It's never easy being the first band to hit the stage on a three-band bill. It's just gone past six o'clock and October File are undeservedly playing to less than a hundred people. Their angular metalcore (in the proper sense of the word) is heavy and aggressive, and singer Ben Hollyer is a pretty engaging frontman. Although a bit more of a visual presence for the band as a whole could be useful, as far as banging tunes go, October File have it nailed, promising great things when their new album is unleashed in April.

Reading-based thrashers Sylosis are up next and hit the stage running. Greeted by rapturous applause, they offer up a set of energetic metal that doesn't let up until their final number. Fusing melodic death metal, thrash and hardcore is nothing new, but Sylosis know how to bring it to a live audience with conviction. No-frills metal that hits the right spot, they rage like a bastard and leave the stage having wound up the crowd good and proper.

With latest album Mechanize touted as their best since 1995's masterpiece Demanufacture [RM Review], expectations are high for Fear Factory. No worries, then, as the band whip up a storm opening with the new album's title track - although it almost dies down when singer Burton C.Bell is visibly rattled by the lack of sound coming from his monitor. Thankfully, the sound gremlins are banished by the end of the song and the band confidently dive into the set, with a good portion of Mechanize being aired alongside a consistent selection of old favourites.

The new line-up – completed by returning guitarist Dino Cazares, bassist Byron Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan – are simply remarkable, tackling some less familiar album tracks like 'Acres of Skin' and 'Smasher/Devourer' and making them sound fresh and relevant. Eyebrows are raised as the band close their set with 'Final Exit' with nothing has yet been aired from Demanufacture. So cue an encore that is the stuff of wet dreams for fans of a certain age; the first three tracks from said album, a rabble rousing 'H-K (Hunter-Killer)' and a sublime 'Replica' bringing things to a close in style, the band clearly on a high and feeding off the audience's rabid enthusiasm.

Sound problems aside, Fear Factory prove that they are still a force to be reckoned with, and as long as this line-up can stay stable then the future doesn't look as bleak as their man-versus-machine soundscapes may imply.

Rating: 4/5 by Chris Ward

Further links

Sylosis on Myspace

Myspace home of Reading’s latest metal hopefuls

Fear Factory on Myspace

MySpace page for the industrial metal legends.