Fear Factory Frontman Electrocuted, Nearly Run Over

Posted on Feb 19th 2010 3:00PM by Jon Wiederhorn Comments

Over the years, Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell has experienced plenty of pain being in the band. And we're not talking about the emotional distress that came in 2002, when the singer quit in a huff after one fight too many with guitarist Dino Cazares. Or the pain that accompanied the band's unhappy relationships with Liquid 8 and Calvin -- the labels that released, but failed to promote, Fear Factory's 2004 and 2005 records 'Archetype' and 'Transgression,' respectively. No, we mean the kind of pain that causes bruises, bleeding and leaves scars. Like when Fear Factory were in Long Island, N.Y. on tour with Obituary, and Bell got hit by a car.

"I was crossing the sidewalk, and this car suddenly turned in and totally sideswiped me," Bell told Noisecreep. "It sent me flying through the air. I was laying there one the ground stunned, thinking, 'Holy s---. I just got run over.'"

Dazed and confused by the passenger's side door, temporarily unable to move, Bell heard the driver's door open and someone walking around the vehicle. Suddenly the bizarre scene became even more surreal. "This midget walked in front of me," Bell said. "I'm trying to figure out what he's doing there, and he says, 'Oh, man. I'm sorry, man. I didn't see you.' And I'm like, 'Oh my God, I've just been hit by a midget.'"

A few years later, when Fear Factory were in Belgium, Bell was about to begin the show and he had an even more shocking experience -- literally. "I picked up the microphone, and it felt like I got hit by a truck," he said. "The thing shocked the hell out of me and sent my flying. I was on the ground, stunned for a couple seconds, and I got up white as a ghost and I'm like, 'I'm out.' That scared the s--- out of me."

Filed under: Interview, Metal Minutia

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