Fear Factory: Singer Hopes New Band Is His Ticket To Heaven

MTV.com reports: Fear Factory singer Burton C. Bell’s new band, Ascension Of The Watchers, are a dream come true — literally.

The musical vibe, artwork and title for the band’s full-length debut all stemmed from a dream Bell had in 2000. In it, he was traveling over vast expanses of land and came to a clearing, where he saw a burning tree. The branches were silhouetted against the bright sky and Bell was struck with a sense of peace and awe. Then, he realized someone was behind him, but when he turned around, he woke up.

Unable to shake the dream from his mind, the singer discussed the imagery with a friend, who is an expert in dream analysis, and she told him that he had experienced a numinosum, a term famous psychologist Carl Jung used to refer to a mystical or religious experience that occurs outside oneself.

“That dream has stayed with me and inspired me, and I think the creation of this record has been truly a dream experience for me,” Bell said. “I’ve always felt my dreams are pretty much reality. I wake up exhausted because they’re so intense.”

With roots in spirituality and surreal dreams, it’s no surprise that Ascension Of The Watchers’ Numinosum, which comes out February 19, isn’t a blazing metal album. Rather, the songs are melancholy and atmospheric, resembling ’80s and ’90s goth-rock bands such as the Mission Uk, Swans, Fields Of The Nephilim and Pornography-era Cure.

“I’ve never really considered myself a metal guy,” Bell admitted. “Yeah, I’ve been in a metal-industrial band, but the music I’ve always listened to has been much different, which is maybe why the vocals I did with Fear Factory were different than those of other metal singers. But I definitely wanted to do something much different this time. The music is completely personal, and it lets me try techniques I haven’t previously had the chance to explore. We used to always say we were expanding the boundaries in Fear Factory. Well, now I’m really stepping out of the boundaries.”

Comments

[xCoilx]

cool

[guitgrinder]

Who cares? His vocals blow. I liked FF through Obsolete, after that, not so much, but we shouldn't ignore the fact that his vocals have been overly processed to the point where they sound like a computer singing. Fear Factory, and the first G//Z/R record are all heavily-produced vocal performances... which probably means this will be too.

[Decembero]

Fair enough he has vivid dreams, but it has nothing to do with religion, and I agree that if he never felt like he should be a metal singer then yeh maybe this band is better for him.

As long as he isnt one of these rock stars who "find god" cos they got scared of a bad dream.

[f1sk]

Not sure what I think about the dream thing, its kind of pointless because its up to how you interpret it, so even if it was from God he could be like "oh it leads me here to goth or whatever" etc, but other than that I love FF, from demanufacture on up. As individuals I dont think any of them are truly inspiring so much as their songwriting as a whole is, and I think thats what they are all about. Processed or not thats their thing and thats the sound they are after. Ressurection and Descent are my favorite songs but Archetype and Transgression are my favorite albums, I am a computer nerd though I have to admit FF goes good with games lol.

[Shadowsoul]

Even tho heavily commercialised, Digimortal will always be my favourite, just the theme and riffs are really cool. And yea his vocals seem to be getting processed alot more now, but I still he think he's a good singer, his transition from screaming to singing are great I think.

But why is there a pic of Christian when this article is completely about Burton?

[replica_]

Decembero wrote:

Fair enough he has vivid dreams, but it has nothing to do with religion, and I agree that if he never felt like he should be a metal singer then yeh maybe this band is better for him.

As long as he isnt one of these rock stars who "find god" cos they got scared of a bad dream.

nobody mentioned GOD or religion in this article :S. just mentioned that he ahd a mystical or religious belief doesnt mean to say that he believes in GOD.

[replica_]

Decembero wrote:

Fair enough he has vivid dreams, but it has nothing to do with religion, and I agree that if he never felt like he should be a metal singer then yeh maybe this band is better for him.

As long as he isnt one of these rock stars who "find god" cos they got scared of a bad dream.

nobody mentioned GOD or religion in this article :S. just mentioned that he ahd a mystical or religious experience doesnt mean to say that he believes in GOD.