Ex-Fear Factory Bassist and Drummer Turned Down Offer to Rejoin

In early 2009, when Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell and guitarist Dino Cazares decided to play together again after seven years of not speaking to one another, they asked original bassist Christian Olde Wolbers and drummer Raymond Herrera to help create a full band reunion. However, their offer was shot down.

"At the time we approached them, they said Burt's an idiot and I was dead to them," Cazares told Noisecreep. "Then later on [in the press] they said, 'Well, we want to play with them. Let's do it,' and Burt was basically like, 'No way. Too little, too late.'"

Olde Wolbers and Herrera eventually formed their own band, Arkaea, and filed a lawsuit against Fear Factory. "I can't really speak about it now because we're in the middle of litigation," Bell said. "But they were given the option of joining, I'll say that. I was given a few reasons why they wouldn't do it, and a lot of it has a lot to do with a management dispute on their side."

With bass and drum slots to fill, Fear Factory approached bassist Byron Stroud (ex-Strapping Young Lad), who played with the band after Cazares left, and drummer Gene Hoglan (ex-Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, Dethklok), whose eclectic, powerful style perfectly complements Cazares' staccato riffs and offbeat arrangements.

"Byron was actually easy to get on board, because he has been a part of Fear Factory since 2004, and he's become a really good buddy of mind," Bell said. "And Byron suggested Gene, and I said, 'Wow, Gene would be killer.' So we asked him, and he was in."

While Hoglan sounds right at home on the band's new album 'Mechanize,' Bell said there was a learning curve for the drummer after he joined the band.

"Dino's style of playing is a bit different from what Gene is accustomed to," explained Bell. "It's more triplets and machine-gun type of riffs instead of a constant 30 second blast, and it really challenged Gene, but in the end, it made him an even better drummer. He was great before, but now he's awesome."