Customer Reviews

Years in the Darkness

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the first listen of the first song off this album, Locust, I thought this band could be pretty awesome. I am a longtime Fear Factory fan and I thought Threat Signal's debut album was good. Mix the two bands up and you should have a great new band, right? Not quite. First off, every song on the album follows the exact same formula, making each song sound remarkably like the one before it. Second, the clean singing vocals on this sound like it came off of a Linkin Park album. The verdict: This is an ok album, but it won't be on heavy rotation on my iPod. I hope Raymond and Christian make their way back into Fear Factory ASAP before Arkaea go back into the studio and write 12 more variations of the same song.

I hardly ever write reviews but atm this album has a 4.5 star average and that's just misleading.

Now I wasn't expecting much but I was still let down. The majority of the tracks sound devoid of creativity and frighteningly similar to many woefully bad nu-metal bands.

I found some solace in certain sections where Ray showed he still retains some drumming prowess but it seems pretty clear by now that Christian is incapable of writing interesting riffs. I've heard worse singers but Howard certainly didn't help improve the sub-par songwriting. The bass was ok.

I really wanted to like this cd but in a way I'm glad these would-be fear factory tracks came out under a different name since after Transgression this would have been at least as much a final nail in the coffin as the botched "reorganization" perhaps is.

I would describe this as FF meets Linkin Park. Why? As a previous reviewer states all the clean vocals sound like that dude from LP and every chorus sounds like it belongs on an LP album. BTW, I hate LP so this is not something that I enjoy.

I read somewhere that half the music for this was supposed to be the next FF album - so right there this makes Arkaea a FF clone only with a bad singer. The other half of the music doesn't sound that much different. If this had been recorded as Fear Factory with Burton performing the vocals I'd probably rate this as a 3.5 as it really wouldn't expand the FF sound, but at least I wouldn't cringe during the vocals.

Bottom line - if you ever wondered what a project combining FF and LP would sound like, your wish came true.

Fear Factory remains my number one band (Meshuggah comes at a close second) so I was very excited about this release. Unfortunately, it made me very disappointed. Why? The high-pitched screams and Linkin Parkish melodics of the singer, riffs are boring and uninspired, all songs sound the same, and the recording quality could also be improved. Having being released in the same month as Divine Heresy's Bringer of Plagues it makes almost impossible for one not to compare them. Although I still prefer DH's debut, the new album is much superior to Arkaea's debut - Dino was definitively the creative force behind FF.

1. Locust 5/5

2. Beneath The Shades Of Grey 3/5

3. Years In The Darkness 3/5

4. Gone Tomorrow 4/5

5. Awakening 3/5

6. Black Ocean 3/5

7. Break The Silence 3/5

8. Lucid Dream 4/5

9. My Redemption 5/5

10. War Within 4/5

11. The World As One 3/5

12. Rise Today 3/5

13. Away From The Sun 4/5

TOTAL = 47/65 = 72% = 4 star album

first of all....i don't like it when people go and explain how fear factory from the 90's is so cool and how this band sucks cuz they don't make the same music and don;t sound the same as fear factory...go and listen to fear factory "obsolete" or "digimortal" then...this is not fear factory nor is this album any of their albums...some people just need to stop thinking too much and just enjoy what is presented, and if they don't like it purely becasue the music sucks then that's fine, but don't judge it by comparing it to the bands the members came from, its a different band so they must have something differnet.

i really enjoy this band, they have good riffs, energetic, powerful and just a good cd to listen to, yes most songs go by the same formula, i agree with that, and i don't like that either, thats why the 4 stars and not 5, but still i think this album, if you love heavy riffs, is really enjoyable and doesn;t let down, i've been listening to it for a while now and the more you listen to it, the better it gets.

i recommend this if you are a fan of fear factory or threat signal, but don't expect to hear FF or TS.

So Fear Factory stripped half their members and formed a new band, eh? I've listened to Mechanize and this album, and while Mechanize is an excellent album, so is Arkaea's. I'll start with some downfalls, however, so as to emphasize the good points at the end.

Production: 2 or 3 out of 5, compared to the 5 star quality of the new Fear Factory album. If you prefer raw, yet somehow very compressed sound, then this is perfect. It's just a little raw in my opinion (but not so much so that it prevents my listening).

That aside. This is a rock-solid album. It still screams new Fear Factory. Yes, I said NEW Fear Factory. Why? With Transgression (another album I enjoyed) they covered new terrain, with original songs that really brought out each band member's talents. This album continues on that venture (only, with other band members, of course) with a Fear Factory ground base, since some of this was written for the Fear Factory album.

I've read that Burton has said that part of the break-up was because Fear Factory wasn't mechanical enough, but trust me you'll still hear some of this in tracks such as Break the Silence.

Fear Factory's new drummer may be able to imitate Raymond's drummer quite well, but there's still something missing, and that's where the album really shines I think-the drumming because of the real deal being on here. There's something about it that lets you know it's him (vague, I know, but I think most FF fans will agree) Christian's guitar work is quite notable and it's obvious that he's constantly improving from Transgression and Archetype.

Threat Signal's singer is a good one, with a little getting used to. Upon first few listens if you've never sampled Threat Signal's work, may take a little getting used to as the range is much on the higher side than Burton's low-tone most are accustomed to.

So does this top Fear Factory's new Mechanize? I'm not sure (they're creatively different), but I do know that it seems more of a new experience than Mechanize does (new...not better necessarily). Mechanize seems somewhere between Demanufacture and Obsolete (kind of a missing link between each). This album seems like it would actually go fittingly right past Transgression.

Final notes: I would suggest to each listener to have an open mind, try to forget the squabbles between the band members and just enjoy that this album ever came to existence because Raymond and Christian could have just as easily gotten discouraged and left the music scene for a while. So good job guys & keep making music, I'll keep listening (to all original members of Fear Factory, for that matter).

In my opinion, this album is nothing like nu-metal. Arkaea/ Threat Signal vocalist Jon Howard has always drawn some criticism for sounding like Chester from Linkin Park. However, Jon is a much more diverse vocalist then Chester, his singing style and screams are much more powerful. Combined with the powerful rhythm section of Christian and Raymond from Fear Factory, this makes for a great sounding industrial metal album. I think it's an insult to call this a "nu-metal" album. It might not be your cup of tea, but if you like Fear Factory, Threat Signal or any other industrial metal band, buy this album!

I was very exited about this I love the threat signal album under reprisal.Some of the post dino fear factory is ok. But this sucks!!!

Same eff-n song 13 times.I think as with the threat signal the vocals are mic'd way to high in the mix to much of that previously stated linken park type vocal wich was only here or there in threat signal. and at least in threat signal there was really amazing guitar work. if this was the new fear factory it would not even hold a candle to the new divine heresy;Bringer of Plagues.

which goes to show once again that dino cezares was the genious behind fear factory all along.

The music itself is satisfying, especially if you love Fear Factory and what Dino Cazares is doing with Divine Heresy. But two things jump out while listening to this album:

1) The production and overall sound isn't as good when compared to Divine Heresy's new album, Bringer of Plagues. It's only natural to compare the two. I listened to these two albums back-to-back and, unfortunately, Arkaea's debut sounds flat and tinny in comparison to Bringer of Plagues. Dino is in a league of his own as far as pure riffage is concerned. The only other guitarist I can compare him to as far as consistently creating mind-blowing riffs is Dimebag. And sorry, I love Raymond Herrera's drum work, but DH's Tim Yeung is better. Overall, Bringer of Plagues just has a more polished, more powerful sound.

2) The previously mentioned vocals. Singing on this album is Threat Signal's Jon Howard. When he's not doing his Linkin Park impression, the guy is pretty good and his approach is appropriate. But I cannot understand why Herrera and Christian Olde-Wolbers would allow such an annoying vocal style to ruin an otherwise very good metal album. It's almost comical. It's hard to take the songs seriously when you're trying to hold back laughter. What's even more perplexing is Howard does not take this approach in Threat Signal. He does switch back and forth between growling and singing, but it's more reminiscent of Burton C. Bell's work in Fear Factory.

Any fan of Fear Factory/Divine Heresy/Threat Signal will want to pick up this album. Just don't expect to be blown away, and most definitely prepare yourself for the awkward choruses that will make you think you've been transported back to the year 2000 when you may have thought Hybrid Theory was a great album. A 4 star album is reduced to 3 stars for this very reason.

Im actually happy about the Fear Factory split because its given me more music to enjoy. Between this & Dino's Divine Heresy im as happy as a pig in s****

& now theres word of Burton & Dino back together for a new FF album. Its like having 3 Fear Factory albums within a 2 year time period...whats not to like?

Oh yeah if you like FF buy this album now