I was pretty excited when I heard that Fear Factory was recording a new album. I really loved Archetype””, it was a great comeback album. So, my expectations for “Transgression” were pretty high. I received the album, including a bonus DVD featuring ‘the making of Transgression’ and a couple of videos. And while looking at the track list, my eyes fell on a track called “I Will Follow”. Nah, it couldn’t be U2. Is it really U2? I put the CD in my player, skipped to track number 9 and…. damn, it IS a U2-cover. And it isn’t even a special cover. Instantly, I was very curious how the rest of the album would be.

After listening to the album a couple of times, I’m not sure what to think. “Transgression” contains a couple of heavy songs (“Spinal Compression”, “Moment Of Impact” and “540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit”), but it also has a couple of weaker songs (“Echo Of My Scream”, “Supernova”).

On top of that, Burton C. Bell and his companions chose to play two (2!) cover songs, the aforementioned “I Will Follow” (U2) and “Millennium” (Killing Joke). I keep wondering why they did that. Was it lack of time, lack of inspiration or perhaps both?

Fact is that “Transgression” is not as good as its predecessor. On “Archetype” you could notice the band was pissed off. “Transgression” doesn’t display such a feeling and that’s a pity. I hope their next album will be made with more inspiration.