Last month, following an exhaustive rehearsal process that saw the band try out around 300 singers, Fear Factory announced that their new frontman was Milo Silvestro. Largely unknown to a wider audience, the singer commented on his arrival saying: “This is a huge opportunity for me. I’ve been a fan of the band for many years and it feels very surreal but I’m excited to be part of it. I know I have some massive shoes to fill but I’m here to do it in the best way possible and give justice to the vocal legacy of this legendary band.”
In a new interview with the “Talk Toomey” podcast, former Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell was asked how he felt about his former band recruiting a new frontman and going on tour to perform songs that he originally wrote and recorded with the group.
“It doesn’t affect me at all,” he said. “To be honest, I haven’t been this happy in a long time. More power to them, but I’m just moving forward in my own life, my own career, and I’m just trying to make a name for myself.”
Bell was asked if he saw any recent clips of Silvestro performing with the band. “No, I don’t. I don’t care to,” he responded.
Bell further elaborated on his time with Fear Factory.
“Fear Factory, it’s what I’m known for,” he said. “And the 30 years I had with Fear Factory were some of the proudest moments of my career. And everything I’ve ever done in Fear Factory I’m very proud of. Even some of the questionable things I’ve done in Fear Factory I’m still proud of. It was a great legacy.”
Fear Factory’s most recent album, “Aggression Continuum,” was released in 2021 but was largely recorded in 2017. The album features Bell on vocals alongside guitarist Dino Cazares and drummer Mike Heller.
“Stepping away from Fear Factory was not an easy decision by [any] means,” he told “The Ex-Man” podcast. “But what I experienced for the 10 years before that, the lawsuits, the acrimony, that was the one that killed me. And I just had to step away to realize, you know, they can take all this stuff from me — they can take the money, they can take the royalties, they can take the trademark away from me — and I realized that didn’t define me. They can take that, but I’m still Burton C. Bell, motherf*cker, and whatever I have they can’t take. So I’m just kind of moving forward and doing new things.”
Bell is currently getting ready to debut an exhibition of photographic works. “Paradise Found,” an industrial and science-fiction themed exhibit, will premiere at the Vincent Castiglia Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from March 11 through May 23.
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