Fear Factory bring Cybernetic Domination to Auckland

“The first time we came here was back in 93, who remembers that one” Fear Factory vocalist Milo Silvestro cajoules the crowd before the band launched into one of the highlights of the set, Scumgrief, from the aforementioned album.

Which seemed a little disingenuous given the vocalist was A) not in the band at the time and B) he was 6 years old in 1993.

Fear Factory have been an entity since 1989 and over that time to 2026 they’ve had 4 drummers and 7 bass players and that was fine, for me it’s the exit of founding member and vocalist Burton C Bell that should’ve drawn a line through the name Fear Factory and tonight I should be enjoying a show by the Dino Cazeres Experience; but I’m not.

That is to say experiencing or enjoying.

Was this a bad show? No it wasn’t. Was it a great show? Again no. It was good and if you’d never seen Fear Factory before you’d probably rave about it to all your friends, and that’s fine.

Having seen Fear Factory multiple times, and even played with them once at the Powerstation in 2012 with Just One Fix and 8 Foot Sativa, that show versus the show at Studio were different beasts.

The rhythm section of Byron Stroud and the legendary Gene Hoglan laid foundations you could build a second Sky Tower on and frontman Burton C Bell was imperious with his vocal performance and the glue in between songs that can so often be the hardest part of the gig, interacting with and goading the audience.

Dino Cazeres was of course front and centre as well, his signature guitar tone and iconic riffs blasting every ear drum in sight and this for me is the crux of the matter, when you’ve seen the best at their highest point how do you get effusive about the dips in the rollercoaster.

It’s like seeing Mike Tyson beating seven shades of shit out of Michael Spinks and comparing it to seeing ‘Iron Mike’ in bouts with some arsehole like Jake Paul.

To paraphrase Jack Black, This isn’t the greatest band in the world, this is just a tribute.

Credit where credit is due though, Peter Webber was an absolute beast behind the kit. He and touring bass player Javier Arriaga were so locked in and solid it was hard to separate their sounds at times.

Dino, when you could hear him, was on point as well but whether it was sound or venue issue too often when the clean vocals kicked in the guitars faded into the wall of noise and were hard to pick out.

That brings me to Milo Silvestro, the frontman who replaced Burton C Bell. I want to make it clear that this isn’t a pile on and it’s not personal, the guy is obviously talented … but.

You knew there was a big but coming right? (Cue readers trying not to sing I like Big Butts and I Can Not Lie while reading the rest of this).

I didn’t think his voice cut it plain and simple. There’s was too much reliance on the vocal effects box on the stand next to him on stage, when these effects came in they drowned out the guitars, the delay and reverb effects being used were too prominent to the point that a couple of times Milo pulled the mic away from his mouth and the note continued over the PA.

To be fair to him when attacking the growls and dirtier vocals he actually seemed to hold up but the effects made the overall sound too manufactured (rather than Demanufactured as we all know Fear Factory shows should be)!

Stand out moments from the show were Scumgrief, which was a great dip into the past, Powershifter, the first song to really grab the crowd as a collective. Edgecrusher carried that momentum on and was super tight and sharp and of course the anthem Replica that had the Studio chanting “I Don’t Want to Live That Way” back at the stage.

The scene at Studio was set for Fear Factory by New Zealand Death Metal band Imperial Slave, fronted by former Sinate and 8 Foot Sativa drummer Sam Sheppard.

Clad in all black with the now signature black leather stetson in place and heavy chain links microphone cable he appears every inch the cowboy from hell.

The cast of demons onstage with him were on point, incredibly tight and sharp and if bass player Achilles Manley isn’t a frontman in waiting I’ll eat Sam’s black leather hat.

We were treated to a couple of new tracks from a forthcoming album (that lands in October apparently) early in the set and the difference in style was immediately evident. Imperial Slave have two great albums behind them, best described thrashy Death Metal but in The Sounds of Ethnic Cleansing and The Stabbing the band have flagged a shift in direction.

These songs are best described as having Rail Gun like intensity, vocals spat out in a rapid fire fashion while being backed by a stabbing rhythm section that seemed to hit at the same time as Sheppard’s brimstone bark.

While older songs like Priestiality and Slave or Death offered more dynamism and groove, this was a set that was more akin to being on the receiving end of an artillery barrage than an opening act at Studio on a Sunday night.

I know I won’t be the only one who will be marking the days off til October hits as a result of the performance.