Fear Factory Essentials

With roots in death metal, thrash, and grindcore, Fear Factory manufacture some of the heaviest industrial metal in the genre's history. The 1995 single “Replica” oozes bleakness as Burton C. Bell rails against the dehumanizing dangers of technology over drill-press guitars, while the equally smothering “Linchpin” adds frigid electronics and darkly moaning vocals to their sonic dystopia. One of the few songs that doesn't obliterate eardrums is their cover of the New Wave nugget “Cars,” which adds some muscle in the riff department yet largely retains the original's catchy, robotic bop.