FEAR FACTORY's MILO SILVESTRO On New Single 'Roboticist': 'I Tried To Sound As Much As Possible Like BURTON C. BELL'

In a new interview with Impact Metal Channel, FEAR FACTORY singer Milo Silvestro spoke about the band's new single, "Roboticist", which came out in late August via Nuclear Blast. The track marks the band's first release with FEAR FACTORY's latest additions, Silvestro and drummer Pete Webber, who have been part of FEAR FACTORY's touring lineup for more than three and a half years. Milo said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'Roboticist' is the first single off the new upcoming album that's gonna be out somewhere next year. And we're really happy to play the first new song of this new lineup live [on tour in Europe]. And people apparently are — they seem to love it and they seem to sing it already and just be familiar with it and accept this new era, so we're really grateful and happy."

Asked what fans can expect from the upcoming FEAR FACTORY album, Milo said: "It should be 10 songs. And having a new singer, let alone a new lineup... I mean, Tony's [Campos, FEAR FACTORY bassist] been in the band for quite a few years now, even though they had a gap, because of the legal suit, but he's still been in the band since 2015, 2014. But Pete is also a new drummer. I'm the new vocalist. So, it's not always easy for fans, especially the most skeptical ones, to accept a new lineup, especially with a new vocalist, because for some reason people always think that a vocalist, particularly, it's like the soul of the band. So it's not always easy for fans to digest it. This change was already a pretty significant and huge change, so we purposely tried to stay on the FEAR FACTORY realm sound-wise, stay on that sound."

Milo continued: "Of course, as a lot of people noticed [while listening to 'Roboticist' and seeing FEAR FACTORY live], both haters and fans and supporting fans, I tried to sound as much as possible like the original vocalist, Burton C. Bell, because I think that this band… To me, as a fan of the band also, it couldn't sound any different, because Burt has been such an iconic vocalist, and I don't think that any other vocalist in the world sounds like him or ever sounded like him, both in harsh vocals and clean vocals. He was the pioneer of the combined style of harsh vocals and melodic vocals. And his harsh tone and his clean tone were so identifiable. So me and Dino [Cazares, FEAR FACTORY's founding guitarist] never felt like chang[ing] that.

"One of the reason why Dino got interested in me as a vocalist, it's because I was so influenced by Burton C. Bell vocally that it already came natural to me to sound like him," Milo explained. "It's not even that I tried to sound like him; it just comes natural. But when I got hired in FEAR FACTORY, I studied his style, his sound, his nuances even more to pay homage to his sound even more and provide the fans the real FEAR FACTORY vocal sound, as close as possible. I'm saying this just to say that the record, vocal-wise, and guitar-wise and everything-wise is gonna sound like classic modern FEAR FACTORY. So I definitely say that, to me, it has a lot of 'Mechanize', 'Genexus', 'The Industrialist' kind of vibe. But there is some modern and innovative or fresh elements as well here and there. We tried to put these elements in a way that you're not gonna change… It's kind of like a a dish. I'm Italian, so I'm always gonna do a comparison with pasta. It's the same pasta recipe, but there is a little sprinkle of a different cheese. So, I brought my influence not only as a vocalist, but also as an effects nerd and tweaker, because I also come from electronic music and turntablism. I mean, there's no turntables, but I'm just saying I come from that realm — synthesizers, vocoders. In my other small band that I have in Rome, DEAD CHANNEL, that I founded years ago, I'd always done live vocoder, kind of like KRAFTWERK. Vocoders, for those who don't know, it's like a process of a synthesizer that makes your voice a filter for the synth. So the sound comes out of the synth, but your voice acts like a filter, so you make a synth talk. You can do harmonies and stuff. I've always been in love with that. And so I brought some of that. There were some vocoder parts in the new album. And, also the new song 'Roboticist' has vocoder parts, so I'm, like, 'Why not play it live?' Because, as fans know by now, I love to reproduce live all the vocal effects, and most of them doing myself."

Elaborating on what he has contributed to FEAR FACTORY's upcoming album, Silvestro said: "FEAR FACTORY had vocal effects in the past, especially, I think, the album 'Obsolete'. If you listen, there's a lot of vocal distortions and filters and flangers and LFOs kind of effects. And I always thought it was a pity that bands don't reproduce those effects live. But I brought some of these effects on the new record. Like, for instance, there's also a couple of fast loop effects, when you loop the voice really quick. And it sounds really robotic and machine-like. So I think that it suits the FEAR FACTORY sound. And I also brought some musical ideas, which I'm really grateful to Dino for allowing me to bring my ideas, because he's the founder and the main songwriter. He's always been the main songwriter of FEAR FACTORY. He tracked bass on most of the records. He wrote all of the riffs, like 98% of the riffs, except for the two albums he wasn't on, but he's always been the main songwriter. So I would have been okay, I'd have to be okay, with a scenario where he was, like, 'I write the songs. You go in the studio and you perform what I write.' But instead — he has a very precise vision, but at the same time, he lets you bring ideas on the table. So that's why I'm really grateful because compared to him, I'm nowhere as... I'm not a metal icon like he is. So I'm really grateful that he gave me this opportunity. And so I also proposed some music ideas, being a composer myself — a little bit of synths and keyboards, programming and even a couple of guitar ideas. I was just, like, 'I know you're probably not gonna like me bringing in guitar ideas,' but on one song on the new album, I just brought some guitar ideas, like, 'Okay, let's use it.' I was, like, 'Oh, really?' I was so happy that he liked my ideas — just a couple riffs. But, yeah, I'm really grateful that he let me have such a creative space."

"Roboticist" was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Damien Rainaud. The track arrived alongside a cinematic music video directed by Vincente Cordero and produced by Arion Csihar.

In a recent interview with Poland's Strefa Music Art, Dino was asked what made him realize, more than three and a half years ago, that  Milo was the right person to become the new voice of FEAR FACTORY, Dino said: "Well, I didn't realize instantly. But I was very attracted to the way he sang and the way he sounded like what FEAR FACTORY fans know what the vocalist should sound like. Of course, people say, 'Oh, you replaced him 'cause he's a replica,' and, yeah, definitely. Because that's how the songs were made, that's how the songs were sung, and that's the tone of the vocals. And so Milo had it nailed down. And, obviously, we were one of his favorite bands. We're pretty much in the top five. And he knew the band. He knew what effects Burton [C. Bell] used. He was definitely a fan of Burton and he definitely knew his technique on how he created tones, and he fit right in. So, right when I saw his video, I was, like, 'Wow, this kid sounds just like him.' And some people complain that he sounds too much like him, but if he sounded not like him, then people would be, like, 'Well, it doesn't sound like FEAR FACTORY.' So it's, like, you can't win or lose with it, so I ended deciding to go with what fit best for the sound that we were trying to go for. So it's a very familiar sound, tone, technique that people are used to. So when people go and see the songs live, if they close their eyes, it sounds exactly the same. So that's exactly what we were going for.

"On the new record, there's definitely still a lot of those same elements, but Milo definitely has some of his own style that shows on the new record," Dino explained. "I can't wait for people to hear it."

After the interviewer pointed out that Milo also brings "some fresh energy" to FEAR FACTORY, Dino concurred. "One hundred percent," he said. "Whatever vocalist I'm working with, I would try to push them and try to get the best performance out of them as well. We had a producer, a guy named Damien Rainaud, and he's very much the same way. When he produced Milo's vocals, he tried to get the best performance. He tried to get the passion out of Milo, and that's exactly what happens when you're doing the recording process, or you want that to happen. And I think Milo shines on this new record, and you're gonna hear it on the first song coming up August 29th."

An early instrumental version of "Roboticist" was made available in 2023 to promote the virtual guitar rig plugin and standalone app Toneforge Disruptor.

The "Roboticist" release coincided with the launch of FEAR FACTORY's "Cybernetic Domination" European tour with CRYSTAL LAKE, HATE and THE NOCTURNAL AFFAIR, which kicked off on August 29 in Poznan, Poland and will conclude on October 10 in London, United Kingdom.

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, drummer Mike 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