Fear Factory – Butcher Babies – IGNEA – Ghosts of Atlantis // Live Reiew // The Electric Ballroom (London) & The Limelight (Belfast)
The legend that is part man, part machine Fear Factory is finally back in the UK! Celebrating with the DISRUPTOUR, a new lineup & new era of the band has made tonight’s show at the Electric Ballroom a sold-out show!
Joining FF tonight we have the LA metal vets Butcher Babies, IGNEA with their Ukrainian melodic prog metal & UK dark symphonic metallers Ghosts of Atlantis.
Ghosts Of Atlantis might be on the first tonight but they bring the energy for tonight’s show.. Reminding me of later era Dimmu Borgir & Cradle Of Filth the band merge genres to create their own diverse operatic metal.
The mix of Phil Primmer’s (Vocals) lower vocals & Colin Parks (Guitar & Vocals) clean singing mixes up the band’s sound & offers something different for the early doors. Their more blackened metal sound might be different but the crowd seem really engaged & they pull off a great set on a big stage!
Next up are the Ukrainian based IGNEA, As the band walk on stage their electronic & epic intro begins. Really setting the tone for the band’s performance. A real merging of great sounds the band blast into “Dunes”. Vocalist Helle Bohdanova is mesmerizing. As she begins singing a deep bellowing growl rings through the venue. A very impressive vocal range as she effortlessly switches to a sultry singing voice.
The band’s great mix of chunky riffing style. The Keyboard & backing track gives them a thick & hard sound. “Camera Obscura” starts with some very heavy head banging from the crowd, this one really gets them moving.
Oleksandr Kamyshin’s heavy thick bass tone also punches through the band’s live mix & gives the band a great thick & heavy backbone.
The groups final song “Nomad’s Luck” gives us that moroccan sound, mixing those djent style riffs with desert style sounds to create something very different & memorable. Guitarist Dmytro Vinnichenko also has great stage presence. Really interacting with the crowd & just looks like he’s having the time of his life! And that’s a great thing to see in a live show.
IGNEA put on a fantastic show & I’m sure they made a ton of new fans tonight!
Next up are the Butcher Babies, bringing us their own unique brand of LA metal. As soon as the band hit the stage with “Backstreets Of Tennessee” the crowd erupted. Mixing heavy rhythmic riffing with upbeat drumming this track is heavy as. The band might be down one vocalist but Heidi Shepherd is still able to take control of the whole crowd from the first word!
“KING PIN” brings the band’s mix of fast lyrical flow with trashy riffing with heavy breaks to create something really fun & exciting. The whole band looks like they are having the time of their life & they headbang side to side. Shepherd handles this song easily while throwing fists in the air & getting the crowd to bring the mosh.
In the latter half of the set “Last December” sees the band show their more intermet side. A beautiful solo performance from Shepherd as she pours her heart out. As the band slowly joins for the rest of the song, it builds up nicely & feels like the best song of the night. A beautiful yet heavily emotional song that packs a punch!
Now for the terminators themselves Fear Factory.
There has been a lot of buzz around the new line up of the band, but as they take the stage & hit the first note of “Shock” they instantly blow the audience away.
Milo Silvestro, the band’s new vocalist is superb. He might have had big shoes to fill but he has smashed it out of the park. You can tell instantly that he’s a huge FF fan as he’s getting as close as he can to the album’s performance & really engages with the fans.
A great surprise for the next track “Edgecrusher” which featured the awesome Serena Cherry from UK black metallers Svalbard. She is absolutely loving every moment & that feeds over to the band as this was one of many highlights for the show! One of my favourite tracks from the band & hearing it live was fantastic.
“Disruptor” picks up the pace quickly. Legendary guitarist Dino Cazares right hand is tight as ever. As the chorus begins the voices from the crowd bellow out loud! Giving you instant goosebumps. The addition of a newer track was a great effort by the band & gives the set a nice modern twist.
The band even bring out some deep cuts tonight, “Freedom or Fire” sees drummer Pete Webber really keep up with the fast drum & bass sections during this track. A very industrial heavy track which was great to finally hear the band pull out in the live setting. Also giving euro touring bassist Javier Arriaga a moment to shine during the track.
Fan favourite (and mine too) “Linchpin” kicks things up another notch & the crowd break into a frenzy of mosh pits & singing along. Silvestro’s vocal ability is really tested on this track & he pulls it off pitch perfectly. A fantastic front man & has helped once again elevate that band’s status back to a true legacy group.
A true surprise was the appearance of “Archetype”. A track from the band in the era without Dino, So him playing this track is a big moment for the fans & its great he can give the fans what they want! A true classic track from the band that was great to hear live for the first time in a while.
As the set & a brilliant night comes to a close “Resurrection” sees the band give it every last drop of sweat they have. Closing on such an iconic track allows the band to have the audience right in their palms. An epic finale to this judgement day! Tonight, man has beaten the machine & Fear Factory has firmly grabbed back their mantle of being the best industrial metal band!
Review: Joseph Mitchell (London)
Photography: Mark McGrogan (Belfast)
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