.

If you are at all familiar with Fear Factory, then you know that Dino Cazares loves to sync up his picking hand with the feet of his drummer, regardless of who sits on the throne. Already, with the opening and title track of Mechanize, this technique is imminent, after the brief requiem of robotic sci-fi sounds. Burton C. Bell sounds simultaneously unhinged with rage with his gutturals as well as operatically angelic with his crystalline clean vocals. “Whatever soul was left has been erased. Only a machine remains,” he intones in his beautiful baritone on 'Industrial Discipline', and shortly after the second chorus we are treated to one of those signature synch-ups of tight sixteenth-note clusters. Fükken brutal. Dino closes out the track with a melodic riff that calls to mind FF’s awesome 'Descent'.

Fear Factory has been at war with that goddamned, infernal, subversive, ubiquitous, omnipotent and tyrannical machine since their inception back in 1990. It’s this unending war that has led some listeners to describe their sound as industrial, and while their penchant for groups such as Godflesh, Ministry, and even Depeche Mode is palpable, NIN these guys are not. They’re just too fucking aggro to be mislabeled in this fashion. I can easily imagine Cazares, Herrera, and Bell sitting around in the late 80s listening to Slayer and Terrorizer and then switching to Dead Can Dance or Bauhaus in the same sitting. What emerges from their instruments is electronica-informed death metal. Couple that with the dynamism of Bell’s vocal range and the seething misanthropy shared by the musicians, and what results is something truly one of a kind.

The addition of Gene Hoglan to this lineup really unlocked some of the band’s latent thrash tendencies. Just check out the speed metal of 'Fear Campaign' and 'Powershifter', the latter being particularly devastating with Gene’s unrelenting footwork, ever synchronized with the guitar. Both of these beasts are aggressive, ripping thrashers that also showcase Burton C. Bell’s distinctive singing voice. The cybernetic omnipresence of the synthesizers and samples used on this and, well, every Fear Factory record contributes to the claustrophobic, Big Brother Is Watching You atmosphere that is unique to these SoCal killers. 'Controlled Demolition' and the brief instrumental 'Metallic Division' are prime examples of this feeling. Dino has a special ability to convey surmounting tension using but one note.

Much like Obsolete, Fear Factory sets the listener down gently with the closing piece, 'Final Exit', the back half of which comes in the form of soothing ambiance. The song still brutalizes with all the things FF is famous for while also featuring poignant clean guitar during the verse. "It's quite an experience to hold the hand of someone as they move from living to dead." The voice sampled here is that of Derek Humphry, founder of the Death with Dignity movement. A theme of euthanasia is certainly par for the course for these cyber metal savages, and Mechanize is a triumphant return to form.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10

Review by Adam M on April 8, 2010.

One thing you’ll notice right from the start of "Mechanize" is the feverish aggression with which the band plays. There seems to be a fuel to the fire as the band has a lot of passion behind them. There’s a lot of staccato riffs that brings to mind some of their classic moments from "Demanufacture". The melodic portions do make an appearance, but there does seem to be a concentration on balanced aggression. It all makes for a more solid album than "Archetype" in every way. It’s nice to see the band fully back on track and putting on a smashing display of versatility. There aren’t really any moments where the album lags and falls flat, it all crushes in some form or another.

There seems to be a desire to be as efficient and deadly as possible, which is great for the band at this point of their career. There might be the possibility of the band slipping into a lazy trance, but that is certainly never the case to be found on "Mechanize". 'Designing The Enemy' and 'Final Exit' caught my attention amongst the tracks because they were a nice change of pace from the remainder and had some interesting melodic singing on the part of Burton C. Bell. All of the performances are quite solid with nimble drumming and enjoyable singing, although the clean vocals aren’t used as much as they have been in the past.

The album ranks about equal to "Obsolete" in terms of its quality. It’s good to see the band back in form and improving upon "Archetype" by so much. The material is tightly performed and very enjoyable to listen to. Overall, Fear Factory has a winner on their hands with "Mechanize" which is easily recommended to fans of the band’s previous material or just looking for a well constructed metal album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8.5
Originality: 7.5
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.4 out of 10