Burton Christopher Bell (born February 19, 1969) is an American musician and vocalist. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of the metal band
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...
. Until 2021 he was the only member to perform on all of the band's albums. His singing style mixes clean and shouted vocals with
death growl
A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for the ...
s.
Career
Fear Factory
Prior to his role in Fear Factory, Bell was in the band Hateface. In 1989, after Hateface disbanded, his housemate
Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares (born in 1966) is an American musician, known for being the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also the co-founder of the metal bands Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares pop ...
invited him to meet a drummer (
Raymond Herrera) to possibly work with. On October 31, 1990, Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Romero jammed for the first time in a studio in
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
. The group recorded four studio albums before Fear Factory disbanded temporarily in 2002. The band reformed in 2004 with
Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers (born 5 August 1972) is a Belgian musician, songwriter, and producer who is the bassist and backing vocalist of the heavy metal band Powerflo. He is the former bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist of the heavy metal ...
switching from bass to guitar and
Byron Stroud
Byron Stroud (born February 12, 1969) is a Canadian bassist. He is the former bassist for metal bands Fear Factory, Imonolith and Strapping Young Lad, current bassist for metal bands City of Fire and Zimmers Hole, and studio bassist for 3 In ...
on bass. This line-up recorded two albums. During the following period of inactivity within the band, Cazares and Bell patched up their differences, and in 2009 decided to have Fear Factory return to form.
Bell is the only member to have appeared on every Fear Factory release from their first demo in 1991 to their tenth studio album ''Aggression Continuum'' (2021).
In 2012, Bell and Cazares received the Revolver Golden Gods Icon award.
After 31 years as the singer of Fear Factory, Bell announced on September 28, 2020 that he had left the band, citing "consistent series of dishonest representations and unfounded accusations from past and present band members" and a bitter feud between himself and Cazares. However, his vocals appear on their tenth studio album ''
Aggression Continuum'', which had been completed in 2017 but not released until 2021.
On June 16 2021, Bell performed the Fear Factory song "Replica" with a group of Australian musicians in Sydney. This happened after he'd done a DJ set at a local venue.
Ascension of the Watchers
After
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...
's hiatus in 2002, Bell went on to form
Ascension of the Watchers
Ascension of the Watchers is an American gothic rock band from Pennsylvania. It was originally formed by Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory, G/Z/R) and John Bechdel ( Ministry, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Prong, Murder, Inc.).
Career
In October 2 ...
with John Bechdel at Bechdel's studio in
Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania
Mifflinburg is a borough in Union County, located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley. Mifflinburg was first settled in 1792 by Elias and Catharina Jungman (Youngman) and their two children. They divided the land into 60’ by 1 ...
. The Watchers released an online-only EP titled ''Iconoclast'' in 2005. On February 19, 2008, Ascension of the Watchers released their first full-length album ''Numinosum'' through
Ministry
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian ...
frontman
Al Jourgensen
Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is b ...
's record label 13th Planet.
In February 2017, Bell rebooted Ascension of the Watchers and began recording at Northstone Studios, South Wales, collaborating with Welsh solo artist
Jayce Lewis
Jason Charles Lewis known professionally as Jayce Lewis (born 29 September 1984) is a Welsh musician from Bridgend, South Wales. In 2009 his self-produced single titled "Icon" (also included on EMI Records' ''Smash Hits 2009'' compilation) ach ...
. With Bell regarding Lewis as a ''Musical Soulmate'', the pair recorded a new album titled ''Apocrypha'' and released it via Dissonance Productions.
Guest appearances
left, Bell performing
Bell has performed guest vocals on many records in addition to taking lead vocal duties for
G/Z/R
GZR was an American heavy metal band founded by and named after Black Sabbath bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler. The band has been marketed with three different names on different releases, g//z/r in 1995, geezer in 1997, and GZR in 2005. Most fa ...
's ''
Plastic Planet'' album released in 1995. Due to commitments with Fear Factory, Bell was not the vocalist for G/Z/R's second album, ''
Black Science''.
Bell, alongside fellow bandmate,
Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares (born in 1966) is an American musician, known for being the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also the co-founder of the metal bands Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares pop ...
, appeared on the
Soulfly
Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1997, and later based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 19 ...
song "
Eye for an Eye" in 1998. Bell featured as guest vocalist on the
Apartment 26
Apartment 26 was a nu metal/industrial metal band from Leamington Spa, England, formed in 1998. They released two albums on the major labels Hollywood Records and Atlantic Records, ''Hallucinating'' and ''Music for the Massive'' respectively. Af ...
song "Void", a bonus track from their debut album ''Hallucinating'' in 2000.
Bell recorded a track for UK metal band
This Is Menace
This Is Menace was a British metalcore supergroup formed in 2004.
History
The band was formed by bassist Mark Clayden and drummer Jason Bowld during the hiatus of their previous band, Pitchshifter. The group released their limited EP, ''C ...
; the track was then cut out of the final edit from the album ''No End in Sight''. Bell performed live in the encore segments of the Ministry 2008 Tour, singing songs such as "Stigmata", "Thieves" and "So What", taking over vocal duties from Al Jourgensen.
Bell joined with Byron Stroud to form
City of Fire who released
their debut album in August 2009.
Bell featured on
Delain's 2012 album ''
We Are the Others
''We Are the Others'' is the third full-length album by the Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. It was released in the Benelux and Germany on 1 June 2012 and in the United Kingdom and France on 4 June by CNR Music, who took over Delain when War ...
'', providing vocals for the track "Where Is the Blood".
Bell was featured on
Chris Vrenna
Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails ...
's project
Tweaker on the song "I Am the One", intended to appear on the album ''
The Attraction to All Things Uncertain''. When Vrenna reedited the album, Bell's song was cut only to be included in a DVD instead.
Bell provided backing vocals on the 20th anniversary re-recording of
Pitchshifter
Pitchshifter are an English industrial rock band from Nottingham, formed in 1989. The band was started by lead guitarist and programmer Johnny A. Carter, and bassist and vocalist Mark Clayden. The band’s early material was characterized for ...
's "Un-United Kingdom".
Bell from 2017-2018 did guest vocals on
Amerikkkant
''AmeriKKKant'' is the fourteenth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, which was released on March 9, 2018. It is their first release on Nuclear Blast, and marked the longest gap between studio albums in the group's entire career; at ...
by Ministry
Personal life
Bell has three children
and is married.
Discography
''All appearances are as a vocalist, unless mentioned otherwise''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Burton C.
1969 births
Living people
American male singers
American heavy metal singers
American industrial musicians
Fear Factory members
GZR members
Musicians from Houston
Nu metal singers
Industrial metal musicians