Fear Factory fans hoping for a new album probably shouldn't hold their breath.
The band's guitarist, Christian Olde Wolbers, is currently focusing on producing other bands and is also working on a new project with Fear Factory drummer, Raymond Herrera, and Threat Signal singer, Jon Howard. And, singer Burton C. Bell is wrapped up with his new band, Ascension of the Watchers, which signals a departure from the type of industrial metal clamor of Fear Factory.
With roots in spirituality and surreal dreams, Ascension of the Watchers (Bell, keyboardist John Bechdel and guitarist Edu Mussi) write songs that are are melancholy and atmospheric, resembling '80s and '90s goth-rock bands such as the Mission UK, Swans, Fields of the Nephilim and Pornography-era Cure. The band's debut full-length, Numinosum, which comes out February 19, isn't really metal but it's still heavy -- at least in atmosphere.
"I've never really considered myself a metal guy," Bell told MTVnews.com's Metal File. "Yeah, I've been in a metal-industrial band, but the music I've always listened to has been much different, which is maybe why the vocals I did with Fear Factory were different than those of other metal singers. But I definitely wanted to do something much different this time. The music is completely personal, and it lets me try techniques I haven't previously had the chance to explore. We used to always say we were expanding the boundaries in Fear Factory. Well, now I'm really stepping out of the boundaries."
Still, Bell isn't ready to sign Fear Factory's death certificate just yet. "As far as I know, it's not over," he said. "I just wanted to work on some other stuff. I've been part of Fear Factory since its inception, and 17 years later I need to do something else for a while. And Fear Factory doesn't have a record deal, so there's no contractual obligation to move forward with that, so right now it's all about the Watchers."
For the complete interview with Bell and more metal news than you could digest with an iron stomach, check out this week's Metal File.
And for those lamenting Fear Factory's hiatus, take solace in the video for "Bite The Hand That Bleeds"
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