Former Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell has opened up about the making of the band’s landmark 1998 album “Obsolete.” He also explained why he has no plans to perform the record in full with his own band in a new interview with eonmusic.
Bell reflected on the pressure that came with following up Fear Factory’s breakout 1995 album “Demanufacture.” He also discussed how the band approached “Obsolete” with a different sound and a fuller conceptual vision.
Asked whether “Demanufacture” being such a huge success, particularly in Europe, put a lot of pressure on the band going into “Obsolete,” Bell said:
“You’re not wrong. There was a lot riding on it. There was a lot of pressure — not just pressure we were putting upon ourselves, but pressure from management and the label. The success that ‘Demanufacture’ had was pretty much unexpected for them, and they loved it, of course. It did wonderful things not just for us but for Roadrunner as well.”
He continued, explaining how the band pushed to differentiate the two records both musically and conceptually.
“So the pressure going in was insurmountable, for sure. But going in, we wanted to make the best record possible, but we did not want to reiterate or reinvent ‘Demanufacture’. We had to move forward, not just in sound but in concept as well. Where ‘Demanufacture’ has a cold, very technical, mechanical and precise sound, ‘Obsolete’ is the opposite. It’s warm and organic sounding, but still maintaining that metal industrial sound. They’re two completely different records, but the big difference was, where the concept of ‘Demanufacture’ was more skin deep, ‘Obsolete’ was a full-on concept from start to finish.”
When asked whether he would ever consider performing “Obsolete” in its entirety with his own band, Bell was direct in his response.
“No, not really. Fear Factory is already doing it, so I don’t need to. That’s why I’m doing something different. Instead of hearing the music, I’m focusing on the story, and I’m focusing on the concept and the creation story behind it, which is also something people are interested in.”
That distinction between music and narrative is central to understanding why “Obsolete” carries such weight for Bell decades later. It traces back to the way the album came together in the first place.
“Obsolete” marked Fear Factory’s first fully realized concept album, built around a dystopian narrative Bell wrote under the title “Conception 5.” The story is set in the year 2076, in a world where machines have overtaken mankind. It gave the band’s industrial-metal sound a cinematic, storytelling dimension it hadn’t fully explored before.
The album also became a major turning point for the band commercially. “Obsolete” went on to become Fear Factory’s highest-selling release, boosted in part by the popularity of their cover of Gary Numan’s “Cars,” which featured Numan himself on vocals. It also pushed the group further into the mainstream. It was later certified gold. MTV also named it the heaviest album of 1998, cementing its place as one of the defining industrial metal records of that era.
Bell has spoken previously about the conceptual ambitions behind the record, framing it as more than just a collection of songs.
“The concept of this record is that man is obsolete. The idea is still man vs. machine, but now it’s told as a continuous story line from beginning to end.”
Bell is treating the story he wrote nearly three decades ago as a work that can stand on its own, separate from the band that first brought it to life. He does this by focusing on the “Conception 5” narrative rather than restaging the album’s music, even as Fear Factory itself continues to perform “Obsolete” live in full.
