BURTON C. BELL Distances Himself From Upcoming FEAR FACTORY Album, Says His Focus Is On ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS

Burton C. Bell has distanced himself from the upcoming release of the long-awaited new FEAR FACTORY album, saying that his priority is his ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS project.

On Friday (September 11),FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares issued a statement clarifying his reasons for launching a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of the new LP. Earlier that same day, Bell, who has fronted the group since its inception, posted a message on his official Facebook and Instagram saying that he is "not part of" and isn't "benefiting" from any GoFundMe campaign. He added the hashtag "#fearfactory". This led to confusion among some of the FEAR FACTORY fans, especially since Dino had already indicated that Bell's lead vocals would be featured on the upcoming record.

Asked in a September 10 interview with the "Aftershocks" podcast what he can say about the new FEAR FACTORY disc, Bell said (hear audio below): "Well, we finished and delivered a new FEAR FACTORY record in 2017 — mixed, mastered, artwork and everything. Now, we'll see what Nuclear Blast releases. I have no idea. My focus is ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS."

In his statement explaining the GoFundMe campaign, Cazares said that all donations will go toward covering newly incurred production costs involved with the making of the new FEAR FACTORY LP, including re-recording the drums, guitars, bass and keyboards, as well as mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap. Burton's original lead vocals, which were recorded in full in 2017, will remain on the new version of the album.

FEAR FACTORY's fundraising campaign marks the first public activity from the band since it completed a 2016 U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, "Demanufacture", in its entirety.

In a November 2018 interview, Bell said that FEAR FACTORY had completed a new album tentatively titled "Monolith". He also said that "legal technicalities" needed to be sorted out before the record could be released. The effort will mark the Californian band's first collection of new music since 2015's "Genexus" LP.

FEAR FACTORY was the subject of breakup rumors in May 2017 when the band's former bassist-turned-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers posted a since-deleted eulogy for FF on his Instagram. He wrote "RIP Fear Factory" and appended that post with the hashtag #GrownAssMenThatCantWorkOutShit.

ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS will release its second full-length album, "Apocrypha", on October 9 via Dissonance Productions. The recording will be available on CD, two limited vinyl formats and through all major digital outlets.