Deb Rao at MetalMonthly.com recently caught up with vocalist Burton C. Bell to discuss his work with FEAR FACTORY, ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS, and his involvement with MINISTRY. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

Deb: Ministry is currently on their final tour. How is it going so far? It must be phenomenal for you to be singing with this band.

Burton: "Absolutely. It is phenomenal. I am having the time of my life. Everything is just special. Ministry is one of my favorite bands, long before Fear Factory was around. The first time I saw Ministry, was way before Fear Factory. The Ministry show was just amazing. I told myself, one day I want to be on that stage. It took 19 years. It is an honor and a privilege. The band is awesome. They sound great. They look great. It is a great tour. It sounds very awesome."

Deb: How did Ministry influence your band Fear Factory? You are both industrial. I can hear so many comparisons.

Burton: "Ministry was an influence on Fear Factory for sure. I was always a fan of industrial music. When Ministry's Land Of Rape And Honey came out it really was a whole new corrosion of sound. It was just amazing. When Dino and I and Raymond started working on Fear Factory, we wanted that sound but Raymond and Dino took it a little bit further with sounds that are mechanical. They are industrial. All of that was a huge influence. We wanted to utilize it in our own music. For me a lyricist, I saw that the lyrics for Ministry were very, very simple yet poetic in a way. To me that was an influence lyrically."

Go to this location for the complete interview.