The New Music Thread - The Sphere Edition

Fear Factory - "Linchpin" compilation (Release date: 26th April)

Earlier this month, a new Fear Factory compilation entitled Linchpin appeared on major music streaming outlets. However, its release was not approved by the band members themselves, and the industrial metal act were initially unaware of the collection's existence, as evidenced by tweets from Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares. 

First alerted to the new release by fans, as noted by Theprp.com, Cazares began investigating the compilation's source before ultimately determining the album was issued by Warner Music Group, the parent company of Roadrunner Records, the imprint who released Fear Factory's first four albums — Soul of a New Machine (1992), Demanufacture (1995), the Gold-certified Obsolete (1998) and its followup, Digimortal (2001).

Containing only songs from those efforts, and with a tracklist that kicks off with Digimortal single "Linchpin," the compilation was seemingly issued legally by WMG, who presumably retain the rights to distribute the recordings. 

Notwithstanding, on Twitter this week, Cazares told listeners that Fear Factory had "no input" on the compilation. He also said "companies have every right to do it," in regards to WMG releasing the album without the band's knowledge.

Linchpin follows two previous Fear Factory compilations currently available for streaming, The Complete Roadrunner Collection 1992–2001 (2012) and The Best of Fear Factory (2006). Both were issued by Roadrunner. In 2003, the band released a remix and rarities compilation called Hatefiles, referenced by Cazares above. 

Fear Factory are currently at work on a new album, which will be their first studio effort since 2015's Genexus, released by the label Nuclear Blast. 

Tracklisting:

1  Linchpin   

2  Cars (Gary Numan cover)   

3  Replica   

4  Edgecrusher   

5  Shock   

6  Demanufacture   

7  Invisible Wounds (Dark Bodies)   

8  Self Bias Resistor   

9  Resurrection   

10  Scapegoat   

11  Scumgrief   

12  Zero Signal   

13  Martyr   

14  A Therapy for Pain   

15  Crisis   

16  Dark Bodies” (Demo)   

17  Dead Man Walking   

18  Full Metal Contact   

19  Damaged   

20  New Breed   

21  Pisschrist   

22  Soulwomb   

23  Terminate   

24  Body Hammer   

25  What Will Become

A track from the new E.P. from industrial metal stalwarts Ministry. It includes previously unreleased mixes of Ministry’s classic 1985 single “Everyday (Is Halloween)” with another previously unreleased song on the B-side.

New Author & Punisher album due in Feb 22.  The mix of the dreamy pop style with those harsh industrial tones is something this guy has come to master over his previous outings and so I am intrigued to see how harsh he gets on this release alongside how creative he is going to be also.

Are Fear Factory making a bid to write the theme song for the next Bond movie with Recode from latest album Aggression Continuum. I swear it sounds like Chris Cornell's You Know My Name in places.

The Swedish gothic-infused industrial/cyber metal masters are back with a new single from their upcoming comeback album. This is their new single "This Is"!

Look out for the brand new eighth album from French industrial sludge metallers Fange entitled "Perdition" which is due to hit the shelves next month. 2021's "Pantocrator" record was our The Sphere Clan Release of the Year so I have high hopes for this one.

Not to mention the brand new fifth album from fellow French industrial metallers Kill The Thrill (entitled "Autophagie") which should be out on 26th January. I loved their last album "Tellurique" from 2005 so this one could be something special given the extreme gap between releases.

The first ever live release from Swiss industrial metallers Samael (entitled "Passage - Live") is due for release on 16th February & appears to be a complete reenactment of their 1996 fourth full-length "Passage". I have some time for "Passage" so this one might be worth a listen.

Fange - Perdition

Released 9th February

I was impressed by these french industrial sludge-meisters' 2021 album, Pantocrator, and although their Privation album from last year somehow passed me by, I have been looking foward to this one for a while now. Riff-wise and with the general instrumentation, this bears a significant Fear Factory influence, with some pretty immense and sludgy machine-like riffing and harsh distortion that often sounds like the sound of escaping steam buried down within the mix. The tinniness of the programmed snares adds another layer to the dystopian, Blade Runner-esque atmosphere the band is (successfully) striving for. Within this evocative, machine-dominated atmosphere intrudes the only-too-human, angered vocals of singer Matthias Jungbluth whose hardcore-style delivery gives the album a sludge metal twist with his railing against the world the band have so vividly created lays bare the alienation of his soul. I don't think any language is better than French at sounding pissed-off and Matthias here sounds really pissed-off.

The Fear Factory comparison is more pronounced here, I think, because the band have sought to add more melodic hooks into their overall sound, rather than doubling-down on the alienating atmosphere of Pantocrator. Now this is an approach I would probably normally be sceptical about, but I think it still works here and the band manage to retain the atmosphere of their alienating machine-like rhythms, even though they sometimes give the listener more of a handhold into the album. Is it as good as Pantocrator? Probably not, I guess time will tell, but it is still worth the mere thirty minutes of your time you would need to spare to lend it your ear.

4/5

US industrial metal legends Ministry have yet another new full-length coming out next month under the suggestive title of "Hopiumforthemasses". I believe this will be their gazillionth album if I'm not mistaken. Admittedly the public has generally discarded everything they've done for decades now so I can't see them pulling out an unexpected classic at this point. I think the last Ministry record I actually checked out was 1996's "Filth Pig" though so what would I know.

The brand new "Ghosthouse in the Nightmare City" E.P. from New York industrial metallers Uniform hit the streets yesterday. I really dug their 2020 "Shame" album but haven't tried out anything else they've done to date so this might be an opportunity for me.

A couple of brand-new releases I'll be keeping an eye on in August:

Andrew Hulshult - "IDKFA"

Uniform - "American Standard"

Swiss cyber/industrial metallers Sybreed plan to release a 20th anniversary remaster of their stellar debut Slave Design. It includes two new bonus tracks; a re-recording of "Bioactive" and this killer previously unreleased banger that I'm sharing below. No word on whether or not the band will truly reunite.

Here's the other bonus track in the 20th anniversary remaster of Sybreed's Slave Design. This re-recording of "Bioactive" is so killer and can almost compete with the original:

Helloooo, brand new Mechina! Fans of this epic symphonic/cyber metal band, get ready for their upcoming album, with their blend of beauty and brutality shining as always: