MUSHROOMHEAD and FEAR FACTORY: Soul of a New Machine Tour

Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound which includes influence from heavy metal, art rock and electro-industrial and their imagery which features masks and costumes as well as their unique live shows usually performed at smaller venues. Mushroomhead has sold over 2 million units worldwide, and has made 7 studio albums and 15 music videos. Over their lifetime, Mushroomhead has gone through many changes in band lineups, with drummer Steve Felton being the only consistent member.

Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band that was formed in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released nine full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of styles, including nu metal, death metal, groove metal, and thrash metal. Fear Factory was enormously influential on the heavy metal scene in the mid-to-late 1990s. Fear Factory went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Dino Cazares, adding bassist Byron Stroud, and previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers as guitarist. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. In a November 2016 interview with Loudwire, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that Fear Factory plans to release their tenth studio album in mid-to-late 2017. He stated, "Right now we're going to be home and doing a new record. We're writing already and in the process of doing a new record, but it probably won't be out until late summer of next year or maybe even October. I'm not exactly sure."

In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he has been "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening." He added, "There would be nothing better for this band [than] to reconcile our differences, fucking write a killer record, which I know we can, and fucking we would be doing really big tours. My passion for playing and what we have invested in this band is very big, and I know it's really big for Dino as well, 'cause he started it with Raymond back in the day." More fuel to the possibility of a reunion with the "classic" lineup of Bell, Cazares, Herrera and Wolbers was added later that month, when Wolbers posted an image on his Instagram account, suggesting Fear Factory's official website was "under construction."

On May 7, 2017, Wolbers posted a blank picture on his Instagram (which was later deleted), claiming that Fear Factory had broken up. Later that day, Cazares was asked via Twitter if they were still together, and his response was, "Not sure why your asking that and rant by who?".

In an interview with Kilpop on May 6, Burton C. Bell said that the new songs are "even stronger than 'Genexus', 'cause it just seems even more tight. We're on a groove, and it's kicking ass."

Nine Treasures are a folk metal band from Inner Mongolia, China. Four of all five members are ethnic Mongolian. All the lyrics are in Mongolian. The five musicians started playing together in Beijing in the end of 2010. What sets them apart is the spirit in their music. The songs are joyful and enthusiastic, at the same time rich in emotions. They have so far released two albums and one EP and played numerous concerts in China. They competed in Wacken Metal Battle 2013 and reached the second place. Since then, two more European tours are completed - October/November 2015 and July 2016. Festivals participated including Woodstock Poland and Metaldays Slovenia. The third album Wisdom Eyes has been released in early 2017. An European tour in summer 2017 is in the work.