Concrete (Fear Factory album)

2002 demo album by Fear Factory

Concrete

Studio album (demo) by

Fear Factory

Released| July 30, 2002 (2002-07-30)
Recorded| 1991
Genre| Death metal[1]
Length| 41:44
Label| Roadrunner
Producer| Ross Robinson
Fear Factory chronology
| Digimortal
(2001)  | Concrete
(2002)  | Hatefiles
(2003)

|
|

Singles from  Concrete

1. "Sangre de Niños"
Released: 2002

Concrete is an album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, recorded in 1991 but not released until 2002. The first album to be produced by Ross Robinson, it was intended to be Fear Factory's first album; however, it was shelved after the band declined a record contract presented to the band by Robinson. Subsequently, the album was shelved, with Robinson retaining the master tapes and the band retaining the song rights; half of which were re-recorded and released on their 1992 debut album Soul of a New Machine. Robinson sold the master tapes to Roadrunner, who subsequently released the album on July 30, 2002, though the band members have had divided opinions on its release.

## Background

[edit]

Concrete was recorded in one week in 1991 in Blackie Lawless's studios. It was intended to be Fear Factory's first release and the first release on a planned record label run by Robinson. The album was recorded on a $5,000 budget, with the album's costs being cut by Robinson and Dino Cazares sneaking into the studio at night to record guitar and bass, which according to Dino gave the album "a $10,000 sound".[2][3] However, when the band was presented with record contracts by Robinson, the band was advised to not sign the deal, and subsequently stopped working with him. Robinson then sued the band and took them to court, which Bell jokingly said in 2021 was foreshadowing the entire career of Fear Factory as they would face more lawsuits in later years.[4] Robinson eventually won the rights to the album's master tapes, and the band retained the rights to the songs as well as a DAT tape recording of the album.[5] Both Fear Factory and Robinson used the album to promote themselves, with Fear Factory using the demo to sign to Roadrunner Records and Ross using the demo to promote his work and attract the attention of local bands, and later of Korn, whom he produced for in 1994 and he would become a heavily sought-after nu metal producer of the 1990s.[6][7] Burton C. Bell considers the album to be a demo, and the band subsequently used it to improve their songs.[8]

## Songs

[edit]

Eight of the songs on Concrete were re-recorded in 1992 and released on Soul of a New Machine: "Big God/Raped Souls", "Arise Above Oppression", "Crisis", "Escape Confusion", "Dragged Down by the Weight of Existence" (re-recorded as "W.O.E"), "Desecrate", "Suffer Age", and "Self Immolation".

Five of the songs were not re-recorded for Soul of a New Machine, nor re-recorded anywhere else: "Echoes of Innocence", "Deception", "Anxiety", "Piss Christ", and "Ulceration".

The remaining three songs were re-recorded elsewhere: "Sangre de Niños" ("Children's Blood" in Spanish) was re-recorded in 1993 and was included on the Cry Now, Cry Later compilation under the "Factoría de Miedo" moniker, and was the only studio recording to feature then-bassist Andrew Shives; "Concrete" (renamed as "Concreto") was re-recorded in 1995 and was included as a b-side for the "Dog Day Sunrise" single during the Demanufacture era, and was later included on certain editions of the Obsolete album; and "Soulwomb" (renamed as "Soulwound") was re-recorded in 1998 and was included as a b-side for the "Resurrection" single, and was later included on certain editions of the Obsolete album.

"Piss Christ" is not the same song as "Pisschrist", which appears on Demanufacture. "Ulceration" is named after the band's original name. The opening guitar riff in "Echoes of Innocence" was used as a synthesized motif in "A Therapy for Pain", the final track on Demanufacture. The title also appears in that song as a lyric.

## Release

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [1]
Blogcritics| favorable[9]
PopMatters| favorable[10]

After its shelving, the Concrete demo was never leaked onto the internet. In 2002, following the band's breakup, Ross Robinson sold the master tapes of Concrete to Roadrunner for $10,000.[8] The album was subsequently released under the name Concrete. The band's opinions on its release have been divided. Dino Cazares was happy about the release; "It's something special for the kids, who never even heard it. They can see where we were coming from. Back then, we were gigging in East L.A. We didn't really have too much recording under our belts. We had recorded a couple of demos before that, but we had never worked with a producer like Ross Robinson."[2] Alternatively, Burton C. Bell was annoyed that Robinson had gone behind the band's back to sell the masters without their consent.[8]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Music| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Big God/Raped Souls"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:36
2.| "Arise Above Oppression"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 1:57
3.| "Concrete"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:28
4.| "Crisis"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 3:33
5.| "Escape Confusion"| Cazares, Herrera| 3:37
6.| "Sangre de Niños"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:03
7.| "Soulwomb"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:35
8.| "Echoes of Innocence"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 3:04
9.| "Dragged Down by the Weight of Existence"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:42
10.| "Deception"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 0:29
11.| "Desecrate"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:37
12.| "Suffer Age"| Cazares, Herrera| 3:45
13.| "Anxiety"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 1:39
14.| "Self Immolation"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:34
15.| "Piss Christ"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:41
16.| "Ulceration"| Bell, Cazares, Herrera| 2:45
Total length:| 41:44

## Credits

[edit]

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[11]

### Personnel

[edit]

#### Fear Factory

[edit]

* Burton C. Bell − vocals
* Dino Cazares − guitar, bass
* Raymond Herrera − drums
* Andy Romero − bass (credited, but did not perform)

#### Additional musicians

[edit]

* Dave Gibney − spoken word intro on "Big God", vocals on "Raped Souls"

#### Production

[edit]

* Ross Robinson − production, engineering, mixing
* Mikey Davis − engineering, mixing
* Eddy Schreyer − mastering

#### Visual art

[edit]

* t42design – art direction, design
* Howard Rosenberg – photography (cover)
* Rick Ferdinande – photography (band)

### Studios

[edit]

* Blackie Lawless's Fort Apache Studio, Los Angeles, California, US – engineering, mixing
* Oasis Mastering, Los Angeles, California, US – mastering

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Concrete - Fear Factory". Allmusic.
2. ^ a b Blabbermouth (June 4, 2002). "FEAR FACTORY's "Concrete" To Surface On July 30th". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
3. ^ Millspublished, Matt (July 22, 2021). "Fear Factory's Dino Cazares: "You can't control how people are gonna twist your words around."". loudersound. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
4. ^ Everley, Dave (April 8, 2021). "Bust-ups, bankruptcy and backstabbing: how Burton C Bell escaped the wreckage of Fear Factory". Metal Hammer. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
5. ^ "Ex-Fear Factory Vocalist Burton C. Bell Says Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory" Sounded "Like 'Demanufacture' For Kids"". Theprp.com. April 8, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
6. ^ Everleypublished, Dave (April 8, 2021). "Bust-ups, bankruptcy and backstabbing: how Burton C Bell escaped the wreckage of Fear Factory". loudersound. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
7. ^ "Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: Read a Brief Excerpt from Decibel's Comprehensive History of Nü-Metal". MetalSucks. August 13, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
8. ^ a b c Mosh (December 20, 2015). "Interview: Burton C Bell of Fear Factory". The Moshville Times. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
9. ^ "Fear Factory: Concrete ...Everything Old Is New, Eventually". Blogcritics. Archived from the original on September 13, 2002.
10. ^ "Fear Factory: Concrete". PopMatters.
11. ^ Concrete (liner notes). Fear Factory. Roadrunner Records. 2002. RR8439-2. Retrieved March 12, 2017.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

* v
* t
* e

Fear Factory

* Dino Cazares
* Tony Campos
* Milo Silvestro
* Pete Webber

* Burton C. Bell
* David Gibney
* Andy Romero
* Andrew Shives
* Raymond Herrera
* Christian Olde Wolbers
* Byron Stroud
* Gene Hoglan
* Matt DeVries
* Mike Heller

Studio albums|

* Soul of a New Machine
* Demanufacture
* Obsolete
* Digimortal
* Archetype
* Transgression
* Mechanize
* The Industrialist
* Genexus
* Aggression Continuum

Compilation albums|

* Messiah
* Hatefiles
* The Best of Fear Factory

Demo albums|

* Concrete

Remix albums|

* Remanufacture

Video albums|

* Digital Connectivity

Extended plays|

* Fear Is the Mindkiller
* Burn
* The Gabber Mixes
* Resurrection
* Live on the Sunset Strip

Singles|

* "Dog Day Sunrise"
* "Shock"
* "Resurrection"
* "Descent"
* "Cars"
* "Linchpin"
* "Final Exit"

Tours|

* Ozzfest 1997
* Ozzfest 1999
* Sno-Core Rock 2001
* Jägermeister Music Tour (2004)
* Gigantour 2005
* Mechanize Tour (2009–2010)
* World Magnetic Tour (Metallica support; 2010)

Related articles|

* Discography
* Arkaea

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template