MetalSucks recently had the chance to chat with FEAR FACTORY guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers. Olde Wolbers recently handled vocal production for New Jersey metallers GOD FORBID's new album Earthsblood (February 24, Century Media) and is currently recording with his side project ARKAEA, together with Fear Factory drummer Raymond Herrera and THREAT SIGNAL vocalist Jon Howard and bassist Pat Kavanagh. Olde Wolbers spoke about the writing and recording for ARKAEA, how that band came together, his recent work in the producer's chair, and the status of Fear Factory. An excerpt follows:

MetalSucks: Would you say it’s (Arkaea) a little more experimental than what you would do with Fear Factory?

Olde Wolbers: "Yeah, definitely. Also I have been listening to a lot of other bands. Deftones have always been one of my favorite bands. They’ve always used a lot of different textures. Steph [Stephen Carpenter, Deftones guitarist] is a really close friend of mine, and he has rubbed off a lot on me because we’ve been hanging out for 15 years. We used to play a lot together in a band called Kush, and we have a lot of mutual respect for each other. When I listen to the songs and play them, I know that there are some influences from certain bands from when I was a kid. I would be like 'whoa, that’s something Andy Summers from THE POLICE would do.' There are definitely a lot of different influences. There’s a Fear Factory influence of course. There are a lot of melodies and the vocalist has a lot of range."

MetalSucks: Do you plan on taking this band out on the road?

Olde Wolbers: "Yes, in February. We’re working on going on the road in February. We’ll try and do a U.S. tour and go to Europe later that year too and do some festival stuff. There are definitely touring plans."

MetalSucks: Cool. As far as Fear Factory goes, you mentioned that the other guys were busy. Burton is doing his thing.

Olde Wolbers: "Yep, and he’s a father too. He’s busy and doing his own thing. He went on tour with Ministry for a while. We’ll come together and figure it out and do a record. We also need to find a home for Fear Factory because we don’t have a record label. So there are a lot of things like that. We’ll all come together eventually."

To read the full interview transcript, visit this location.