FEAR FACTORY Pulls Out Of U.K.'s SONISPHERE Festival

June 22, 2009

As widely expected, the new band calling itself FEAR FACTORY — featuring original FF members Dino Cazares (guitar) and Burton C. Bell (vocals) alongside bassist Byron Stroud (who played on the last two FEAR FACTORY albums in addition to touring and recording with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and ZIMMERS HOLE) and legendary drummer Gene Hoglan (DETHKLOK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, DARK ANGEL, DEATH, TESTAMENT) — has officially cancelled its appearance at the METALLICA-headlined inaugural Sonisphere festival, set to take place on August 1-2 at the legendary Knebworth Park, United Kingdom.

FEAR FACTORY was supposed to make its live debut last night (Sunday, June 21) at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain but cancelled at the last minute, reportedly due to legal issues surrounding the use of the FEAR FACTORY name. Concert promoter Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur GmbH & Co.KG also announced that FEAR FACTORY's entire German tour — which was supposed to take place between August 3 and August 12 — has been called off.

In a June 14, 2009 appearance on the nationally syndicated radio program "Speed Freaks", FEAR FACTORY drummer Raymond Herrera stated about the band's current status, "[Guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers and I] actually still in FEAR FACTORY. There's a big legal battle going on right now. Essentially, what's happened is Dino and Burt have become friends again and they decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it FEAR FACTORY. They never communicated with us about it, and they're acting like there was never any contract, but there's four members that are Fear Factory Incorporated — which is the four of us — so it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate. Moving forward, I don't know what's gonna happen with the trademark, so to speak. It's kind of a weird situation, but it's not a situation that we created that was weird."

(Thanks: Metal Hammer)

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