FEAR FACTORY Frontman Discusses CITY OF FIRE Project With Australia's 'The Racket'

Vocalist Burton C. Bell of FEAR FACTORY and CITY OF FIRE was recently interviewed by Andrew Haug of Triple J's "The Racket" (which airs in Australia). Listen to the program in streaming audio at the Triple J web site: Windows Media, Real Media (NOTE: The first part of the Bell interview begins around the 31-minute mark). Check out the program's entire playlist at this location. The interview can also be streamed in two parts using the audio player below.

Part 1:

Part 2:

CITY OF FIRE is the new band featuring Burton C. Bell, bassist Byron Stroud, guitarist Terry Murray, guitarist Ian White, and drummer Bob Wagner. The group's self-titled debut album came out on August 24.

Recorded at renowned Factory Studios in Vancouver in late 2008 with additional material completed in April of this year, the album features fourteen songs, including remakes of THE CULT's "Rain" and T.REX's "Children Of The Revolution". It also includes the band's video for the song/single "Rising". Bell says, "My friends, I am very excited about CITY OF FIRE. Byron and I are very proud of this recording. It is a fresh sound for this era of music. Literally there is nothing that sounds like this right now, and it is time that a hard rock, groove, psychedelic sound comes to your ears. The music is passionate and soulful. It is a mature record for our time, full of wisdom and soul of the ages. Please check the record out. You will not be disappointed."

Discussing the album's two unique remakes and the decision to include them, Stroud recently noted, "'Rain' really fits well with the concept of the record and the vibe of Vancouver, which really influenced CITY OF FIRE. I have been wanting to do a version of that song for a long time and once we started writing the record, I knew this was the band to do it." Murray adds, "aside from being a killer rock song, we chose 'Children Of The Revolution' because we felt the title was a relevant commentary on the climate of the world today. Kids have a lot to revolt about these days and hopefully this will be an anthem for it. We knew that Burt's voice could give this song a modern edge to it, and make it for this generation."

CITY OF FIRE is currently on the road in Australia and New Zealand. Guitarist Jed Simon (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, ZIMMERS HOLE) has replaced Ian White who cannot join the band due to prior work commitments. North American dates are now being planned and will be announced shortly.