Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	October 29, 2012
Event:	Fear Factory (Website)
Location:	Rock City, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Galleries:	Fear Factory - Nottingham, England, 27th October 2012 by Baz Anderson (20)

Just about to kick off a co-headlining European tour with Devin Townsend, Fear Factory were to play two headlining shows in the UK before their return with the bald one in December. With only one short support set, this night was shaping up to be a Fear Factory fan's dream.




The stage was dark and sparse; with just a drum kit, a few mic stands, a lone monitor at the front and the rest of the night ahead of us - the band took the stage in front of the busy venue. Plunging straight in with the opening duo from the latest album The Industrialist, the audience soon became warmed up in time for the following crushing trio from the Obsolete album.


Fear Factory tend to compile their setlists in album chunks; following the Obsolete section came a couple from Mechanize, the obligatory disco classic "Linchpin" and another from the latest, but then into a hefty chunk from the debut Soul Of A New Machine - followed by half of the legendary Demanufacture album.



In between segments the audience would chant for Dino with his seven-stringed monster, and Burton told us that it was on Halloween back in 1990 that the band came together. The Soul Of A New Machine portion of the set therefore came in honour of two decades since the release of that album; older than a good section of the audience as he pointed out.

On this, the first day of the band's European endeavour, they sounded great together. A bit of a slip from the drummer at the first galloping section of "Fear Campaign", and Burton never sounds as clear live as on CD, but these things are insignificant when considering the band were on stage for an hour and a half, if not a little more, delivering pretty much a Fear Factory fan's dream setlist.




The Soul Of A New Machine portion of the set was not only interesting to hear these old songs played live, but gave a great illustration of where the band have come from and the evolution the Fear Factory machine has taken to the present day. There is only one way a Fear Factory set can close however, so back to 1995 we went for five visits to the phenomenal and groundbreaking Demanufacture album.



A set closing this way can't leave anyone without a big grin on their face. Classics performed to perfection, the band made their exit after a hugely successful opening show to their trek across Europe. Along with Devin Townsend, the "Epic Industrialist Tour" is an absolute must see!

An interview conducted with Burton before the show can be seen here!

Setlist: The Industrialist / Recharger / Shock / Edgecrusher / Smasher/Devourer / Powershifter / Fear Campaign / Linchpin / New Messiah / Martyr / Scapegoat / Self Immolation / Scumgrief / Demanufacture / Self Bias Resistor / Pisschrist / Zero Signal / Replica