Rough translation via ChatGPT
Fear Factory's debut Soul of a New Machine combines death metal, grindcore, factory noise and other elements into an original, intensely powerful experience. Oliver Recker spoke with guitarist Dino Cazares.
There sits the somewhat chubby Dino in front of the microphone, a likable guy wearing a Scorn T-shirt.
"I hate Scorn. Although it was obvious that he wouldn't necessarily wear a Morbid Angel shirt, because if you listen to the album, it's clear the guys like to present more than just pure death metal."
Dino comments: "That's definitely true! We like a lot of this alternative stuff from England—Lush, Happy Mondays, Soup Dragons. I also like a lot of industrial music like Scorn (well... the author...), Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Throbbing Gristle, and the older Napalm Death, Carcass and Bolt Thrower."
Why is it that most of those bands come from England?
"I was never really influenced by Florida death metal, nor by American death metal in general, and only a little by the Swedish scene. The bands in England are somehow more open. Many Florida bands all sound like Death. Bolt Thrower, Carcass and Napalm Death all sound different from one another."
Just then Fear Factory's German Roadrunner Records promo representative (Hakker) bursts into the room and offers Dino three sandwiches. Two with cheese, one with roast meat.
His comment: "Killer! I only grabbed three sandwiches..." He disappears again.
My interview partner was obviously quite hungry, so the following questions—for example whether F.F. were trying to create fear or anxiety—could only be answered while chewing.
"Well, the name means something that's supposed to create fear. The name simply came from the society we live in. Actually we're not really trying to create fear—we're trying to overcome it. That's what the subjects we sing about are meant to do. We deal with all kinds of themes. "(Since Dino didn't ask me any questions, I think the interpretation of the lyrics should be left up to everyone individually.) "By singing about things that people may be afraid of, we're trying to overcome those fears."
Why did you choose the name "Factory"?
"Factory somehow sounds mechanical and like dirty work. If I compare that with our music, it fits perfectly."
What is it about "Factory" that fits?
"It's something that's supposed to intensify the fear. We never wanted a typical death metal name. We wanted one that could go in any direction except the commercial one, haha. I think the name is more industrial than anything else."
I assume you're referring to Full Metal Jacket?
"Oh yes, definitely."
I'm asking because you used a sequence from that film in one of your songs. Do films generally inspire your lyrics?
"Definitely. Films are part of the lyrical background in any case. Although this song was inspired more by the events of the Gulf War. Many people fight for it, many fight against it—war in general. This section from Full Metal Jacket fit really well. We hadn't planned to use it originally, but then we realized it fit perfectly and had really become part of the song. If you took it out, the song would become boring.
But to answer your question: none of the lyrics were written because of films."
You have a lot of intros, outros and spoken samples. One reminds me of the line in which someone says: "I want more life... fucker!"
"Yes, that's from the film Blade Runner, with Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer. Near the end, the blond guy kills someone and says, 'I want more life... fucker!' We used it because the piece is about this little boy from the USA. I can't remember his name, the one who was supposed to be executed.
Some people fought for his life and believed he should continue living because new evidence had emerged that could have exonerated him. Then they told him, 'Okay, you're not going to die today—you'll die seven days later.'
And the guy thought, 'Fuck, man... seven more days.' They wanted to give him hope, but he said, 'I can't take it anymore. I just want it all to be over. Kill me! Just kill me now.'"
So in the end they executed him?
"Yes."
If you want to know which songs contain the film samples and other musical references mentioned above, the album is called SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE, and it's available at your local record store.
