DINO CAZARES Isn't Concerned About Being Sole Remaining Member Of FEAR FACTORY's Classic Lineup

FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares spoke to Sense Music Media about the lyrical inspiration for the band's next studio album. The LP will be the band's first with singer Milo Silvestro, whose addition to FEAR FACTORY was officially announced in late February.

"I've been doing a lot of music writing," Dino said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "Me are Milo have been going over concepts of what we're gonna be singing about and stuff like that. That's exactly what I did with [former FEAR FACTORY singer] Burton [C. Bell]. We try to come up with an idea of what the record might be called, what the storyline is gonna be about, what the lyrics are gonna be about.

"Obviously everybody knows what FEAR FACTORY is about," he continued. "We've always talked about futuristic concepts, whether it's man versus machine or man and machine are getting along, or it's always a relationship between digital and analog. We've always talked about AI, cloning technology, certain things that are becoming obsolete because technology has taken over. And then we've also talked about where technology is here. Like automatons, basically robots are here. They're among us. We're working together. We've talked about the whole big relationship between the two. Now, obviously right now the big thing is AI 'cause AI is becoming a really big issue."

Dino added: "Obviously, you know about the writer strike in California because these movie companies were basically just putting in — [they] take this movie and then take this movie and they feed it into AI and AI will write a whole concept for another movie. So the writers are afraid that they're gonna become out of a job, that their job is gonna become obsolete, which is exactly what we've been talking about [on FEAR FACTORY's classic album] 'Obsolete'. We were talking about how digital streaming was gonna take over and then CDs and vinyl and certain things like that were gonna become obsolete. And they did for a while, but now, obviously, of course, the last few years, vinyl has been back and it's thriving really strong again. But we're definitely gonna take the concepts even further, and we're gonna pretty much relate it to what it is today, how AI is taking over. Maybe it hasn't affected certain people, but it's definitely affected the entertainment industry big time.

Asked if he is concerned about the fact that the upcoming FEAR FACTORY album will be his first to feature him as the sole remaining member of the band's classic lineup, Cazares responded: "No, because when it came to musically, the majority of it was my idea. When I wasn't in the band, that's a different story, but when I was in the band, the majority of the music was my ideas. And then the concepts, me and Burton always discussed it. So nothing's really gonna change in that way, but we do need to have a little bit of change because if it's… I'm kind of in that middle ground where it's, like, if it's too much old school, then people are gonna say, 'Oh, it's still the same.' Then if it's too far different, 'Oh, they went somewhere different, and it's not the same anymore.' You know what I mean? So I'm kind of stuck in that middle ground."

This past September, Dino told George Dionne of KNAC.COM that he and his FEAR FACTORY bandmates had "eight songs in the can" for their next studio album. "We've gotta write a couple of more songs to complete the album." As for whether FEAR FACTORY will release any singles in the months leading up to the new LP's arrival, Dino said: "For sure, of course we're gonna be releasing singles. That won't happen till next year."

The Italian-born Silvestro joined FEAR FACTORY as the replacement for Bell.

An early instrumental version of a new FEAR FACTORY song called "Roboticist" was made available in March to promote Toneforge Disruptor, a virtual guitar rig plugin and standalone app.

Cazares told BLABBERMOUTH.NET about "Roboticist", which was mixed by longtime FEAR FACTORY collaborator Damien Rainaud: "Initially it was just going to be a instrumental for the plugin, but it came out so good that I decided to make it a song for the new album. Maybe the album will be called the 'Roboticist'. It fits so well with our concept."

FEAR FACTORY played its first headlining concert with Silvestro and touring drummer Pete Webber on May 5 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

FEAR FACTORY's recently completed "Rise Of The Machine" U.S. tour as the support act for STATIC-X marked the Cazares-led outfit's first run of shows with Silvestro and Webber.

Webber has been filling in for FEAR FACTORY's longtime drummer Mike Heller who is unable to play with the band due to "scheduling conflicts."

FEAR FACTORY played a one-off show on September 17 at the Metal Injection Festival where the band performed a very special "Demanufacture" and "Obsolete" set. FEAR FACTORY also completed a five-date headlining "DisrupTour" with special guests LIONS AT THE GATE. This was followed by the band heading out on the "October Dawn 2023" tour with headliners LACUNA COIL and openers LIONS AT THE GATE.

FEAR FACTORY kicked off a European tour in late October. The 44-date trek marks the band's first European shows since 2016. Joining them on this run are BUTCHER BABIES from the USA and IGNEA from Ukraine.

FEAR FACTORY's latest album, "Aggression Continuum", was released in June 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP, which was recorded primarily in 2017, features Cazares and Bell alongside Heller.

FEAR FACTORY and MACHINE HEAD will join forces for the "Slaughter The Martour North America 2024" tour in January and February. Additional support on the trek will come from Sweden's ORBIT CULTURE and Louisville, Kentucky's GATES TO HELL.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral