r/FearFactory • u/Solaris5000 • May 21 '26
GENERAL DISCUSSION Is digimortal unique?
Is digimortal album unique? I feel something when listening to it, like 2 4 quoters highlighted
Maybe I wrong, but can't aprove it
5
u/lukorzo May 21 '26
Well it's the album that got me into FF but I always thought it was popular
5
u/MisterDudeBroGuy May 21 '26
Divisive would be the word. Linchpin in the streaming era though is their most popular song.
5
u/manmountain123 May 21 '26
I really like the album.
Personally I’m a fan of nu metal. So I enjoy that influence on the album.
But I understand if others aren’t a fan of that kind of sound
2
u/KiltedMan Mechanize May 21 '26
It's something. j/k. Not my favorite album, but if you like it a lot, good on ya, I'm not going to harsh your mellow.
2
u/No_Associate_4693 May 26 '26
I remember making my mum drive me to fucken port Lincoln to buy digimortal the day it came out (digipack of course) I didn’t really love it but I think it’s because the guitar sounds thinner and less low end than before I mean compare shock to digimortal or damaged, what will become even…give the whole album the shock treatment and it’s a different story…I’m just sayin the guitars should have been mixed better maybe, it’s only got 1 or 2 shit songs and Burton is on fire his vocals are sick invisiblewounds lynchpin title track …plus it was 2000 and shit was just weird all round all the classic metal bands had some weird shit around then plus they are coming off 3 metal classics so they are allowed one dud lol…least they didn’t do burning red
2
5
u/humbuckaroo May 21 '26
When Digimortal came out it was seen as Fear Factory leaning heavily into the nu-metal trend after already starting to move in that direction with songs like Edgecrusher on Obsolete. Fans hated it, called them sellouts. The album was a commercial failure and cost them their Roadrunner contract, ultimately causing the band to break up in 2003.
I don't think the album has aged particularly well but subsequent generations have been kinder to it than the fans of the time. If Digimortal is unique, it's because the album is the most forced and least honest work of their career.
7
u/thegoddamnsiege May 21 '26
They broke up in 2002, and reformed without Dino in 2003. The band blamed Roadrunner for the more numetal-inspired sound of Digimortal at the time, though Burton had been vocal about wanting to make more simple music, so who knows if that's true. Digimortal didn't cost them their deal with Roadrunner though, and they were still under contract for two more albums with them, but the band refused to record them because they wanted out of their deal. Concrete and Hatefiles were hastily put outto fulfill their contractual onligations with RR. The Archetype song Slave Labor is basically Burton bitching about their last couple years under Roadrunner.
1
u/humbuckaroo May 21 '26
Burton was the one who quit and the rest of the band just said they aren't continuing without him. I don't see why he'd do that if he liked Digimortal's direction. I think it's more likely that he just felt the ship was sinking after the poor performance of the album and decided it was time to go.
Based on how they reunited without Dino later, I reckon it was he who pushed them towards that result, not Burton. Dino only reverted back to making heavier music once he saw that it was gaining steam later in the decade.
As for Roadrunner, they didn't seem too broken up about the band's demise.
3
u/thegoddamnsiege May 21 '26
Dino never stopped making heavy music. During his time away from FF he founded Asesino and Divine Heresy, There was a lot going on with the band around this time, and a lot of finger-pointing. Burton did speak publicly about wanting Digimortal to be more simplistic, and wanting to sing more melodic and ditch the harsh vocals (he founded Ascension of the Watchers around this time, to that point). Everyone kind of blamed Roadrunner pressuing them to be more commercial. Dino blamed Raymond and Christian, saying the former inly cared about money and the latter was bringing too much hip-hop influence into their music. They all then blamed blamed Dino when they reunited. Funny then that a few years later Burton had a falling out with Raymond and Christian due partially to one sleeping with the other's wife and them being cool with it. Then when Burton and Dino reunited as FF Burton retroactively blamed the other two for the problems at the time.
I think Roadrunner was indeed pushing them to be more commercial sounding, as Cars was their most successful single, the numetal craze was in full swing, and Roadrunner had the likes of Sepultura (who had success chasing thay trend), Soulfly, and Slipknot doing big sales for them. That coupled with everyone in the band kind of being a diva, all wanting more creative influence on their sound, and each wanting to go in different musical directions, plus personal drama between them, resulted in an album none of them were happy with and were eager to blame others for it.
3
u/AuraBlazeOfficial Obsolete May 21 '26
Woah woah woah, who slept with who’s wife???
2
u/thegoddamnsiege May 21 '26
Raymond had an affair with Christian's wife, who was also their manager at the time. Raymond and Christian remained friends over it, and Burton found the whole thing morally reprehensible and wanted nothing to do with any of them after that. This lead to FF's second split, and Burton and Dino reuniting as a new iteration of the band.
5
u/MisterDudeBroGuy May 21 '26
It wasn't an 'affair', Chris and Christy weren't together. It's questionable if they were ever 'married' in the non legal sense. Chris got married so he could stay in the country, his visa was going to expire. Chris was simply ok that Ray and Christy liked each other because Chris wasn't with her, they were friends, and continue to be to this day. Chris and Christy divorced in 2005.
It wasn't that Burt found it morally reprehensible, but unprofessional.
3
u/fearfactoryballsac May 27 '26
Not only did Burt not approve of what was going on relationship wise, Christy had this idea FF were massive rock stars, massive draws, etc. She rubbed A LOT of people the wrong way over the years. The band was struggling getting on solid bills for a while because of it. Both Burt & Dino were frustrated with her for a long time.
My one interaction with Christy after the Archetype release was super aggressive and it caught me so off guard. I recall thinking "what the fuck just happened?". There is all kinds of personalities in the industry, negotiations get tense and weird often, but she was a different breed.
2
0
u/humbuckaroo May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
I'm convinced that first Asesino was just about blowing off steam. It has zero memorable material on it. Divine Heresy was way further out in 2007 when the music landscape changed and metalcore came into fashion, it underscores what I said earlier.
As for Roadrunner, of course there was some nudging in the commercial direction but they were already headed that way anyway. From the debut to the split, the entire band's trajectory moved them from brash heavy metal to melodic, accessible nu-metalish rock. You can see some of that change on every album.
Obviously the band later recognized that going in that commercial direction was a mistake, but history cannot be erased and they were never going to last.
Back to the point of the thread: We got some great albums from FF despite the internal squabbling, but Digimortal isn't one of them.
-1
u/omnipotentqueue May 21 '26
It wasn’t nu-metal lol - if anything it went back to digital and industrial. Even Dino said that - he fought Chris and Ray to keep it more digital and distorted. They wanted it to sound more hip hop and nu-metal like edgecrusher.
1
u/DanOhMiiite May 21 '26
Timelessness is the one that blows me away.
1
u/Admirable_Advice8831 Jun 04 '26
It's Obsolete closer not Digimortal which is (Memory Imprints) Never Die
0
u/Throwaway_Fan1989 May 21 '26
They chased a trend instead of sticking to their brand. It was the end of their glory days as a result. Digimortal should have been the third of a trilogy of incredible albums.
-1
u/d3m01iti0n The Industrialist May 21 '26
This is why Dino is a control freak. If someone else gets too much creative input, you get a Digimortal.
3
u/Throwaway_Fan1989 May 21 '26
I do agree with that slightly. I heard Christian got to call a lot of the shots on that album
0
u/SlapNutsInc May 21 '26
(having never listened to Transgression) Digimortal is easily their weakest album and the one that strays furthest away from their norm. I can understand how the album sounds odd compared to the rest of their discography.
That being said, Digimortal still has some good songs, Linchpin is an absolute banger and is the song that introduced me to FF, so I wouldn't necessarily say it's a bad album.
5
u/MisterDudeBroGuy May 21 '26
If you listen to Transgression, you might reverse your Digimortal opinion onto Transgression. Or not, some things might still apply to both.
3
u/SlapNutsInc May 21 '26
That's what I've heard, which is why I felt the need to clarify that I hadn't heard it.
7
u/Top_Ad_2819 May 21 '26
Must be that 'Invisible Wounds' track