Review by Adam on May 9, 2004.

For many fans, word about Fear Factory’s breakup was a bitter pill to swallow. Even more difficult to handle was the notion that Digimortal would be their swansong. Now not only have Fear Factory returned but they have returned gloriously. Archetype gets back to the core of what Fear Factory is all about.

One of the things that irritated me about Digimortal was how fake and manufactured it sounded especially with the drums. Archetype does away with this completely and offers their most organic offering since Soul of a New Machine. There was also a great deal of rap inspired vocals on Digimortal which thankfully have not found their way onto this one. Musically, Archetype combines the melody of Obsolete with the aggressiveness of Demanufacture easily making it their most dynamic album to date.

For me, the standout track is the melodic opus “Human Shields.” It is an incredibly atmospheric song that brilliantly showcases Burton Bell’s tremendous vocal talents. Tracks like “Cyberwaste” and “Bonescraper” on the other hand, are bound to be fan favorites due their stylistic hails to the band’s first two albums. Hearing Raymond Herrera blast again is truly music to my ears!

The title track is another standout. Lyrically, it is my guess that it has to deal with Dino’s dramatic exit from the band which caused the initial breakup. “The infection has been removed and the soul of this machine has improved,” screams Burton. Listening to Archetype it is obvious to see that not only can the band survive without Dino’s presence but continue to thrive as well. Fear Factory is back in full form and ready to reclaim metal glory.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8
Originality: 7
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 7, 2024.

Purity Through Fire is among those labels which are not under any suspicion of loving lazy passivity. They don’t stop releasing albums, EPs or splits and not only this; I am sure they have a gigantic telescope on the roof of their German headquarter. Given this circumstance, they are able to find each black metal musician in Suomi, even though they try to hide in the vast Finnish forests. This time the Germans have detected two formations at once, Aesthus and Sieluhaaska.

The promo pic of Aesthus shows a beer drinking, corpse painted bald head. I am not sure whether I am impressed or confused in view of this rather less aesthetic sight. Anyway, the opener’s mid-paced part offers quite uninspired guitar leads, while the following high velocity outburst adds the almost overdue aggressive touch. The dude behind the microphone barks his Finnish mysteries into the beer bottle… no, sorry, into the imaginary crowd. He strictly follows the rules of the sub-genre and expresses hate, disgust and malignancy. Unfortunately the two songs do not have any elements that make them stand out in the flood of Finnish black metal tracks. Compared with (my) heroes like Aegrus, Malum or Behexen, Aesthus have to improve their songwriting skills. A relatively simple approach is no disgrace in itself, but it needs pronounced guitar lines and this is where Aesthus fail, not totally, but to a certain degree. In my humble opinion, their general direction is okay and they seem to be authentic, but they have to work harder to make their talent recognisable. 6,0 for these dudes.

Sieluhaaska – I had almost forgotten that I had listened to their EP from 2023. Forgetfulness beats mediocrity. But nearly everybody deserves a second chance and this motto creates a win-win situation in the case of Sieluhaaska. The one man project presents itself in a much better form than before. The artist dishes up two tracks that revitalize the “Hvys Lyset Tar Oss” vibes of Burzum to a certain extent. Both tracks can rely on a smooth yet profoundly heavy flow as well as on an adequate degree of variety. The comparatively melodic design lends the material a slightly heroic aura and the hoarse, but not overly aggressive vocals support this approach. While the lead singer of Aesthus sounds like an angry punk, lone wolf Saasta mixes some percent of despair into his vocal performance. Due to his less ferocious way of proceeding, his sound is a bit more polished than the fairly raw performance of his partners in crime. But do not think of sterile atmosphere. Quite the contrary, the songs of Sieluhaaska emanate more black metal emotions than those of Aesthus.

If Saasta is able to preserve his good form, I will lend an ear to his first full-length immediately after the release, because in this case, it will deserve a 7.8 rating. Up to now, I think this is the right valuation for his tracks on Kaksi Liekkiä Saatanalle. I cannot speak of the split as an essential output, but if the telescope on your roof temporarily sucks and you do not have better bands at hand, you can trust Purity Through Fire and give the four songs a chance.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10