Monday, July 20: g//z/r, “Plastic Planet”
Demanufacture had only been out for a few months when Geezer Butler introduced his first proper non-Sabbath outfit with Plastic Planet, so for many metalheads the awkwardly named g//z/r was their first introduction to Burton C. Bell. And the Fear Factory vocalist was apparently still in Soul of a New Machine mode when he recorded with Butler, since on tunes like the title track it sounded like he was still leaning towards death metal and hadn’t yet unlocked the power of his voice as he had on Demanufacture. And for his part, Butler seemed totally fine with this, as he was trying to remain close to metal’s vanguard, and in fairness he was often successful in not only staying on top of trends without seeming opportunistic but also in being one of maybe 4 people who could pull off a mustache. With all of the attention at the time focusing on Butler and Bell, Pedro Howse’s guitars were frequently overlooked, even though they were a vital component of “Plastic Planet” and its accompanying album. That said, what made this noteworthy was the shock of hearing a legend like Butler more than keep up with the times and out-heavy his former colleagues, and on that level the track lived up to its billing.