''Soul of a New Machine'' is the debut studio album by American

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial met ...

, released on August 25, 1992, by

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. Although this record was Fear Factory's first studio album to be released, it was actually their second album to be recorded, after ''

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

'', which was recorded in 1991 but not released until 11 years later. German magazine '' Rock Hard'' described it as

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

with many other elements such as

. ''Soul of a New Machine'' was remastered and re-released on October 5, 2004, in a

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

, packaged together with the remastered ''

Fear Is the Mindkiller ''Fear Is the Mindkiller'' is the first EP by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was released on April 14, 1993, by Roadrunner Records and it contains remixes of songs from the first album '' Soul of a New Machine''. Content Remi ...

'' EP.

Overview

Guitarist

Dino Cazares Dino Cazares (born September 2, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria (band), Brujeria. Cazar ...

has stated that ''Soul of a New Machine'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, concerning man's creation of a machine that could be either technological or governmental. It was also confirmed by bassist Christian Olde Wolbers in an interview. The particular concept would later play a more prominent role in some of Fear Factory's later albums. Jason Birchmeier of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the album as ushering in the

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

era of the 1990s. ''Soul of a New Machine'' has also been described as

with elements of genres like

and, to some extent,

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

. Author Colin Larkin of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' wrote "''Soul of a New Machine'' established Fear Factory as a genuine death metal force, with a good collection of songs delivered with originality and ferocity." The record featured a different conceptual style from Fear Factory's later works. "Martyr" is about someone who dies for a cause; "Leechmaster" is about relationship problems; "Scapegoat" was based on how Cazares was once wrongfully accused by the law; "Crisis" is an anti-war song; "Crash Test" concerns

animal testing Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of animals, as model organisms, in experiments that seek answers to scientific and medical questions. This approach can be contrasted ...

and "Suffer Age" is based on

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois, Norwood Park Tow ...

. The other songs contain different themes. Samples from the movies ''

Full Metal Jacket ''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel '' The Short-Timers''. It stars ...

'', ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

'', and ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...

'' are heard sporadically throughout the album.

Reception

AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier remarked that "Fear Factory were quite ahead of their time in 1992". The critic also noted the diversity of the genres featured in the recording, saying that "Soul of a New Machine was so groundbreaking because it usedtogether some of the best aspects of numerous metal subgenres", which " esultedin a unique sound". ''Rock Hard'' rated the album highly, saying that the sound of the album was strange, indescribable yet required listening. Rock Hard also complimented the blending of various sub-genres, with particular note to Burton Bell for managing such an eclectic set of vocals. *''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' (p. 61) - " he albumcontains all the unrefined qualities that would soon make Fear Factory legendary."

Track listing

Credits

Fear Factory

* Burton C. Bell – lead vocals (credited as "Dry Lung Vocal Martyr"), programming (credited as "Hardware, Utilities"), lyrics, intro programming (10) *

– guitars (credited as "Discordant"), bass, arrangements * Raymond Herrera – drums (credited as "Variable Percussive Wrecking") *Andrew Shives – bass ("Discordant Bass")

Additional personnel

* Colin Richardson – producer, mixing, add. performer (9) *Steve Harris – engineer, mixing *Bradley Cook – assistant engineer *Rober Fayer – assistant engineer, add. performer (9) *Eddy Schreyer – mastering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– remastering (Expanded Edition) *Satok Lrak, Karl Kotas (spelled backwards) – computer graphics, art direction *Joe Lance – photography *Lora Porter – executive producer, add. performer (9) *Otis – sampling (credited as "Sample God"), *Darius Seponlou – introduction (5), intro programming (5) *

Monte Conner Monte Conner is an American music executive and artists and repertoire (A&R) representative. He was the former senior vice president of A&R for Roadrunner Records from 1988 until 2012, and is currently the head of A&R at Nuclear Blast Records. ...

– A&R

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soul of a New Machine 1992 debut albums Fear Factory albums Roadrunner Records albums Albums produced by Colin Richardson 1990s concept albums