Former FEAR FACTORY singer Burton C. Bell has announced two special spoken-words events in Australia, dubbed “Obsolete By Word Of Mouth”.Bell says: “Join me as I read a capella the story and lyrics from all my original notes for [FEAR FACTORY’s] ‘Obsolete’ album, along with my first account insight of the lyrics.”I have specifically chosen intimate venues to hold these events. I will politely ask everyone to place their phones on silent, and stored away for this unique event.””Obsolete By Word Of Mouth” dates:June 16 – Holy Diver Bar, Collingwood, VictoriaJune 19 – Little Cooler, Sydney, New South WalesIn a new interview with The Rockman Power Hour, Burton stated about “Obsolete By Word Of Mouth”: ”My wife happens to be in Australia right now working on a film [as a payroll accountant], so she happens to be there right now. So I’m staying an extra week [after my solo tour] to be with her, but what I decided to do is that I’m doing two spoken-word events, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney. And I’ll be reading and discussing and talking about the ‘Obsolete’ record. And I’ve titled it ‘Obsolete By Word Of Mouth’.”Originally released in 1998, “Obsolete” remains the only FEAR FACTORY album to have achieved gold status in the U.S., driven largely by the success of its fourth single, “Cars”, a Gary Numan cover that featured Numan himself on vocals.Last week, Burton released the lyric video for his new solo single “Savages”.Bell previously issued two singles in 2024 — “Anti-Droid” and “Technical Exorcism” — and a cover of RAMMSTEIN’s “Du Hast” in 2023.Bell heads to Australia this month for a solo run. The dates are as follows:June 11 – Brisbane – The Triffid*June 12 – Newcastle – King St. Band Room**June 13 – Sydney – Factory Theatre**June 14 – Melbourne – Corner Hotel^* With MONSTERS AROUND US** With MORTALITY^ With THE LAST MARTYRBell played the first concert with his solo band on June 13, 2024 at 1720 in Los Angeles, California.Backing Bell at his recent gigs have been guitarist Henrik Linde (THE VITALS, DREN),drummer Ryan “Junior” Kittlitz (ALL HAIL THE YETI, THE ACID HELPS),bassist Tony Baumeister (ÆGES) and multi-instrumentalist Stewart Cararas.Bell’s discography includes multiple live and recorded collaborations with BLACK SABBATH icon Geezer Butler and JOURNEY’s Deen Castronovo (as G/Z/R); industrial maverick Al Jourgensen and MINISTRY; and guest vocal appearances with PITCHSHIFTER, CONFLICT, SOIL, STATIC-X, SOULFLY and DELAIN, among others. He’s the vocalist of ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS and CITY OF FIRE and, of course, the co-creator of FEAR FACTORY and the only musician to appear on every FEAR FACTORY release from 1992 through 2024.FEAR FACTORY created a sound that revolutionized extreme metal, defined in no small part by Bell’s innovative scream/sing dichotomy and the influences he brought from post-punk and industrial. Songs like “Replica”, “Linchpin”, “Edgecrusher”, “Fear Campaign”, “Archetype”, “Cyber Waste” and “Zero Signal” are modern metal anthems. “Demanufacture” (1995) and the RIAA gold-certified “Obsolete” (1998) are genre-redefining works heralded by fans and critics as essential albums. Orwell, Bradbury, “Blade Runner”, and sophisticated sci-fi and fantasy works fed Bell’s lyrics and concepts.The band toured the world with METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, KORN, MEGADETH and OZZY OSBOURNE, taking bands like SYSTEM OF A DOWN and STATIC-X out as support acts in their early stages. After years of behind-the-scenes band member turmoil and legal issues, Bell left FEAR FACTORY in the fall of 2020.The 56-year-old Bell had been largely inactive on the musical front since officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY in September 2020. At the time he said that he could not “align” himself with someone whom he did not trust or respect, an apparent reference to FEAR FACTORY founding guitarist Dino Cazares. Bell has since been replaced in the band by the Italian-born singer Milo Silvestro.Photo credit: Erica Vincent[embedded content]
