» D. T/Fear Factory 2012 11 10  
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Reviewed by Tobbe
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Special guest: Scar Symmetry
City: Stockholm, Sweden
Venue: Nalen
Date: 10 November 2012
Fear Factory set length: 72 minutes
Devin Townsend Project set length: Approx. 80 minutes

Fear Factory

A somewhat odd combination of Devin Townsend Project and Fear Factory are touring together as double headliners on the The Epic Industrialist Tour, referring the their new albums Epicloud respectively The Industrialist. This, if I may say so, package visited Stockholm, Sweden for the first sold out show yet on their European tour. As a matter of fact, the last remaining ticket was sold to a women when I passed the entrance to this old dancing venue, located at a backstreet near downtown.

When speaking about Fear Factory's live performances nowadays, one thing is always on most people's lips, Bell's clean sung parts. On the last couple occasions I've seen this band live, which happens to be four times in the last 20 months, these parts have gone from decent to bad and to worse. At tonight's gig, it was working okay when he wasn't giving it full throttle and held it back a bit, but when he gave it all, it wasn't that good. Perhaps it's time to call Ozzy's staff and use his equipment? Not one of those things you want to do, but of two bad things, I guess it's for the better. On the other hand, his voice is still doing just fine when it's enraged and violent, which actually equals to ninety-five percent of his lines.

The Californian industrial metallers however gave everything expected and the music is still brilliant and brutal. A couple of newer songs, three to be exact, and a bunch of their classic ones made this gig into something worth leaving my couch for on this Saturday night. Sadly still no songs from the Archetype album, but I hope guitarist Dino Cazares will eventually swallow his pride and play songs off that album, even if he wasn't in the band at that point. He anyway masters his riffs and the new boys in the band are even more tight now than last time I saw them during the summer festivals. According to Bell, this was the best response they've had thus far on this trek and the band performed with grace, brutality and professionalism all through.

Performance: 7 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 5 chalices of 10
Best
: Dino Cazares' guitarplay.
Worst
: Burton C. Bell's clean singing.

Setlist:
The Industrialist
Shock
Edgecrusher
Smasher/Devourer
Powershifter
Acres Of Skin
Linchpin
Descent
Recharger
Martyr
Demanufacture
Self Bias Resistor
Zero Signal
Replica

Devin Townsend Project

After being showed a bunch of short, crazy films on the big screen during the break, Devin enters the stage at 22.45 and high, or actually low, fives the front row, walks up the mic and asks "Are you guys ready for some awkward heavy metal?". That pretty much says it all. Mr. Townsend, with one longbearded man on each side, tonight gives a lesson in difference and oddity. Make no mistake, this is a solo act to one hundred percent and even if the other bandmembers do a good job, all light falls on the character on center stage. This man is a showman all through. Lunatic, clown, normal or weird, makes no difference.

During this performance, his appearance is just as important as the music. When thinking of it, I believe I watched his moves for about ninety percent of the set. The songs are just as diverse as everything else and this diversity gets so common that in the end, it gets identical and the multiplicity is somewhat gone. The music speaks for itself, as he has a solid career with different constellations and the fans just love every minute of his set.

Tonight I see no winner or loser. Both were equally good in their own way. DTP had more fans, but Fear Factory's crowd were wilder and more diehard. The lightshow on both sets was a disaster. A little green here and a little blue or red there. Just take a look at the YouTube links below and see for yourself. The sound quality during Fear Factory's set could have been better, especially when the speakers crackled on a couple occasions. Both, things that make my rating lower, just because I try to weigh everything in. If you have a chance on the remainder of this tour to catch a show, I suggest you do so, because both acts make your money's worth.

Performance: 7 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 7 chalices of 10
Best
: Devin's appearance.
Worst
: ---

Setlist: (might be slightly incorrect)
Supercrush!
Kingdom
Regulator
Truth
Planet Of The Apes
Where We Belong
War
Colonial Boy
Vampira
Lucky Animals
Juular
Grace
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Life
Deep Peace

Related links:
www.hevydevy.com
www.myspace.com/devintownsenddtb
www.facebook.com/dvntownsend
www.fearfactory.com
www.myspace.com/fearfactoryofficial
www.facebook.com/fearfactory
www.youtube.com/user/fearfactorymusic