DINO CAZARES On Upcoming FEAR FACTORY Album: 'It's New, It's Brutal, It's Heavy, It's Melodic'

In a new interview with Duane James of Australia's Wall Of Sound, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares spoke about the band's upcoming studio album, which is tentatively due in late 2026 or early 2027 via Nuclear Blast. The LP will mark FEAR FACTORY's first release with the band's latest additions, singer Milo Silvestro and drummer Pete Webber, who have been part of FEAR FACTORY's touring lineup for more than three years. Asked if there is a release date yet for the new FEAR FACTORY album, Dino said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't have a date when the whole record's coming out, but we will be releasing a single soon. I know I've said it over the years, but for real, it's gonna be coming out this year as far as the first single. Actually, more than one single will be out this year."

Regarding whether he is concerned about how the FEAR FACTORY fanbase will receive the band's first music with Silvestro, Cazares said: "Nah. What does it mean anymore? It doesn't mean anything anymore. As long as you believe in what you're doing, and you 100% love it, it doesn't matter what anybody says. It comes down to how you feel. And I feel it's gonna be a classic. Now, if people don't like it, I don't know what to tell them. That's their problem. But I 100% believe that people are gonna love this shit, 'cause it's new, it's brutal, it's heavy, it's melodic. [There are] beautiful moments on the record. It's everything that makes FEAR FACTORY a FEAR FACTORY record. And we're talking about 'Obsolete' and 'Demanufacture', but this is going to a different place than some of the older classic stuff. This is going to a different place, and the place that it's gone to is newer, it's fresher, it sounds modern, it sounds where we are now in this genre of music. And also, a bit forward-thinking as well."

On the topic of the lyrical inspiration for the new FEAR FACTORY album, Dino said: "Conceptually it's about… It's always been about the relationship between man and machine and where we are. And obviously, technology has caught up to some of the stuff that we have been talking about over the years on our records. Now, it's like we're talking about the next 50 years from now, where we're gonna be at with this technology. And, of course, everybody's got this A.I. bug in them, and we're definitely capitalizing on a lot of our concepts that we came up over the years. And we always felt that we were ahead of the game when it came to that kind of stuff, with a lot of warnings. Especially 'Obsolete', where we were talking about how a lot of things were gonna become obsolete. Which is true, but not only did they become obsolete, we, as a human species, have learned how to adapt to this, and I think that's exactly what's happening. We put out a remix record a couple years ago called 'Recoded', and the intro said, 'You adapt or die.' And that's it. You have to adapt to where technology is going or you're gonna get left behind. A lot of people complain about A.I. A lot of people complain about A.I. artwork. A lot of people complain about A.I. in general. But a lot of people don't realize that if you wanna get rid of A.I., which you're not, but if you wanna start getting rid of A.I., you gotta get rid of all your electronic devices, because everything that we do online, all that is is information for A.I. to learn off of, to learn who we are, what we are and what makes us who we are. And that's how they become sentient. So if you don't want that to happen, then get rid of every electronic device you got. Which I know that's not what's gonna happen. No one wants to get rid of their phones. So this is what we gotta deal with."

Earlier this month, Dino told Jaimunji of Metal On Tap about FEAR FACTORY's upcoming LP: "On this new record, we have a team of people that are working with us. We had Rhys Fulber do some of the keyboards. We had our fill-in basis, a guy named Ricky Bonazza, who is our fill-in basis for Tony Campos when he can't do it, when he is on tour with STATIC-X, he helped contribute a lot with some of the programming, some of the arrangements and some of the vocals, actually, lyrics. Of course Milo did a great job with a lot of his lyrics and a lot of going over the concept ideas. And our producer Damien [Rainaud] right now, he's been working with us since [2012's] 'The Industrialist', so he definitely knows the band pretty well. We've got a great team of writers, and this record's gonna have a shit-ton of killer songs and it's gonna make it harder picking which songs of that record to play live. And we're gonna be coming out with a new single really soon, so it's gonna be great."

When Jaimunji commended FEAR FACTORY for not releasing new music right away after securing a replacement for original vocalist Burton C. Bell, allowing Silvestro an opportunity to "live and breathe FEAR FACTORY for a while" before contributing to the band creatively, Dino concurred.

"When we released [the final album with Bell] 'Aggression Continuum' [in 2021], we got Milo in, and then right after that we were on tour," Dino said. "So, we were supporting that record. I know that I have said in the past that I was gonna release a [new] single [with Milo's vocals], but I was, like, 'Okay, maybe Milo needs to develop a little bit more before we do that.' We knew that he could jump in seamlessly, singing all of Burt's vocals live, but creatively we still needed to work out that together. And that's exactly what we did. We took our time, and we wanted to make sure this release is gonna be fucking sick. And it is. So I really can't wait for the world to hear it."

Regarding the musical direction of the new FEAR FACTORY material, Dino said: "It's heavy. It's modern. It's got a lot of great programming, cool little surprises. Milo definitely comes into his own, not just a replacement of the last singer. He definitely does have his own little niche, and it's great. All the beautiful melodic choruses that people like, the melodic elements of the clean vocals, of course ripping guitars, shit's getting heavier. Shit's getting lower. So it's all over the place. Shit's fast, shit's groovy. Epic outros, epic closing songs. It's gonna be everything that I think people are gonna love about FEAR FACTORY."

This past March, Dino told Brazil's Headbangers News, about the rest of FEAR FACTORY's current lineup: "I try to pick guys that are best for the band. Obviously, they could play the parts. They don't have a problem playing the parts. And Pete's an amazing drummer. He comes from more of a thrash background, but he also grew up listening to FEAR FACTORY. I mean, he told me that he saw FEAR FACTORY when he was 14 or 15 years old. He came to the show in Worcester, Massachusetts. So, he's been a fan of the band for a long time, so he's learned a lot of the music, and for him stepping in on drums was seamless. And Tony Campos, he's been a friend of mine for many years, probably 30 years, and we've been in numerous bands together. We have a band called ASESINO. And he was playing in the L.A. local scene when we first came out, FEAR FACTORY as well. So I've known him for many years, and he's a great player. But he has his own band called STATIC-X. So whenever STATIC-X is not touring, he tours with us. The door is always open for him."

FEAR FACTORY recently announced a November 2026 U.S. tour with support from DARKEST HOUR and BROTALITY. The "Cybernetic Domination" trek will kick off immediately after FEAR FACTORY's upcoming co-headlining tour with Cleveland, Ohio-based masked metal masters MUSHROOMHEAD.

Silvestro's addition to FEAR FACTORY was officially announced in February 2023.

FEAR FACTORY played its first headlining concert with Silvestro and Webber on May 5, 2023 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

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

In September 2020, Bell issued a statement officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY, saying that he "cannot align" himself with someone whom he does not trust or respect, apparently referring to Cazares.

Bell later told Kerrang! magazine that his split with FEAR FACTORY had been a long time coming. "It's been on my mind for a while," he said. "These lawsuits [over the rights to the FEAR FACTORY name] just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from bandmembers, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it."

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)