Last week, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares said there was no new album from the band coming despite vocalist Burton C. Bell revealing artwork for a record called Monolith. It was later revealed that day that there may very well be an ongoing lawsuit holding up the band. The lawsuit involves Bell's settlement with former members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera.
Now in a series of tweets from Cazares, it seems like Fear Factory may be over. Cazares also discusses the band's new material a little bit, but doesn't exactly get into the specifics. Likely due to ongoing litigation. The one bright side here is that Cazares says "it's complicated" when asked about new material overall, so who knows? Maybe we'll get something from some iteration of a Cazares/Bell combination.
The Great Lemmy Kilmister once said “there are three things that could cause the demise of a rock/metal band: Drugs, Alcohol and Women “but he forgot one the thing Lawsuits
— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) October 4, 2019
Unfortunately not https://t.co/NYbPiOjEuQ
— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) October 5, 2019
as the saying goes “it’s complicated” https://t.co/bNjKyZii8o
— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) October 5, 2019
The expensive type https://t.co/HlDTxB7obY
— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) October 5, 2019
Fake news and a total click bait headline. It’s a quote by another band not from me. You guys are reaching https://t.co/czJJFRGOJi
— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) October 6, 2019
For those unfamiliar, all parties entered into an agreement where Christian and Raymond would agree to let Burton use the Fear Factory name for a small licensing fee. They entered into this agreement in California. This happened in 2011.
Later that year, Bell and his wife filed for bankruptcy in Pennsylvania and were granted a "discharge injunction," which means that creditors couldn't hound them for owed money. Wolbers and Herrera were listed as owed creditors, but Bell did not inform the judge of his recent settlement.
Once Wolbers and Herrera stopped receiving the payments they felt they were owed, they headed back to court in California, claiming the other parties were in violation of the agreement. Bell was ordered to pay $900,0000 in damages and legal fees.
Bell filed a motion in PA arguing that the lawsuit violated his original discharge injunction. The judge ruled that three of counts of the lawsuit did violate the injunction, but one particular count didn't – that count being damages from using the name that partially belonged to Obers and Herrera.
The judge allowed Bell to have a hearing to "establish his damages for violation caused by advancing" the other counts of the lawsuit. At this point, we are unsure what happened but one thing remains very clear.
With Bell owing his former bandmates money, it could certainly make it difficult to earn more money under the Fear Factory name. All of that money could end up being held up in court.
