FEAR FACORY - Obsolete LP (Black Vinyl)

I dig this album a lot, though whether that enjoyment hinges more on musical quality or on nostalgia to when I was first getting into metal is anyone's guess. To deny the obvious and pervasive nu-metal leanings of the material here is essentially impossible, but equally impossible is to deny some of the purely excellent songwriting that is indeed present. Well, excellent as far as pop music goes; by this point, Fear Factory had left essentially all vestiges of death metal behind apart from the barest of aesthetics, and was clearly leaning towards a much more mainstream direction. If you can get past that, though, you can find a core of great songwriting, which is not only accessible, but also surprisingly deep and a worthwhile listen for even the more jaded metal listeners among us.