Fear Factory
W/Suffocation, Hypocrisy, Decapitated, Goatwhore
Nov 14, 2006
Opera House

I can’t believe it. We arrived at the venue less than 30 mins after the doors where to open, only to find that they’ve opened late (leaving a huge line up outside) and causing about 70% of the crowd to miss the opening band.
So yeah, I missed Goatwhore. I’m not happy about it either.

That snafu aside, Decapitated were the first band most people got to see hit the stage. Hailing from Poland, this band has everything you’d imagine they need: loud and fast guitars, scary song titles, and an unbelievable bassist. But still they face a problem common amongst death-metal influenced bands these days: lack of stand out material. Sure they’ve got a few outstanding tracks, but that’s about it. Most of their 45 min set sounded very similar.
And unfortunately mostly forgettable.

Sweden’s Hypocrisy, the kings of melodic metal, were up next. With an obscenely full & sharp sound reminiscent of Carcass, hypocrisy tore through a set littered with songs new and old. Screamed vocals, blistering solos, and newer material dripping with keyboards, Hypocrisy proves that they truly are metal royalty. One thing was clear; frontman Peter Tagtren’s control over the crowd was absolute. The evidence of their strong following here was quickly apparent.

Now we get to Relapse records’ Suffocation. Storming the stage like inmates loosed from an asylum, they tore through their set with a ferocity not seen in most bands these days. This 5-piece from Long Island plays a unique blend of death/tech metal that is 100% their own all the while blending seamlessly with the other bands on the bill. Sounding like a car crash and playing with an insane amount of energy, the entire crowd was captivated. It was impossible not be. This band flat out played and sounded better than they’ve got any right to be, and I’m sure it isn’t making them any friends on this tour.

Which brings us to the headliners, Fear Factory. After quietly taking the stage, they proceeded to play 20 mins of material from their early years. Despite what anyone says, this isn’t their strongest material. By the time the half hour mark was passing, the crowd was almost listless and dare I say, bored. After 16 years together, you’d think that they’d have learned a thing or 2 about touring. It wasn’t until the band got into songs from the album Demanufacture was there any crowd reaction at all. Tracks played much later into their set like “Shock,” “Slave Labor” or even “Edgecrusher” should’ve been used to liven up the crowd to begin with. But I guess it wasn’t even the choice of songs that hurt their performance. Singer Burton C. Bell was suffering obvious vocal distress, making any clean singing almost nonexistent. The band’s live sound was actually pretty dry and loose, making their performance sound and feel pretty soulless. This should’ve been a good thing, being this is a band that has flirted with the man/machine dichotomy for most of their career, but unfortunately it wasn’t.
It just came of as insincere and robotic.

Where is John Connor when you need him?

- Spencer Lavigne

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