Factrix

Factrix was an American pioneering industrial group from San Francisco, formed in 1978 by Bond Bergland, Cole Palme, and Joseph T. Jacobs, and was praised by Carlo McCormick as "one of the great bands of their era, prescient and influential." Factrix the group released a number of experimental industrial and gothic rock recordings in the early 1980s. Their first 7" single, "Empire Of Passion/Splice Of Life" balanced sound-poetry with minimalist rock, using tape permutations and found percussion to evoke bleak and droning walls of sound. The first full-length LP, "Scheintot", expanded on the directions taken with their first single, creating a morbid, moody, and subtle experimental rock album that was highly innovative for its time. Reminiscent at times of bands like Throbbing Gristle or early Cabaret Voltaire, the album also managed to demonstrate a strong rock sensibility, betraying influences of bands like The Velvet Underground or even avant rock contemporaries like Art Bears or '70s era King Crimson. The live LP California Babylon by contrast was a far more stark and abrasive release, in both minimalist sound and morbid lyrical content.