Fear Factory

Dance bands seem to have an endless supply of remixes at their disposal -- rarely heavy metal bands. But not if you're Fear Factory. Due to the group's fondness for industrial sounds that often border on "dancefloor-friendly," this shouldn't come as a surprise, as the 2003 compilation Hatefiles ties up all the loose ends -- collecting remixes, demos, and rarely heard tracks. Tops here include the original tracks "Terminate" and "Demolition Racer" (both of which were previously wallowing in "soundtrack land"), a demo version of the Digimortal favorite "Dark Bodies," and a slamming instrumental track, "Machine Debaser." But it's the overabundance of pointless remixes that will make Hatefiles only of interest to hardcore fans -- save for a "Numanoid Mix" of "Cars," which pushes Gary Numan's voice more to the forefront. These type of compilations are usually assembled once a band has split up, and in 2003, many assumed Fear Factory was over (due to the exit of founding guitarist Dino Cazares). Shortly after the release of Hatefiles, however, it was announced that Fear Factory would be carrying on without Cazares, which makes the timing of the arrival of Hatefiles a bit puzzling. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide