ARKAEA/
FEAR FACTORY members
Christian Olde Wolbers (guitar) and
Raymond Herrera (drums) were the featured guests on the June 14, 2009 edition of the nationally syndicated radio program
"Speed Freaks".
When asked if
FEAR FACTORY was "done,"
Raymond replied, "We're [
Christian and I] actually still in
FEAR FACTORY. There's a big legal battle going on right now. Essentially, what's happened is
Dino [
Cazares, former
FEAR FACTORY guitarist] and
Burt [
C. Bell,
FEAR FACTORY singer] have become friends again and they decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it
FEAR FACTORY. They never communicated with us about it, and they're acting like there was never any contract, but there's four members that are
Fear Factory Incorporated — which is the four of us — so it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate. Moving forward, I don't know what's gonna happen with the trademark, so to speak. It's kind of a weird situation, but it's not a situation that we created that was weird."
On the subject of how
ARKAEA came together,
Raymond said, "What ultimately ended up happening was
Christian and I had written, like, eight songs for the next
FEAR FACTORY record, which is essentially what the
ARKAEA record ended up being, and there was kind of a personal disagreement there with
Burt not wanting to continue. And we're like, 'Well, we're sitting on all these songs. What are we gonna do with them?' kind of a thing, and
Christian was like, 'Well, why don't we do something else with it?' So
Christian was... It was actually kind of his brainchild to put this whole thing together. He was like, 'Hey, let's get
Jon [
Howard, vocals;
THREAT SIGNAL] in here, let's do this and let's do that. We'll do a different band.' And I was like, 'OK, cool. Let's do that.'"
Christian Olde Wolbers and
Raymond Herrera's appearance on
"Speed Freaks" is available for streaming at
this location.
ARKAEA will release its debut album,
"Years In The Darkness", in Europe through
Century Media Records on the following dates:
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy: Friday, July 17
Spain, Portugal: Tuesday, July 21
Sweden, Finland, Hungary: Wednesday, July 22
U.K., France, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Rest Of Europe: Monday, July 20
"Years In The Darkness" is scheduled for release in the U.S. on July 14 via
E1 Music (formerly
KOCH Records). The CD was produced by
Christian Olde Wolbers and
ARKAEA and mixed by legendary producer
Terry Date, best known for his work with the
DEFTONES,
SLIPKNOT,
WHITE ZOMBIE,
SOUNDGARDEN and
PANTERA. The album was mastered at
Sterling Sound by
Ted Jensen, who mastered
FEAR FACTORY's gold-certified 1998 release
"Obsolete".
Howard describes
ARKAEA's familiar-yet-innovative sound: "
Chris and
Ray have been writing together for many years, so the music does have a lot of
FEAR FACTORY elements. However, we've been open to trying different things. It basically fuses what I have been doing vocally in
THREAT SIGNAL with driving
FEAR FACTORY rhythms, along with some of our own experimentation. The idea behind the project is to be heavy, but maintain melody at the same time. We have crazy riffs, but some grooving choruses as well. It's a great mix."
Howard has been a part of the
FEAR FACTORY family ever since
Wolbers served as producer for
THREAT SIGNAL's debut,
"Under Reprisal". Given that connection, the chemistry was there the instant the band started jamming.
Howard has managed to push himself as a singer with the help of the veteran musicians. "I always try to do new things and experiment with my voice, and this project has been challenging," said
Howard. "It always takes a little time to get comfortable working with new people and a new style of music, but I got over that really fast with
Christian and
Raymond, and I feel very comfortable where we're going right now."
"Years In The Darkness" track listing:
01.
Locust02.
Beneath the Shades of Grey03.
Years in the Darkness04.
Gone Tomorrow05.
Awakening06.
Black Ocean07.
Break the Silence08.
Lucid Dreams09.
My Redemption10.
War Within11.
The World As One12.
Rise Today13.
Away From the Sun The new version of
FEAR FACTORY — which features the band's original members
Dino Cazares (guitar) and
Burton C. Bell (vocals) alongside bassist
Byron Stroud (who played on the last two
FEAR FACTORY albums in addition to touring and recording with
STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and
ZIMMERS HOLE) and legendary drummer
Gene Hoglan (
DETHKLOK,
STRAPPING YOUNG LAD,
DARK ANGEL,
DEATH,
TESTAMENT) — is scheduled to play a number of shows this summer as well as record a studio album.
Regarding why
Christian and
Raymond aren't involved with the new
FEAR FACTORY lineup,
Bell told U.K.'s
Metal Hammer magazine, "It's like a business and I'm just reorganizing. After time, you realize what's important and what's not important, and after talking to
Dino again, it just felt good and it felt right."
When asked if he knew straight away that he wouldn't include
Christian and
Raymond in the new
FEAR FACTORY lineup,
Burton said, "It's part of the organization. We learned some things and we have a really good rapport with
Byron, and
Gene is an amazing drummer.
Dino and I, as the founders of
FEAR FACTORY, we thought, 'Hey, let's try this, a different flavor.' Because wherever me and
Dino go, it'll still be
FEAR FACTORY, I believe."
Dino added, "I've had many projects in the past and I've played with some of the best drummers in this form of music, from
Roy Mayorga to
Nick Barker,
Tim Yeung,
Joey Jordison, and now I'm playing with the king of this genre. How could I pass that up? How could anyone pass up a chance to play with
Gene Hoglan?"
"Speed Freaks" photo lineup (left to right):
Statt Mann,
Chris "Throttle" Jacobs,
Raymond Herrera,
Crash Gladys,
Christian Olde Wolbers and
Kenny Sargent
