Arkaea – Fear Factory ++ ?
I guess that at the present time, Christian Olde Wolbers is the keeper of the Fear Factory “offical” MySpace page because he’s been using it to post occasional items of interest, including a fundraiser for the Victorian bush fires (nice) and today, the new video for his new band with Raymond Herrera, Arkaea. I bet control of the MySpace profile is only one of the areas of current contention.
So I watched the video and listened to the songs they had posted – I did mention the other day that I was very interested in hearing what they came out with – and I have to say I’m in two minds.
Check out the video here:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt0NF9DQrV0]
What I like about it: Raymond was spot on when he said it sounded like Fear Factory with a different singer. Raymond is an amazing drummer and his work really shines. Dino Cazares might be accusing Christian of ripping of all his riffs for Archetype but this shows Mr Wolbers got more than a few of his own up his sleeve.
What I’m not sure about: the singer, Jon Howard. He’s from a metalcore band (Threat Signal, as is bass player Pat Kavanagh) and he has that hardcore vocal sound. His harsh vocals sound orright – pretty standard issue – but when he starts singing it sounds to me like Il Nino or another band like that. Now don’t get me wrong, I actually don’t mind Il Nino (have two of their CDs and saw them live sometime in 2005 or 2006 I think) but it’s not really what I was hoping for from this new offshoot of Fear Factory. I kinda wish they’d found someone who either had a full-on death metal growl OR maybe even a singing-only vocalist. Jon Howard is not a bad vocalist by any stretch but I just don’t think he exactly fits.
So there you go. What do you think? Is it what you were expecting?
~ by goat_admin on June 30, 2009.
Posted in metal, music
Tags: arkaea, fear factory, threat signal
Jon Howard’s vocals – harsh vocals just sound soulless (and tuneless) but when he starts singing … the general consensus around here is it sounds more like Linkin Park…
… which is not a knock at Linkin Park, just that there’s already one of them and I find them a bit more inventive…
gonna have to sample more before really deciding. I mean, in a different genre Mike Patton used to get on my nerves until I saw him with Yoshihide Otomo and then I appreciated him.
Yep I reckon you’re right Barry, definitely need to hear more to make a decision. The album is out this month I believe.