Fear Factory is a Los Angeles, California based metal band. They formed in 1990 and have since released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal, groove metal, thrash metal and industrial metal. blank">www.ugo.com "Despite the setback of their shoddy first album, Fear Factory tightened its sound and as traditional death metal structures began to fade, they evolved into a popular industrial metal band while also incorporating a groove metal style. However, their sound has become so unique it seems to elude and genre, and arguments continue over the label that should be placed on them. This has also gotten them heard in the mainstream, and many say Fear Factory is a "stepping stone" for mainstream listeners to venture deeper into the underground." www.drownedinsound.com "LA's Fear Factory were once named Ulceration. They originally formed in 1989, but when the new decade dawned, it probably occurred to them that Fear Factory was a much better name for a combination of thrash metal, death metal, groove metal, industrial metal, metal metal and probably some other metals." edmontonmusic.com ""Ulceration" was not picked for any real reason other than that Burton C. Bell and/or other members thought it would "just be a cool name" for the band. They then renamed to Fear Factory in 1990. Characterized by a mix of thrash metal/groove metal guitar riffs..." www.raymondherrera.com "Fear Factory Fear Factory was formed on October 31, 1990 in Los Angeles, California by ex-guitarist Dino Cazares and drummer Raymond Herrera. Characterised by a mix of thrash metal (though Fear Factory sound more in the vein of groove metal) guitar riffs, roaring vocals that make way for melodic singing, pulse driven drum beats, and powerful basslines..." The resultant sound proved to be enormously influential on the metal scene from the mid-90s and onwards. Fear Factory is also notable among metal bands for their heavy use of science fiction elements in their songs and concept albums. Their most recent album, _Transgression, described as a more experimental and atypical effort, has also contained elements of pop music and progressive metal.
Fear Factory had disbanded in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but they reformed later that year minus founding member Dino Cazares and with the addition of bassist, Byron Stroud.
The band has toured with the likes of Black Sabbath, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Slayer, System of a Down, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Mastodon, Misery Index and Rammstein; performed at three Ozzfests as well as the inaugural Gigantour and has had singles in the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums in the Billboard Top 40, 100 and 200. They are currently in the pre-production stages of the recording of a new full-length album and, for the time being, are functioning independent of a record label. Prior to 2001 they have toured around 2000 shows. They have sold over 1 million albums in the U.S. alone.
