Concert Review: Fear Factory – 1865, Southampton
Friday 9th October 2026
Last time I’ve seen Fear Factory was when they played their landmark 1995 album Demanufacture in its entirety at Bloodstock Open Air 2025. That was my first time to see Italian vocalist Milo Silvestro as the lead singer of Fear Factory since he joined the band in 2023. He was selected by guitarist and co-founder Dino Cazares after a meticulous audition process involving more than 300 vocalists.
Since the summer, Fear Factory have been touring Europe and the UK. Kicking off on the 29th of April in Poznan, Poland and ended on the 10th of October in London, they had 34 stops in total. After a short brake they’ll continue to tour until mid December with 39 more gigs in the US and Mexico.
The 1865 was already fully packed for this sold-out night, even with the doors being moved from 7pm to 6pm. 3 bands were selected for the Cybernetic Domination UK & European Tour 2026 to play before Fear Factory. First band on the stage were The Nocturnal Affair, an alternative rock and dark rock band from Las Vegas. HATE, a Polish blackened death metal band formed in 1990 and Crystal Lake, the Japanese metalcore band, a dynamic five-piece band from Tokyo.
Following a 25 minutes stage reset, Fear Factory walked on the stage starting with “Acres of Skin”. The mood was set to very high in few seconds. Their big stage lightshow was somehow stuffed on the venue stage. The rapid-fire LED strobes were timed to match perfectly the mechanical double bass drumming and industrial rhythms.
“Demanufacture” has raised the mood even higher with obligatory circle pit and surprisingly many crowd surfers.
Those who were there or at any other Fear Factory gig, know that the band’s signature man-versus-machine and artificial intelligence themes are still welcomed by crowd. “Replica” on the other hand is the mega-hymn, with almost no exception everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs “I don’t want to live that way“.
As expected, the band has crammed in a ton of classics as well as the new song “Roboticist”. Since the single is out, I found myself playing it over and over again.
Can’t wait to see what the next album will offer.
They ended the show with the amazing cover of Gary Numan’s 1979 new wave hit “Cars”. I feel like we got everything we expected and a bit more, a well put together 4-band live show to celebrate live music and small(ish) venues.
Fear Factory’s upcoming 11th studio album is scheduled for release via Nuclear Blast, with an expected arrival in late 2026 or 2027.
(178 photos from this gig – use this link)
Tickets for tour dates: fearfactory.com
European Cybernetic Domination tour 2026 with Crystal Lake, Hate & The Nocturnal Affair
OCTOBER
05 Dublin, IE Academy
06 Belfast, UK Limelight
07 Glasgow, UK Garage
08 Bristol, UK Prospect09 Southampton, UK 186510 London, UK O2 Forum Kentish Town
US – OCTOBER
“Soul Of A New War Machine” Tour 2026 with Mushroomhead & Nine Treasures
13 New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place14 Portland, ME – Aura15 Hampton Beach, NH – Wally’s16 Harrisburg, PA – Capitol City Music Hall17 Stroudsburg, PA – Sherman Theater18 Leesburg, VA – Tally Ho20 Glenside, PA – Keswick Theater21 Pittsburgh, PA – Preserving Underground22 Harrison, OH – The Blue Note23 St. Charles, IL – Arcada Theater24 Green Bay, WI – Epic Events Center25 Belvidere, IL – Apollo Theater27 Hobart, IN – The Art Theatre28 Cadillac, MI – Venue Event Center29 Flint, MI – Machine Shop31 Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
NOVEMBER – USA with Mushroomhead
01 Ft. Wayne, IN – Piere’s03 Lexington, KY – Manchester Music Hall05 Houston, TX – Scout Bar06 Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live07 Corpus Christi, TX – Brewster Ice House08 Dallas, TX – AM/FM10 Sauget, IL – Pop’s11 Nashville, TN – Basement East
NOVEMBER – US Headlining Tour with Darkest Hour and Brotality
12 Springfield,MO -The Regency 13 Wichita, KS – Wave 14 Denver, CO – Oriental Theater 15 Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep 17 Billings, MT – Pub Station 18 Great Falls, MT – The Newberry 20 Seattle, WA – El Corazon 21 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre 22 Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club 24 Fresno, CA – Strummers 25 San Diego, CA – House Of Blues 27 Pomona, CA – The Glasshouse 28 Los Angeles, CA – Whisky 29 Los Angeles, CA – Whisky
DECEMBER – Mexico
19 Mexico City, MX – Heavy Metal Xmas, Circo Volador