Rating: 2/5
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Mind over Metal Limerick 34

Rating: 4/5
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I maintain that Dallas’ solo debut snugly fills the Strapping Young Lad gap in my life… and what the hell, interpret that as gay as you please. But also listen to “I am Genetic”—it’s good, and I never knew he had it in him .

Rating: 3.5/5

Their fourth LP is the first in a three-album deal with Listenable Records, which may prove to be an impressive trifecta indeed. A good industrial metal core is hard to find. Noctiferia is less black than Samael, more heavy than Rammstein, and not as overtly danceable as KMFDM. This is evolving extreme music for our perpetually-shifting musical environment.

Rating: 2.5/5

Side projects in the Metal world usually form to either flesh out––or experiment with––enigmatic aspects of one’s personality. Pain is the result of Peter Tägtgren’s love for industrial metal, reportedly inspired by Fear Factory’s “Soul of a New Machine”. Frankly, his attention is better devoted to the celebrated death metal of Hypocrisy.

Rating: 4/5

Basically, the best thing ever happened to Fear Factory: Burton and Dino reconciled, and half of Strapping Young Lad was incorporated into the band’s strongest lineup to date. “Mechanize” easily rubs elbows with any of their definitive 90s output.