The idea of the concept album, an album that is focused to tell a single
story instead of just consisting of a bunch of random songs, has been around music for a long time. "Fear Factory" comes close to being a concept band with their albums so far, "Soul of a New Machine," "Demanufacture," "Remanufacture," (an album of remixes from "Demanufacture") and now "Obsolete," all playing a part in their saga of "man versus machine."

"Fear Factory" plays their own brand of aggro-rock, starting with a heavy
guitar/bass/drum sound and then adding elements of techno, hip hop, brutal lyric writing, and even strings on a couple of songs. In this particular chapter of the story, "Obsolete," as the name suggests, man is now obsolete. The machines man has created to make his life easier have now taken over and he is no longer the ruler on the planet - they are.

The album begins with the effects-laden track "Shock," a song which
suggests that the only way that machines can be stopped is for man's anger to be focused and multiplied, thereby providing a shock to the system. This song showcases the high-speed energy of drummer Raymond Herrera, and also provides a hint that vocalist Burton C. Bell has a capable singing voice in addition to being able to belt out the brutal, growling lyrics that are the trademark of a "Fear Factory" song.

"Edgecrusher" follows. This is a storming song that sounds like something from the dance club from hell, and it introduces the protagonists in the "Obsolete" story: the Edgecrushers, who attempt to attack the machines from outside the establishment. It features scratch-work from guest performer DJ Zodak, a San Diego Mixmaster.

"Smasher/Devourer" and "Securitron", the next songs, introduce the
antagonists in the "Obsolete" story. The original Smasher/Devourer was created to protect mankind, but as the song suggests, took on a mind of it's own. In it's own words: "Those of you who dare to stray, I will tear your mind away." "Securitron," meanwhile, is the Big Brother of the mix. The Securitron keeps everyone and everything under constant surveillance, and not a move is made that goes unnoticed.

One of the more melodic tracks, "Descent," follows. It is a song meant to
capture the misery of the human existence at this point in the story, and does so with wailing vocals and stark instrumentation. The sentiment of man at this time, at least the man singing, is "I feel nothing. I am nothing." Next is the angry "Hi Tech Hate," which, though remaining in the concept of the album, is also "Fear Factory's" attempt at an anti-war song in general.

"Freedom of Fire" starts with a hauntingly soft beginning, which works it's way up to a storming amalgam of noise and growling vocals. It is a testament to man's ultimate desire for freedom, and it's name alludes to those people in recent times whose desire to make a statement was so strong that they poured gasoline upon themselves and set themselves on fire to gain attention to their cause.

"Obsolete," the title track, follows with an angry hardcore sound. It
preaches the mantra that "Nothing is as it seems," and offers the idea that machines have made God obsolete, and now control man's fate instead. This in turn makes man obsolete. The last two songs on the album, "Resurrection" and "Timelessness," feature both a change in tone and a change in style from the rest of the album. "Resurrection" is a study in contrasts: constantly going from soft to loud. "Timelessness," meanwhile, looks at the way that lonliness has overtaken our society. Both songs feature the work of a 12-piece string section, but Burton Bell's rather impressive vocals in "Timelessness" magnify the effect that the string section has in that particular track.

Overall, this is a good album as far as concept albums go. However, bands which choose to release concept albums, in my opinion, put more of a burden upon themselves to keep both the story and music interesting and listenable throughout. The music is hardly groundbreaking, for the most part, and at times the hardcore sound that "Fear Factory" creates tends to overshadow the story as opposed to making it compelling. The album is worth a listen, however, to fans of the aggro-rock sound. Fans of "Fear Factory" shouldn't be disappointed, either.