Many people feared that when Gene Hoglan left Fear Factory in 2012, that there would be a fundamental void missing in that band’s sound. But newcomer Mike Heller is no spring chicken, having spent time in tech-death outfit Malignancy as well as melo-deathers System Divide – a resume that primes itself for the kind of rhythmically and technically challenging music that Fear Factory play.
Heller also spent time at the Collective School of Music in New York City, a much-vaunted program that produces a stream of talented rock and jazz drummers. Check his chops out for yourself, in a live playthrough of the track “Protomech,” shot during a stop in the Czech Republic during Fear Factory’s summer tour, courtesy Drummers from Hell:
