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Sam: In the lyrics
it sounds more like you're going for personal stuff and
stuff that's going on in the world right now.
Burton C. Bell: "That's very true,
I like to describe them as images of transgression.
There's not a continuing story or anything like that
on this record, but what there is, is a theme. All like,
variations on a theme, that's transgression, so all the
songs like '540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit' describes what
someone might see and feel being at the center of a
nuclear blast because that's the estimated temperature.
The song 'Moment Of Impact' describes what someone might
be thinking who is in a plane going down to crash, or
someone who jumped off a building. Someone who knows
exactly when they're about to fuckin' die."
Sam: That's the last track right?
BCB: "That's the last track"
Sam: That's my favorite one on there
so far.
BCB: "It's a brutal track, I love
that song. My favorite song is 'New Promise', that was
loosely influenced by the Terry Schiavo case."
Sam: whoa, really?
BCB: "I take it from the
perspective of the husband who is trying to ease his
wife's pain...just like...imagine and thinking in that
song, the husband whispering into her ear, those words.
I promise I'll release you from your pain."
Sam: They made a friggin' circus
out of that, it was disgusting.
BCB: "It was disgusting. The song
'Echo Of My Scream' is a personal song, it's basically
it's almost like a dream kind of thing. It's almost
a union philosophy, but it's like looking at myself
and what I used to be and all I see is an echo of my
scream."
Sam: I thought that one sounded
more like an Ascension Of The Watchers tune than
a Fear Factory tune.
BCB: "It sounded like a Pink Floyd
song to me, but you know, that's the song they wrote
so, that's how it came out. But we've had songs like
that alot, you know 'A Therapy For Pain' off of
Demanufacture...'Timelessness', you know that's the
vibe. So, all these are images of stepping over the
line, exceeding boundries, you know, going to the
extereme. 'Empty Vision', bascially is, they didn't
do it correctly on the spelling, but I wanted the
letters M, T, and V capitalized and the rest of the
letters lowercase, so it would be, 'eMpTy Vision' is
actually MTV."
Sam: Haha, that would've been
great.
BCB: "I know, that's how I spelled
it out, they fucked up, but it's like fuckin' forget it,
it's no big deal. Actually, I think it is that way in
the interior of the record but not the outside spine
or the back. So that describes how I feel about MTV and
like soucres you know? Just a useless waste of mind
control."
Sam: I sit through 2 hours of
Headbanger's Ball to see maybe 2 or 3 good videos, if
they show like Corrosion Of Conformity or something.
BCB: "Headbanger's Ball is
bullshit, you know it's just...no one who listens to
metal even watches MTV, and they're not even going to
watch Headbnger's Ball, it's like 'that's not the
metal I want to hear' 'cause it's all fuckin' Avenged
bullshit Sevenfold, all that, Fallout Boy what the fuck
is that? Fallout Boy, that was fuckin' Millhouse's
character"
Sam: Radioactive Man and Fallout
Boy...
BCB: "What other songs are on
there...Spinal Compression is just, the idea of the
weight. Stress and the weight of the stress of the
world you might be living in, just weighing down on
you. It's just going to fuckin' compress your spine
it's so heavy, you know, so, it's the images of
transgression. I think my lyrics on this record, I'm
very satisfied with them, I think they're some of the
best lyrics I've written in awhile."
Sam: I head the "Millenium" cover
and figured out Hatebreed totally ripped that riff off
from them.
BCB: "Yeah, totally ripped it off,
but that's a good song, it's already like a Fear Factory
song, already sounded like a Fear Factory song then we
did it."
Sam: You went all poppy on the
U2 cover though.
BCB: "I didn't think it was that
poppy, but I think it's a great song, you know. The
whole record itself is a transgression because we were
breaking boundries of that we've always done as well.
We've done some strange covers in the past, and I think
this is no different. If you do a cover, you've got to
do it well, doesn't matter if it's pop or metal or
folk or country. Johnny Cash took a NIN song, he made
it his own, I like that version better than I like the
NIN version. Johnny Cash made that his song, so you
know, it's just all about breaking boundries."
Sam: You went really clean with
the vocals on this one, I didn't hear any of the Napalm
Death style going on.
BCB: "Well, 'Moment Of Impact',
but why should I really do that again? I'm trying to
progress."
Sam: It was really good.
BCB: "It was good, and what I've
done is good, and it'll always be that way. But I want
to progress, so, to me it's not really interesting,
it's not that interesting any more to me."
Sam: Kinda wore it out?
BCB: "Just got tired really. But
if I did the Napalm Death vocals, that's not my voice,
that's not my style. 'Moment Of Impact', that's my
style, that's pretty much that style that's all on
Demanufacture, so I've got my own style. 'Soul Of A
New Machine', I'll never do vocals like that again,
ever, I was just a fuckin' rookie, I was still finding
my niche. So, even if I wanted to I couldn't..I could,
but I don't want to."
Sam: You guys are coming back in
November?
BCB: "Yep, we're going to be
headlining and Strapping Young Lad and Soilwork will
be opening up."
Sam: You guys recorded other covers
that didn't end up on the album right, anything gonna
happen with those??
BCB: "They'll come out eventually,
we covered Godflesh 'Anthem' that one is probably going
to come out at some point, but we're just sitting on it
right now. It came out really well."
Sam: What was it like working with
Toby Wright?
BCB: "I thought it was really cool.
I think it was one of the best recording experiences
I've ever had."
Sam: It went more smoothly?
BCB: "No, it was just something
that was very different, we'd never done that. I mean
I worked with him a month straight with vocals. I mean
I had ideas for the songs, but if I'd get stuck or if
I didn't have an idea he would come up with it, we'd
come up together with a great idea. He's very patient,
very creative. He recorded the drums which sound fucking
great, he recorded the vocals and he mixed the record.
That was another transgression of Fear Factory because
we'd never worked with a producer of that caliber or
that resume'. We did it because we had the opportunity,
and I felt like the time is right, let's do it. In alot
of ways, this is our last, to me it's almost like our
last chance up at bat. I wanna hit a home run, I want
this record to do well, you know? So let's take every
step. We've always recorded our own records, and we've
done a certain amount, but let's experiment, let's see
what happens if we use a producer who has a different
ear, who brings in a different perspective. And I think
it was very, very successful, I think this record
sounds fucking amazing. To me this is sonically one
of the best records we've ever done, sonically. It's
fucking loud, it sounds good, to me I think it's
awesome, but that's how I feel."
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