𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
July 28, 1998 — Fear Factory released their third full-length studio album Obsolete (°BSΩLE+e on the album cover) via Roadrunner Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
Conceptually, the album is a sequel to 1995's Demanufacture. With the success of its fourth single, Cars, a Gary Numan cover that featured Numan himself on vocals (while also appearing in the music video), Obsolete would break Fear Factory into the mainstream and remain their highest selling album.
Background & Recording:
The group began writing and pre-production in late 1997. This came to a sudden halt when Ozzy Osbourne invited Fear Factory to open for the reunited Black Sabbath at two sold-out stadium shows at the Birmingham NEC. Fear Factory also headlined their own concert on December 7th in London. The band intended to return to work on their album in Los Angeles until late January, when they ultimately would record in Vancouver with producers Rhys Fulber and Greg Reely. The working title Obsolete was announced during this time although not certain to remain.
In a first, guitarist Dino Cazares tuned down to A for this album. Gary Numan appears at the beginning of Obsolete as well as on the cover of his own 1979 song Cars.
Edgecrusher is an unusual track in that during parts of the song, Christian Olde Wolbers plays a stand-up bass, while the breakdown features hip-hop style turntable scratching. The latter would prove to be a point of contention not only with purist listeners, but within the band itself: According to Raymond Herrera, Olde Wolbers' suggestion to include it was initially met by strong resistance from Cazares, as did a number of other experimental ideas.
Album Concept:
A concept story is contained within the music and continues where Demanufacture left off. Obsolete is about the future of mankind and how machines have taken over humanity. It was inspired by the band's belief that humanity has become too reliant on technology. Burton C Bell explained, "𝚆𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙼𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑."
However, a hero named Edgecrusher sets out to destroy the machines and save humanity. The story of Obsolete was inspired by books like the Boys from Brazil, Brave New World, and George Orwell’s 1984.
The CD booklet features a narrative that details one chapter in the conflict between humankind and technology which corresponds with the songs. Illustrations by artist Dave McKean, famous for his work in comic books, are also based on themes or characters from the record.
Bell explained the wealth of booklet content;
"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒-𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚌 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝙼𝚌𝙺𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌... 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜, 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚜."
The Characters of Obsolete:
Edgecrusher is the main character and protagonist. — In the songs Shock, Descent, Hi-Tech Hate, and Resurrection, Burton C. Bell portrays Edgecrusher as the one singing the lyrics. The closer song, Timelessness, is about him as well. As he has been captured by the Securitron in the story's conclusion, the song captures his words (or thoughts) of fear and despair as he is in jail or possibly in the process of being executed.
The Securitron are the antagonists in the story and their name is part of the album's song, Securitron (Police State 2000). — Securitron is an organization that embodies the law enforcement of the machine-controlled society set in the story. They appear to be all over the world and to ensure no crime goes unseen and they have set large monitors in various places to keep humanity under their view. It is clear that a machine-controlled world state is in effect in the story but whether or not Securitron is the world state itself is unknown. This is much like how The Party in Nineteen Eighty-Four utilized the telescreens on the population of Oceania. They themselves are likely cyborgs as implied by how one of the enforcers is mentioned having gloved hands.
They come out victorious against Edgecrusher as in the end of the album they capture and imprison him.
Smasher/Devourer is the secondary antagonist in the story and is also the name of a song on the album — From the description given in the album's booklet, the Smasher/Devourer is a large robot with an "𝚎𝚐𝚐-𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚎" and "𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗": no further information on its design is given and what the machine really could look like is left to the imagination, but the description recalls the design of ED-209 from the Robocop movies though the design is mostly influenced by The Terminator. It was originally created by humanity to serve as law-enforcement but was re-programmed by the Securitron.
The machine is last mentioned in the booklet's page for the song Descent and its status after that is unclear.
Storyline:
The whole plot of the album is presented in the album booklet in the form of a movie script with the lyrics intertwined in the story itself. The prologue is the following: "𝟸𝟶𝟽𝟼 𝙰.𝙳. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚎... 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚊𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚢, 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.
𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖, 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛."
Scene I:
The album starts off with Shock, which is much like a declaration of the intentions of Edgecrusher. He is in the center of a dim, tungsten-lit room surrounded with people with the intent to hear what he is saying. Basically, what he says is that he will lead the opposition, the detractors of this totalitarian regime, and his aim is to destroy the current system and change it to a better one ("𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖" as it is said in the lyrics), so he is going to act as a trigger for this revolution.
The next song is Edgecrusher. In the script we find out from a newscast that the previous event took place in a prison called the MSC (Maxi-Security Containment) Facility. The reporter tells us that a breach was instigated by the Faction, but Edgecrusher caused the actual riot from inside. We are also told that he was serving a sentence for Public Disorder and Infrastructure Sabotage; then they show a clip of the breach, which is the song itself describing the break of the prisoners (hence the chorus "𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛").
Before Smasher/Devourer the reporter details the damage and deaths caused by Edgecrusher (he must have had great strength to kill all the guards by himself or perhaps he was assisted by his cell mates) and after that we are introduced to the Smasher/Devourer character which is described in the booklet as the following: "𝙾𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕. 𝙰 𝚋𝚒-𝚙𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚐𝚐-𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." The live coverage shows the robot's search for Edgecrusher and his companionship while the song is actually the commands of the machine to the hostile congregation ("𝙸𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗").
Securitron (Police State 2000) is the last song of the first scene and the next entity to start chasing Edgecrusher. Edgecrusher is constantly watched by the monitors of Securitron so he descends underground, into the shadows below street level where apparently the refuse is, but he knows that he is safe from incident from any enforcer among the trash. The song is about the police of this dictatorial regime, the Police 2000: how oppressive they are and how they are everywhere not giving any privacy or freedom to citizens. In the end of the scene Edgecrusher is forced to surface and the scene fades out with him running down a deserted street into the night.
Scene II:
The scene opens with Descent. Edgecrusher is alone in this song, he has grown tired from running for so long from Smasher/Devourer and the Securitron. He wonders if his mission is worth it, he dwells upon his life, and what it actually amounts to. Edgecrusher stops in an abandoned building to rest himself. As he falls to sleep on a cold, flat floor, he repeats the same words as he does every night; they are the lyrics to this song. As he wakes up and looks to the sky he realizes that his life is worth the effort, so he keeps going.
Scene III:
Hi-Tech Hate is the first song of this scene. It depicts an anti-war protest of factions of various dissensions in front of the Securitron base, a heavily guarded fortress. The lyrics are the words of a man who emerges and speaks to the crowd through a megaphone. The song is basically an anti-war, anti-nuclear proclamation from Dino Cazares.
As the man finishes, the Securitron enforcers move in on the crowd. He sees no way out of this situation: true freedom cannot be realized in a scrutinized society. He takes a can of gasoline and pours it on himself. With the match in his fingers, the lyrics of Freedom or Fire are his final words. This act of self-immolation is very much like Thích Quảng Đức's.
Obsolete starts with a spoken intro by Gary Numan. They are the words of a Securitron enforcer who grabs the megaphone after the members of the crowd disperse in order to escape detainment of the enforcers. Of course, the main message of the song is that "𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎" and that "𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 [𝚒𝚜] 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎".
Having witnessed the events of these three songs, Edgecrusher begins to think how their humanity disappeared into the darkness, how mechanized they have become. As he eludes the enforcers, he enters a church and finds a statue of Jesus Christ. He has seen this image before. He apparently gains a lot of memories from seeing the statue and extends his arm to touch the face of it. In the song Resurrection Edgecrusher swears to continue his mission to save humanity.
The scene and album end with Timelessness. Edgecrusher walks away from the figure and as he glances back, it seems as though it he has been weeping. The Securitron forces capture Edgecrusherin the conclusion. This last song has a very melancholic feel to it. The lyrics are desperate; they are Edgecrusher's words (or probably thoughts) from the jail. We can feel his fear and despair: he lost his battle against machines and failed in saving mankind.
Release Information:
Obsolete was initially released in a standard format in July 1998. Bell explained, "𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 "𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚜" 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍. 𝚆𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝙱-𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎. 𝙸𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝." Five other satisfactory songs that did not fit its story concept, including Cars, were later included on a limited edition digipak in March 1999.
Touring & Promotion:
Fear Factory joined Rob Zombie and Monster Magnet for a fall 1998 tour. They also began their first headlining US tour with System Of A Down, Hed PE, Static-X, and Spineshank in early 1998. The tour ran into tragedy, however, when a rental truck housing all of the band equipment and merchandise was stolen from a hotel parking lot in Philadelphia. This forced several shows to be immediately rescheduled. Three days later, the stolen truck was found near the Walt Whitman Bridge, empty and in flames.
Regarding the theft, Burton C. Bell told MTV, "𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟸𝟹 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝙵𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜, 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙‘𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚜. 𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝙳𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔, 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝚂𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏."
Such problems on Fear Factory's first headlining tour proved demoralizing; however, Bell described the events as somewhat of a "𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚎" as various one-off major city dates that needed rescheduling were expanded into multiple shows heading into mid April.
In a last-minute change, Fear Factory replaced Judas Priest in the Second Stage headlining slot of Ozzfest '99. The tour ran from May through July.
Three singles were released for Obsolete. Shock and Descent managed to chart but did not endure lasting popularity. Only after the release of Cars, exclusive to the limited edition digipack version of Obsolete, did Fear Factory gain significant mainstream exposure. This was further aided by the song's music video directed by John S. Bartley.
Critical Reception:
Largely due to the popularity of the band's rendition of Cars, which reached No. 57 on the UK charts, Obsolete gained significant commercial success. As of 2002, the album had sold over 406,000+ copies according to SoundScan. It is Fear Factory's best selling album to date and was certified gold in Australia by the ARIA and also in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The album received positive reviews. AllMusic's Greg Prato noted, "𝙰𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢‘𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚙𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 - 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢-𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜-𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍."
Kerrang! said, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙵𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎-𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗."
Charity Auction:
A gold record of Obsolete was provided to Allbeat.com's charity auction for Death frontman Chuck Schuldiner who was suffering from a brain tumor. The auction faced severe controversy however; while the record sold for $1,000, the buyer never materialized. Other items up for auction, including a guitar signed by Papa Roach and articles from Crazy Town and Slipknot, also did not materialize. A new auction was to be organized, but Schuldiner died on December 13 that year.
Noteworthy:
European Death Metal band Meridian Dawn recorded a version of Descent in tribute to the band for their debut 2014 EP The Mixtape.
Music videos were filmed for the song Resurrection (Watch video) and the bonus cover of the Gary Numan song Cars (Remix) (Watch video), which also featured Gary Numan.
Notice: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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