Back in February of 2025, ex-Fear Factory bassist Christian Olde Wolbers announced his new band Angst Fabrik. That project seemed to be positioned as a rival to Fear Factory, given that the German translation of its name amounted to ‘Fear Factory’ in English. At the time, Fear Factory‘s current shot caller, guitarist Dino Cazares pointed out some irony regarding that name, given a past joke he had made about that very moniker back in 2020.
While some had hoped Angst Fabrik would evolve into an outlet for various former members of Fear Factory, ex-vocalist Burton C. Bell would seemingly distance himself from the venture in April of 2025. His comments were cold water on fan speculation, given that he and Wolbers had been spotted together in January of that year, despite years of legal infighting and bitterness.
However, earlier this month, the hype skyrocketed when it was revealed that former Fear Factory drummer Raymond Herrera had come out of drum retirement to lay down tracks for Angst Fabrik in the studio. That announcement generated a spoof video from Cazares, who himself is in the process of rolling out Fear Factory‘s new studio album, which will be their first without vocalist Burton C. Bell. Milo Silvestro has since replaced him in the group.
Days after that post revealing Herrera‘s involvement was shared by Angst Fabrik, the latter’s social media account appeared to disappear. As it turns out, that was due to a name change, as Angst Fabrik has seemingly been retired in favor of a new handle of ‘Machines Of Hate‘. The Angst Fabrik account has since been rebranded as much on Instagram. However, the bio of that account notes that this latest band name is also a ‘working title’ for the group, which now officially lists Wolbers and Herrera =as confirmed members.
The phrase Machines Of Hate also holds strong ties to Fear Factory, serving as the title to a remix of “Self Bias Resistor” featured on Fear Factory‘s 1997 “Demanufacture” remix album, “Remanufacture“. The phrase ‘machines of hate’ is also uttered during the lyrics in “Self Bias Resistor“.
