Although this EP has not been seen as significantly important today, it seriously was at the time of its release. It is essentially a remix project, not too dissimilar to what Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails would do with his own musical works. Unfortunately, this is very much ignored over time after its release, being an in-between release after the debut album Soul Of A New Machine and the legendary Demanufacture. This still likely has some killer tunes on it, however. Let’s take a listen to this EP and hear what it sounds like.

Martyr – Suffer Bastard Mix is a lengthy tune at over seven minutes long. It begins with clanging metallic sounds, and quickly launches into a great piece of music with a 4/4 kick drum beat and Metal guitars. The vocals quickly enter, and this piece sounds like a demonic and satanic listen. It’s intended to be. After some time, some choppy breakbeats enter, along with some keyboard patches of someone screaming. The main melody quickly enters, and this tune sounds really fantastic. A clever, interesting and nicely layered tune with intensely gravelly screamed vocals, percussive palm muted Metal guitars and a great and exciting listen overall. There are elements of EDM based sounds and textures throughout, which sound tasty and excellent. This obviously was a really good example of the mixture of music at the time, such as Grunge, Rave based EDM and some of the heaviest forms of metal. Nonetheless, this is a really excellent and powerful tune to listen to. It is not exactly something you would wish to play around children or people who are easily intimated, but it kicks the proverbial. The midsection here is really quite interesting, and sounds musically intense, especially with the screamed vocals. An energetic, excellent and above all, Heavy tune to hear, Fear Factory proves here that they are powerful and energetic musicians that are not second rate. A really fantastic listen, the second half has some interesting sounds and textures to match the semi-Death Metal vibe. This is an excellent and fine listening experience, and although it is repetitive, it is never dull. Towards the end, some muted guitars and a build-up of hellish sounds occur. A very good listen, and something worth having in your music library. Excellent, warped and evil sounding music that has a great emotional impact on the listener. The ending is chaotic, returning to the metallic sounds in the intro. Great stuff.

Self Immolation – Vein Tap Mix begins with some nicely edited and groove based vocal sections, which are pretty cool. Soon enough, a liquid 4/4 kick drum beat enters, along with some cut-up breakbeats. This sounds really awesome and excellent and shows that Fear Factory had some great tunes in them at this point. The textures here are really amazing sounding, and just sound clever, cool and extraordinary. A fantastic listening experience with some decently screamed vocals, this sounds really great, especially in the chorus which is an excellent climatic point. Sure, this is more textural than song based, but does it matter? The music is phenomenally awesome, and Fear Factory exude pain, bitterness and suffering within their music, which is part of the human condition. A really cool listening experience, the song itself is a solid gold winner with growled vocals, Metal guitars and a great sense of EDM expertise on this song. Towards the end, the vocals exit briefly, with the backing track playing for a bit, before this song resumes nicely. There are some multitracked vocals and crunchy Metal guitars to conclude. An excellent listen.

Scapegoat – Pigfuck Mix begins with a voice sample, stating: “He has not confessed, he has made no statement, charges of murder have been accepted against him”. Pretty deep. It quickly launches into a great Industrial Music sort of piece, with some of the heaviest and most awesome sounds you will ever hear. A very catchy, different and above all, awesome listening experience to hear. This sounds really fantastic and great to hear, just sounds like a great mash-up of the heaviest Metal music and various EDM forms out there at the time. Soon enough, this song has a great breakdown with some pleasant singing in the chorus, which is very different. An awesome, exciting and interesting listen. The phrase, “Shut the fuck up!” is utilised heavily throughout. Nonetheless, this is a very top tune that has a great deal of differing EDM and extremely Heavy Metal elements present throughout. Towards the end, this song sounds pretty and melodic, before launching into absolute musical mayhem. It concludes with some proto-IDM based Electronic editing, before concluding. Nice.

Scumgrief – Deep Dub Trauma Mix begins with a mixture of mechanical sounds and odd vocal like melodies. It’s weird, all right. Soon enough, downtuned electric guitar riffs enter and this tune gets going along nicely. It sounds really dynamic, interesting and dark. A really punchy and powerful tune indeed. The guitar riffs and playing here are really excellent. There are some interesting sounding distorted human screams and other fascinating Industrial Metal sounds on this tune. In the chorus is a lone wordless vocal melody that sounds really emotional and pretty, unusually for this music. The beats are very IDM-like and sound really quite cool and interesting to hear. A great listen, all the same, this is quite catchy and memorable listening throughout. An energetic and interesting tune to hear, there is not a dull moment here. In the second half are some great extra verses and cut-up beats, rhythms and melodies throughout. This is light years away from anything else released at the time, it sounds beautifully dark, emotional and melodic for a tune of its sort. A really great listening experience, the climax towards the end is quite magical, in a very satanic way. Another underrated tune by Fear Factory, this does nicely. Great job.

Self Immolation – Liquid Sky Mix begins with some unusual and dark electric piano, along with some electronics. Some looped lyrics enter, and this tune gets underway with cut-up breakbeats and other textures galore. It is a decent remix of the original tune and sounds quite awesome and mind-blowing in its own way. A really timeless and tuneful remix of this EP, this has some deep, disturbing and super dark textures that sound dark and satanic. There are some interesting sounds and textures, obviously inspired by the EDM of the day, which sound really decent and melodic. A really great tune regardless, this proves that even the remixes of these original tunes make them come alive. Great music to listen to. The second half has repeated lyrics and dark, scary and twisted vocals to match an EDM backdrop. Another great remix tune to hear, this is extraordinarily great to hear. A wonderful and upbeat listening experience for all the doom and gloom within, this is monumentally awesome. A great listen, it ends with looped vocals and Heavy Metal guitars, before fading out with a reprise of the intro. Brilliant.

Self Immolation is a short original here. It begins with some unusual Industrial sounds and launches into a loud, heavy and devilish version of the main song of this EP. Nonetheless, this does sound really great for what it is. A fluid, heavy and powerful tune, this sounds really aggressive and punchy. This is a great piece that sounds much like a rawer and demo styled version of the original song. Still, it sounds powerful, moving and energetic. A really awesome listen, it is finished just before three minutes in length. The EP ends here.

This is a good EP that just falls short of being a great EP. However, it is mostly a good journey, filled with innovative, explorative and awesome sounds that merge both heavy forms of EDM and the heaviest of Heavy Metal. The only real flaw here is that the approach to just doing remixes over time gets rather annoying when listening to this EP. Still, it is very much an essential listening experience made by Fear Factory. Should you listen to this release? Give it a whirl and see if you like it, unless you are religious, in which case you should avoid this.

Decent remix based EP of the heaviest sounds around in 1993.

8/10