I have never loved Fear Factory, especially their horrid later day releases ('Digimortal'), but I seriously love this album. When I first heard their first album I thought that they sounded like a death metal Ministry, not necessarily a bad thing, and gave their first album - "Soul of a New Machine" - quite a few spins in my C.D. player, but nothing prepared me for the remix album that followed. 'Fear is the Mindkiller' is what I associate with Fear Factory, pummeling riffs, the growling death vocals (you heard me, death vocals), the killer sampling, and the throbbing guitars. I for one always like remix albums (KMFDM and Nine Inch Nails have put out some great ones as well) but this just blows it all away. The simple brutality of "Scapegoat (Pigf-ck Mix)", the great sampling on "Scumgrief (Deep Dub Trauma Mix)", the excellent sound of "Self Immolation" (one of my favorites from 'Soul of a New Machine'), everything about this E.P. (which is basically a single for "Self Immolation" - kind of like Meshuggah's brilliant "True Human Design") is spectacular. If you enjoy industrial metal or death metal this is a must have.

Jan 30th 2003: I'm one of the lucky FF fans who saw them live at the Axis on Landsdowne in the late 90s. Sadly, not many FF fans were there. I got to meet Dino who was drinking at the bar afterwards, perfectly accessible to fans. Burton was sick and primadonna-ish and was "resting" in the bus. I met the other band members and they were really passionate about adding different touches to metal.

Someday, the metal masses will accept a kind of metal that incorporates death, melody, technology, and deep danceclub beats as demonstrated in Fear is the Mind Killer. Just as 311 was ahead of its time, So too FF is/was. Unfortunately, FF won't hang around long enough like 311 to reap their inevitable rewards (only now is 311 gaining ALOT of fame even though they have several albums out already).

I believe if FF was allowed to produce their metal the way they TRULY wished without critic or record label pressures, they would produce more music like this EP: Fear is the Mindkiller... Then TRULY, FF would have an identity unto intself.

About the EP: "Fear is the Mindkiller" really complements your experience of their first album "Soul of a New Machine." My favorite track is #4: The steam whistles blowing its mournful exhaust, the angst-filled drilling noises, and ominous clanking of pipes all against the backdrop of a danceclub-like beat truly expands one's horizons for metal. The rhythmic beats flow in step with Burton's lyrics, while the melodic chorus constantly ups the ante on emotion in this track.

The other tracks are also EXCELLENT, but are more geared towards a harder death sound. Track #4 is the most danceclub-like and represents the true future of FF that never will be. Thanks for the memories FF. Sorry to see you guys go.

This remix ep almost is to the edge of something you would take to a dance party. They definatly can use the word regrooved especially on martyr and self immolation. Although the remixes of Self Immolation are my favorite they very much sound like each other i think us consumers needed a little more of a diffrent approach to that song remix than what was offered. I give much thanks and acknowledgment to this EP cause it gave Fear factory the open set for the Metal/Industrial sound you hear from them to this day.

really good remixes here, but the cd as a whole is barely worth 14 bucks. 3 remixes of self-immolation? come on....that's just a bit too much...anyhow, if you dig industrial music, this is a great cd to buy, but if you are looking for another cd like demanufacture or soul of a new machine, look elsewhere. THE TOGA LIVES ON!

Fear is the Mindkiller sounds more like a Frontline Assembly album than Fear Factory. It has moderate use of guitars, dark industrial noises and dance-like drums that are all present in Frontline Assembly's normal discs. The way Fulber and Leeb remixed this album made it much better in my opinion, something was lacking in the original Soul of a New Machine but they make a sort of FLA-featuring Burton C Bell that sounds great. His hellish screams are a great addition to the dark style of music they are known for.