New Fear Factory Compilation "Linchpin" Released Without The Band's Knowledge

Last Friday, April 26th, saw the release of a new Fear Factory compilation album by the name of “Linchpin“, but it seems nobody informed the band beforehand. The 25-song collection was put together by Warner Music Group/X5 Music Group and compiles tracks exclusively from the band’s Roadrunner Records days.

That label was acquired by Warner Music Group back in 2010 and has operated as a sub-label within the label’s overall family in the years since. This newly issued compilation appears to have only been released digitally and band guitarist Dino Cazares himself was a bit confused about the origins of it after being alerted to it by fans on Twitter.

Ultimately after some digging of his own, Cazares revealed that the group had “no input” in the release and that the “companies have every right to do it.” Replying to a fan on Twitter, he offered:

Cazares also confirmedthat the song “Linchpin” is the band’s most popular in the modern era as well. Indeed, when going by Spotify as of press time, the song stands at over 12,021,161 streams with “Replica” appearing at #2 with over 7.1 million streams.

This compilation isn’t the only source of confusion in the Fear Factory camp as of late though as it’s still unclear when the band’s new album—allegedly titled “Monolith“—will actually surface. The track listing for the “Linchpin” compilation runs as follows:

01 – “Linchpin”
02 – “Cars” (Gary Numan cover)
03 – “Replica”
04 – “Edgecrusher”
05 – “Shock”
06 – “Demanufacture”
07 – “Invisible Wounds (Dark Bodies)”
08 – “Self Bias Resistor”
09 – “Resurrection”
10 – “Scapegoat”
11 – “Scumgrief”
12 – “Zero Signal”
13 – “Martyr”
14 – “A Therapy For Pain”
15 – “Crisis”
16 – “Dark Bodies” (demo)
17 – “Dead Man Walking”
18 – “Full Metal Contact”
19 – “Damaged”
20 – “New Breed”
21 – “Pisschrist”
22 – “Soulwomb”
23 – “Terminate”
24 – “Body Hammer”
25 – “What Will Become”