Dino Cazares has posted a date that fans of both Fear Factory and the Terminator films will recognize immediately.
The guitarist wrote on social media: “August 29th Cybernetic Industries becomes self aware.”
August 29th Cybernetic Industries becomes self aware
— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) August 3, 2026
In the Terminator timeline, August 29, 1997 is the day Skynet gains consciousness and turns on humanity. Cazares has swapped in a name of his own, and that name lines up with the band’s current branding.
Fear Factory‘s November American headline run is titled the “Cybernetic Domination Tour“, with Darkest Hour in direct support and Brotality opening. The recurrence of the word across a tour name and a teaser post points toward a broader concept tied to the album, though the band has confirmed nothing.
What is established is the month. Cazares told Argentina’s “Rock & Pop 95.9” in July that the first single from the group’s eleventh studio album would land in August.
“Well, I think that Fear Factory‘s riding on all cylinders. We’re a very tight unit. We have a record that’s gonna be coming out soon. We have a new single coming out in August, so I think people will be able to see and hear what we’ve been creating. Fear Factory, in the last three to four years, has been getting tighter, been getting better. Our live shows are killer,” Cazares said at the time.
August 29 falls on a Saturday, which sits outside the standard Friday release cycle. That break with convention is itself part of the argument that the date is deliberate.
The single will be the first material anyone hears from a record carrying substantial weight. It is Fear Factory‘s first full-length without Burton C. Bell, who announced his departure in September 2020 after a protracted and public falling-out with the band.
Aggression Continuum, released through Nuclear Blast in June 2021, was tracked mostly in 2017 and featured Cazares, Bell and drummer Mike Heller. It reached shops after the split rather than before it.
Milo Silvestro was confirmed as the new vocalist in February 2023 following an extended international search. He and drummer Pete Webber played their first headline show with the band on May 5, 2023 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood. Three years of touring later, this album is the first chance to hear what the lineup does in a studio.
Cazares is the sole remaining original member.
Who Made The Record
Damien Rainaud produced, continuing a working relationship that began with 2012’s The Industrialist.
Rhys Fulber contributed keyboards. Ricky Bonazza, who deputizes on bass when Tony Campos is out with Static-X, worked on programming, arrangements and some vocals and lyrics. Silvestro wrote lyrics and shaped concept material.
Cazares described the results to “Metal On Tap” earlier this year.
“On this new record, we have a team of people that are working with us. We had Rhys Fulber do some of the keyboards. We had our fill-in basis, a guy named Ricky Bonazza, who is our fill-in basis for Tony Campos when he can’t do it, when he is on tour with Static-X, he helped contribute a lot with some of the programming, some of the arrangements and some of the vocals, actually, lyrics. Of course Milo did a great job with a lot of his lyrics and a lot of going over the concept ideas. And our producer Damien [Rainaud] right now, he’s been working with us since [2012’s] The Industrialist, so he definitely knows the band pretty well. We’ve got a great team of writers, and this record’s gonna have a s**t-ton of killer songs and it’s gonna make it harder picking which songs of that record to play live. And we’re gonna be coming out with a new single really soon, so it’s gonna be great,” he shared at the time.
He continued: “It’s heavy. It’s modern. It’s got a lot of great programming, cool little surprises. Milo definitely comes into his own, not just a replacement of the last singer. He definitely does have his own little niche, and it’s great. All the beautiful melodic choruses that people like, the melodic elements of the clean vocals, of course ripping guitars, s**t’s getting heavier. S**t’s getting lower. So it’s all over the place. S**t’s fast, s**t’s groovy. Epic outros, epic closing songs. It’s gonna be everything that I think people are gonna love about Fear Factory.”
The album is expected via Nuclear Blast, with Cazares having indicated late 2026 or early 2027. No title has been announced.
Fear Factory co-headline with Mushroomhead before the “Cybernetic Domination Tour” begins in November.
