Arkaea

Although Arkaea are not quite as good as Fear Factory, at least they're better than Threat Signal. And that's the best way to sum up this debut release from the industrial groove band, featuring Threat Signal vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh, along with ex-Fear Factory guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers and drummer Raymond Herrera. The band's sound on Years in the Darkness is essentially Fear Factory with metalcore vocals ― totally familiar and disappointingly unoriginal. Not one track on the album stands out from the rest and the record as a whole sounds way too over-produced, adding to the mechanical vibe. It's evident that Wolbers and Herrera made the mistake of trying to still be Fear Factory without Burton C. Bell, the vocalist that makes Fear Factory's sound unique. Had they tried to do something different and push their talents to the next level, maybe Arkaea wouldn't sound so mediocre.