Fear Factory’s Cazares: I Didn’t Want Burton C. Bell to Leave

Longtime Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell announced his departure from the band on Monday, citing much of the toxicity from the last few years of legal battles with band members as a reason for his exit. Guitarist Dino Cazares, who recently emerged victorious in his own legal battles with former bandmates over Fear Factory matters, addressed Bell’s departure on Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn‘s No F’n Regrets podcast.

Cazares called Bell’s exit statement “a lot of nonsense,” adding, “What I noticed is that he doesn’t take responsibility for all the legal actions [that] went down.” The guitarist reveals that Bell’s trademark for the band name became available and he purchased it, and he urged fans who wanted to dig into the truth about what happened in the courts to Google the paperwork online.

Feeling the need to defend himself after Bell’s exit statement, the guitarist stated, “For me, Burt announcing that he’s leaving the band and a lot of the things that he said in his announcement, all I can say is go look up the public court record and there you will find the truth of how all this transpired.”

He went on to add, “I didn’t want him to leave the band. I wanted him to stay in the band and let’s continue and let’s go work, that’s how I look at it. We got a record that’s coming out, next year. And when the touring opens up, let’s get out there and work. That’s my whole thing, it was like ‘Ok, I got the name, let’s go work.’ What’s gonna change? Nothing would change. The only thing that changed was the person who owned it. That’s it. That’s how I look at it.”

He later stated, “We got a great record coming out next year. It’s too bad that he decided not to stick around, but the door is open for him. So whenever he decides to get past whatever his issues are, I’ll be here waiting. But I can’t wait too long, because when things start opening up, I gotta get back out there and work. I gotta do what every other band does, they gotta move on. So for the meantime, the door is open for him.”

When asked if Bell’s vocals would still be part of the band’s forthcoming album, Cazares confirmed that they would, adding that Andy Sneap is currently mixing the record. At present, he’s aiming for a March release date through Nuclear Blast.

As for his current relationship with Bell, the guitarist said that they had yet to speak in over a year and that while he had reached out, Bell had not responded. “We don’t have a perfect relationship, not a lot of bands do,” said the guitarist. “Again, I want to put this record out, get back to work like everybody else. Get out there and tour, hopefully he’ll get past that, whatever he’s going through and we can do it. But if not, if not, and he still chooses to not be in the band, then I gotta earn a living, you know what I mean?”

In his exit statement, Bell revealed he would be devoting his time to his other band, Ascension of the Watchers, who have a new album coming next month.