DINO CAZARES: I 'Felt Limited' Playing With FEAR FACTORY's RAYMOND HERRERA

David E. Gehlke of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with FEAR FACTORY/DIVINE HERESY guitarist Dino Cazares. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Blistering.com: Do you have any idea how long the legal proceedings is going to get drawn out with FEAR FACTORY? Are you worried?

Cazares: I'm not worried about it at all. I'm just working as hard as I possibly can to make sure things are doing good. Burton [Bell, FEAR FACTORY singer] and I are very focused that we're doing the best we can. We're not going to let other things or the stuff you read in the press get in the way of what we're doing or our creative thinking. That's just a part of being professional — you don't let those things bother you. When I go into a room and I rehearse or write with whatever band I'm in, that's it — I turn my phone off [laughs].

Blistering.com: Obviously, working with a guy like Tim [Yeung, DIVINE HERESY drummer], there's no limit to what he can do. Can you compare and contrast his style to say, Raymond's [Herrera, FEAR FACTORY/ARKAEA drummer?

Cazares: [laughs] There's no comparison at all, whatsoever. It's like night and day. Tim is like King Kong — you release those fucking chains and he kills it! He's all over the place, but everything is tight. He puts everything in a strategic place and does it intelligently. When I was with Raymond, I definitely felt I was limited as to where we can go. If you heard a lot of Raymond's stuff that he's doing now, it's the same. Whereas, I feel that jamming with not just Tim Yeung, but jamming with Gene Hoglan, Joey Jordison [SLIPKNOT], Roy Mayorga [SOULFLY, STONE SOUR], with different drummers that have different styles has definitely helped me as a guitar player. I was able to see there was other killer elements of music I could learn. When I was jamming with Raymond, I felt very limited and I think a lot of people could see that. Raymond is very good with his snare and his feet, but when it comes to rolls… Kerry King said it best: the guy is not good with his hands. With Tim Yeung, it's limitless. There's no comparison and now jamming with the living legend Gene Hoglan, a guy who has inspired every drummer, it's like, "Oh my God! Where else can I go?" My mind is about to explode. These guys are like "Try this" [makes machine-gun blasting noise]…I've been lucky I've been able to jam with some of the best drummers in the business. For me, I've always had the connection with drummers. That's the most important thing for me. Tim and I could probably just go on tour — him and me and I know people would be happy [laughs]. The vocals on top are just icing on the cake. Jamming with guys like Gene… the ideas are limitless; they don't have one particular style because they're every style.

Blistering.com: How much did you follow the band after you were ousted in 2002? Were the "Archetype" and "Transgression" albums given to you?

Cazares: They were definitely given to me, both albums.

Blistering.com: So what was your take on the riffs on both albums? A couple sort of sound like what you did before…

Cazares: [laughs] Let me ask you this question: how many similarities do you hear?

Blistering.com: More than a few.

Cazares: There were quite a few and I wouldn't say similarities, I would say straight rip-offs and that's OK. That's what the kids wanted to hear, they made the right move. They took some old stuff and re-wrote it, gave it a different production and they satisfied the fans. That's what they were trying to do. They had the "Digimortal" record and didn't want to put any hip-hop elements into it. They made the smart move and came out with the heavier record. Then the next record, "Transgression"… I don't know what happened there. I don't think it was a fan favorite. I'm not speaking for the fans and judging from record sales, it was the worst-selling FEAR FACTORY in history.

Read the entire interview from Blistering.com.

Pictured below is FEAR FACTORY's 2009 lineup (left to right): Burton C. Bell (vocals),Gene Hoglan (drums),Byron Stroud (bass) and Dino Cazares (guitar)