Burton Seabell on Rejoining Fear Factory: “I’m Done”
Fear Factory vocalist Burton Seabell abruptly quit the band last week following a series of events that saw guitarist Dino Cazares acquire 100% rights to the band’s name after a years-long legal battle. Cazares launched a crowd-funding campaign to finish the band’s next album a few weeks back — the album was initially recorded in 2017 with Seabell’s vocals on it — which Burton then called a “scam,” distancing himself from the effort, before eventually quitting entirely. Burton then issued a longer statement that accompanied his decision to leave Fear Factory, and Cazares put out a statement of his own that left the door open for Burton to rejoin while also calling out Burton’s “lies, the negativity and the blame.”
In a new chat with Kerrang!, Seabell, who is promoting a new album with his other band, Ascension of the Watchers, stated unequivocally that he’s not interested in re-joining Fear Factory, expressing fatigue from the long legal process and a desire to move on while reflecting positively on his three decades in the band.
Asked if he had been thinking about leaving Fear Factory for some time before pulling the trigger, he responded:
“It’s been on my mind for a while. These lawsuits just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from band members, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it. I’ve been working [intensely] on The Watchers for the last two years. Working with people who I can trust and who I love, and with whom I have grown to find a niche musically definitely pushed me towards it. There are a lot of surprises. I’ve had a lot of surprises for the last four years. With Fear Factory, it’s just constantly been like ‘What?!’ You can only take so much. I felt like 30 years was a good run. Those albums I’ve done with Fear Factory will always be out there. I’ll always be part of that. I just felt like it was time to move forward.”
On the band’s legacy:
“I’m proud of my legacy. We achieved great things. We made incredible music and left an indelible mark on the music industry and on fans around the globe. We’ve had peaks on top of mountains with our highs and we’ve plumbed the deepest trenches with our lows. There just comes a point where you have to move forward to do more great things with a different band…”
On the next Fear Factory album, which was recorded years ago and will feature his vocals:
“We recorded and delivered an album in 2017. It was written and demoed in late 2016 with Damien Rainaud. In 2017, we recorded. The artwork was finalised. We designed the new Fear Factory logo, as always. The album was delivered to Nuclear Blast, and accepted. We’ve just been waiting for all of these lawsuits to be over for it to come out. So, yeah, I’m supposed to be on it because I recorded all the songs!”
On whether he’d consider rejoining the band:
“I’m done. I haven’t spoken to Dino in three years. I haven’t spoken to Raymond [Herrera, drums] and Christian [Olde Wolbers, bass] in longer than that, and I have no intention to. I’m just moving forward with my life.”
