FEAR FACTORY
w/ Byzantine, Lines of Loyalty
9/27/25 – The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
©Justin Nuoffer/NuofferMedia.com
A warm and sunny day in Milwaukee was just what people needed for a Saturday. The Brewers were playing just down the road, and the city was worked up into a frenzy. Downtown was alive and active. The Riverwalk was bustling. Outside of The Rave, fans slugged drinks in the parking lot as the line to enter built.
Once the side doors opened, the line moved quickly through security and up to the main ticket box office. Fans were then ushered out into the main courtyard, where the drinks continued to flow and the food trucks were plentiful. When the main doors opened, the flood of fans ran into The Rave Barroom, where the tour merch was vast and colorful. Across the hallway was the craft barroom and the back hallway that wraps around the main floor of The Rave Room. Upstairs, the VIP and ADA seating encompassed the entire room.
As the room filled up, Lines of Loyalty took the stage for a quick thirty-minute set. The original band fell off the bill, and they rushed to cover. They are no strangers to the touring life themselves, as they are a staple of Wisconsin’s rock scene, having opened for quite a few major artists over the last few years. Firing through notable tracks like “My Addiction,” “Hurts To Be Human,” and “I’m Not The One,” the three-piece was highly energetic and full of movement.
Check out the Lines of Loyalty concert photo gallery below:
The fans seemed to take note as well, rushing to the merch booth and picking up items as soon as they finished.
Byzantine, for the last twenty-five years, have had major ups and downs in their career but continue to persevere and push forward with their blend of groove and thrash metal. Mere months ago, they released Harbinger on Metal Blade Records and came out of the gates slinging two tracks, “Floating Chrysanthema” and “Kobayashi Maru,” out of the first three. With a three-guitar attack featuring frontman Chris Ojeda, Brian Henderson, and Tony Rohrbough dishing out riffs, Ojeda, however, only played when the song needed it; otherwise, he lived on the front ledge of the famed Rave stage. Every track was its own adventure through the capabilities of pushing the thrash genre. Perfect examples were “The Filth of Our Underlings” and “Harbinger.” The contrast in song structure and tempo was plentiful and easily spotted. One could contend this was a class in songwriting.
Check out the Byzantine concert photo gallery below:
Rounding out the lineup, bassist Ryan Postlethwait and drummer Matt Bowles held the rhythm section together with ease. Postlethwait’s low end rattled the floor as he whipped his silver hair through the air, often smiling as the front row headbanged along to the beat. Overall, Byzantine are incredible performers…something you could simply put on your headphones and let them take you on a journey.
Finally, the time came to prepare oneself for the Demanufacture album play. The timeless record is conceptually based on The Terminator. It is also one that put Fear Factory on the map as a band to watch in metal scenes. Opening with track one, “Demanufacture,” the band walked onto the stage as a unit and launched straight into the song. With strobes, floodlights, and heavy use of purples and blues, the first notes took hold and captivated the audience. That industrial metal sound they virtually created was alive and thriving all these years later.
Frontman Milo Silvestro took to the metal pedestal propped up front and center. He smiled, leaned forward, and began to dig into the material. His voice imitates original vocalist Burton C. Bell’s, but is somehow stronger and fuller than one could ever expect. Through the first wave of songs, the intensity and passion for the material were off the charts.
Fear Factory possessed a brand-new ferocity. The current lineup was cohesive and devoured the material. Drummer Pete Webber was a human drum machine—his ability to maintain tempo is off the charts. Webber demolished his kit as the circle pit for “Replica” spun wildly out of control. Shoes, hats, drinks, whatever wasn’t tied down flew out of it. The band only pushed harder into “New Breed,” “Dog Day Sunrise,” and “Body Hammer.”
On bass for this tour, Ricky Bonazza filled in for Tony Campos, and his energy was electric. He explored every edge of the stage, dishing out low-end, body-shaking basslines in perfect sync with Webber. They powered through “Flashpoint,” “Hunter Killer,” and “Piss Christ” as the crowd raged. Sonically, it was perfection and the legendary Dino Cazares, whose guitar riffs reshaped metal and industrial music, was in fine form. Roaming the stage and delivering those jaw-clenching sounds, the world felt right. His presence was felt from the very first string pick. As he let the final note of “A Therapy for Pain” ring out, the Demanufacture album play was complete. Dino smiled as the crowd roared. The reaction from the rowdy Rave audience was pure happiness. This was a rare opportunity to hear an album in its entirety. One that clearly meant a lot to everyone in attendance.
But the night wasn’t over. Dino and Milo told the eager crowd they were reaching back even further to Soul of a New Machine from 1992. The madness erupted again as “Big God/Raped Souls” and “Martyr” tore through the venue. The raw, uncontained power was on full display. Strobes flashed faster than before, intensifying the chaos as they moved into “Shock” and “Edgecrusher” from the groove-laden Obsolete. The general admission floor became a whirlwind of havoc and energy, and Fear Factory took notice. Watching as crowd surfers and fans let loose with abandon.
Before the final song of the night, Dino asked for the lights to be turned up. He thanked the crowd for coming out on a busy evening, along with The Rave’s staff and crew, before introducing the band. He finished with: “You, my friends, are the linchpin to keeping fucking metal alive. Thank you!” His humbleness and warmth were welcomed. That honesty was another notch on the belt of a band that has played The Rave eleven times since 1993. Closing the night with “Linchpin” made perfect sense and the Milwaukee crowd screamed every word. Few things could have been a better fit for that moment.
Check out the Fear Factory concert photo gallery below:
Fear Factory persists through the ever-changing world of metal. A few things remain true, though: no one sounds like them, and the albums Dino wrote continue to stand the test of time. The crowd’s reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Tour merch flew off the tables, and the chatter in the hallways proved the love is still there and it always has been. Albums that defined a genre never die, and this night was further proof of that.
