Fear Factory: Burton Submitted New Album to Label Without Dino’s Knowledge in 2017
Depending on how closely you’ve paid attention to the Fear Factory drama that’s unfolded over the last several years, you may recall that in December of 2018, vocalist Burton Seabell said in an interview that Fear Factory had a new record completed, handed into the label, and set for a 2019 release. He blamed legal issues for the delay — if only he knew what was still to come — and said the album was called Monolith.
In a recent appearance on The MetalSucks Podcast, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Burton turned the album into the label without his knowledge including artwork he’d never seen and a title that didn’t have his blessing (now it’s called Aggression Continuum, and finally set for release next month). The label was even considering asking the band to change their name, he said, depending on how the legal issues unfolded.
He explained:
“The label was wanting to wait it out to see what happened in court before they changed the band name so they were holding onto the record. In 2017, we finished the record and we turned it in.
“Actually Burton turned the record in to the record company. But in the back of my mind I still felt there were things that needed to be done on it. But because I was going through my court issues, I didn’t really have much of a say at that moment. Burton was pretty much running the show at that time.
“Burton also turned in some artwork that I’d never seen until it got leaked and he called the record ‘Monolith’ at that time. Fear Factory never made an official statement that that’s what it’s called but Burt kinda leaked it out there. I was like, hmm, that’s what the record is called?
“But you know, I was really engulfed in a trial that I was going through. I was in the middle of a trial and getting prepared to go to trial during the time Burt was doing all that stuff. So I didn’t really have control, I didn’t have any say.
“Plus, I was mentally gone at the time. So I was doing that, and once I got done with my trial, I regained my assets from the bankruptcy trial. And this is a trial that I had to go against Raymond and Christian, they were fighting me in bankruptcy court.
Dino went on to recap how he acquired 100% of the rights to the band’s name. In short, Burton failed to disclose that asset on his own bankruptcy filing causing the name to go up for auction, which Dino eventually won. You can read that full story here.
Elsewhere in our chat, Dino said he understands that fans are hung up on the split with Burton but that he is ultimately excited to announce Fear Factory’s next singer:
“Fans, at the end of the day, want answers. Fans want explanation. Like, why did this guy leave? Why, what is it? What did you do, what did he do?
“Everybody’s to blame. It’s not one person. But in this particular situation, he [Burton] didn’t have to quit. He could have stayed with the band. But that was his choice and he moved on, and so have I, and I look forward to the future.
“I’m not a rookie when it comes to finding new talent. Obviously I did it in Divine Heresy and other bands that I’ve been in. There’s a lot of great talent out there and a lot of it has been… I’ve seen a lot of it and I look forward to making the announcement on who the replacement will be coming up in the future.”
You can listen to our full chat with Dino right here or below.
