Fear Factory + Thy Art Is Murder + Truth Corroded The HiFi, Sydney Thursday 27 September 2012 Review By Justin Currie
The impact that a band like FEAR FACTORY has had on the 1990s metal scene simply cannot be measured or put into words. They are widely regarded amongst critics and punters alike as a highly innovative and influential band that has spawned many bands that name check them as a major influence, such as MACHINE HEAD, DISTURBED and COAL CHAMBER. So it’s no really surprise that the line up to get into The HiFi tonight was about 100m long and snaking around the corner of the venue.Inside The HiFi waiting for TRUTH CORRODED to take the stage, and SLIPKNOT’s album “Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses) was playing over the PA. A very apt choice of tunes to get everyone in the mood. As soon as these 5 guys from Adelaide walked onto the stage, they were greeted with mixed reactions, but all fears and doubts were laid to rest as soon as the first down – tuned chord was struck.
These guys held nothing back whilst delivering their unique brand of thrash metal. This was a brutal metal attack with occasional laid-back moments and very technical guitar solos, and there couldn’t have been a more appreciative audience to unleash it upon. It must be said that it would have been no easy task opening up for a high profile metal band like FEAR FACTORY, but as experienced as TRUTH CORRODED is, they pulled it off valiantly, charging through their double kick driven riff heavy songs. A job well done.
The now almost full HiFi was getting nice and loosened up for FEAR FACTORY, but there was still one more band to take the stage before them; 5 piece western Sydney band THY ART IS MURDER. Even though they have been around since late 2005, there has been a lot of buzz around this band of late, and it wasn’t hard to see what the fuss was all about. Right away I was impressed by lead vocalist Chris McMahon in his ability to switch between a high-pitched growl and a low one. But musically as a whole, THY ART IS MURDER was a full on assault on the ears. And possibly one of the tightest metal bands that I have ever seen. Their set was short but very punchy, precise and full of technical finger tapping guitar solo goodness. The highlight for me was second song ‘Infinite Death’, which Chris McMahon dedicated to all of the metal heads from Western Sydney. Keep an eye out for THY ART IS MURDER. With their second album coming out in October, they’re sure to be hitting the road again very soon.
And now the moment everyone was waiting for: FEAR FACTORY to take the stage. And take it they did! It’s hard to introduce a band that needs no introduction, however AC/DC’s ‘Shoot To Thrill’ did the job nicely. Without further ado, it was straight into the metal and much to my surprise, ‘Edgecrusher’ made a very early appearance in the set. But there were plenty more songs to come and the band weren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Dino Cazares can really move for a big guy. As the set continued through the plethora of songs available from their 8 studio albums, a couple of crowd favourites tended to stand out. ‘Smasher / Devourer’ (from the album ‘Obsolete’) and ‘Linchpin’ (from the album ‘Digimortal’) in particular. As lead vocalist Burton C Bell made sure that everyone was still awake and full of energy, he introduced the next 2 songs to come (‘Recharger’ and ‘New Messiah’) were from their latest record ‘The Industrialist’.
But this show wasn’t just about the new album (although Burton did take a couple of opportunities to make mention of it). They really were intent on giving the audience a mix of songs from all of their albums, which even took them as far back as 1992’s album ‘Soul Of A New Machine’ and this really got the crowd going, but not as much as it did when they played tracks off the ‘Demanufacture’ album.
This truly brought the circle pit to life! Before FEAR FACTORY played what was to be their last song of the evening, ‘Replica, Burton C Bell took the time to thank both THY ART IS MURDER and TRUTH CORRODED by name (which is quite rare for a band of their stature, but quite humbling all the same), and to thank Australia for being one of the first countries to really support and get behind FEAR FACTORY right from their beginnings 20 years ago. Despite all of us being left wanting more, there was no encore and we were sent on our way to the tune of ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ by SIMPLE MINDS.
This really was a “no gimmicks, no Marshall stacks, no bullshit” metal show, and although the music is aggressive there was always a really positive vibe in room at all times, which you don’t get at too many gigs these days. All in all, FEAR FACTORY in my opinion: still relevant, still kicking ass!
Fear Factory http://fearfactory.com/Thy Art Is Murder https://www.facebook.com/TAIMMETALTruth Corroded http://www.truthcorroded.com/
theartdepartau 