Fear Factory’s Raymond Herrera Spends Years in Darkness With Arkaea

"There are some rumors about Fear Factory, but from a legal standpoint, none of them are true," Fear Factory/Arkaea drummer Raymond Herrera told Noisecreep somewhat cryptically. "I am still in Fear Factory and so is [guitarist] Christian [Olde Wolbers] and we are ultimately doing this project because we can!"

Doing something simply "because we can" is a dream of most workaday Americans. To have the freedom to do what you love is what most of us strive for and Herrera and his cohorts are doing so with Arkaea, their new project, which consists of two members of Fear Factory and two members of Threat Signal. Vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanaugh make up the rest of the band, and yes, they're from Threat Signal, who are signed to Nuclear Blast.

The impetus for Arkaea happened as Herrera and Wolbers were writing music for the new Fear Factory album back in 2006. "Eight songs into the writing process, we decided to take a break from Fear Factory, since [vocalist] Burt [Bell] wanted to concentrate more on his side project. Rather than see the songs go to waste, Christian got in touch with Jon from Threat Signal and after sparking his interest, we started to get to work on the rest of the album."

The fact that Herrera, an industrial-leaning drummer known for deftness with the double bass, doesn't like to "sit idly by" also greased the gears of this project. "I love to work and I intend to continue to do so," he admitted. "I am pushing 36-years-old now, so I figure I've got about another nine years of being able to play my crazy style of drumming that I have been known for." Here's to another nineteen years, Ray!

The band's debut, 'Years in the Darkness,' is due on E1 this summer, and sounds like Fear Factory-meets-Linkin Park, and it will satisfy Fear Factory fans who loves that futuristic, cyber-aggro style of metal that packs such a nasty bite that it leaves a scar.

As for those rumors that former guitarist Dino Cazares is now back "in" the Fear Factory fold while Herrera and Wolbers are "out?" Guess we'll have to wait and see how this metal soap opera plays out.