Alien Faktor returns after 28 years with ‘Hanging by a Threat’
Alien Faktor returns after 28 years with “Hanging by a Threat,” the lead single from the album “Stockholm Syndrome,” due January 15.
Electro-industrial duo Alien Faktor has released “Hanging by a Threat”, the first single from “Stockholm Syndrome,” the band’s first studio album in 28 years. The track became available digitally on October 27, including on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. “Stockholm Syndrome” is due January 15.
“Hanging by a Threat” was mastered by Greg Reely, known for his work with Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Fear Factory and Sarah McLachlan, among other artists on the Nettwerk label.
Alien Faktor is the project of Thomas L. Muschitz, who formed it in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1990s. The band is now based in Madison, Wisconsin, and reunited for the new material with longtime guitarist and programmer Mike Hunsberger.
“Hanging by a Threat” was written as a response to political events. Muschitz said: “I have felt sickened at the state of my nation, and to a larger extent, many of the same issues that seem to be infecting the world at large. Turning despair into anger, and clinging to the vestiges of hope, I did the one thing that I have always done. Create art. It was time to return, to raise my voice and speak loudly.” He added: “My deepest desire is that this song is a rally cry among many other voices, a reminder that the power resides in the people, and we need to fight injustice, intolerance, fear, hate and this insidious rise of fascism, each of us in their own unique way.”
“Stockholm Syndrome” will carry 12 tracks: “Hanging by a Threat,” “Mono No Mono,” “Downfall,” “Glacier Dropsy,” “Bathtub Djinn,” “Love the Sin Hate the Sinner,” “Tainted Flesh,” “Delusional,” “Slave Bells,” “Currency of Victimhood,” “Club Meth” and “End of Man.”
Thomas L. Muschitz wrote and produced the album, handling vocals, synths, programming, guitar and metal percussion. Mike Hunsberger plays guitars on tracks 1 and 10 and bass on track 10. Matt Fanale, who also co-wrote the lyrics, sings on track 2. Steven Seibold contributes guitar, bass and additional production on track 4, and Connie Ward sings on track 8. The album cover, titled “Nomenclature of Sierpinski,” was painted by James Barany, a painter and professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design who also created the cover art for “Arterial Spray… and Cattle Mutilations.”
About Alien Faktor
Alien Faktor began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1990s as a project of Thomas L. Muschitz, blending industrial noise, electronic dance rhythms, soundtrack influences and elements of metal. Muschitz founded Decibel Records, which released the project’s 1994 debut album, “Abduction.” Three further Decibel releases followed: “Desolate” (1995), “Final Expenses” (1996) and “Listen!” (1996).
Mike Hunsberger joined Alien Faktor on guitars and programming for 1997’s “Arterial Spray… and Cattle Mutilations,” which reached No. 20 on CMJ’s Dance Top 25 chart in February 1998. The band recorded at Chicago Trax and The Warehouse, as well as its own Milwaukee studio, The Womb, working alongside Chicago industrial figures Chris Randall of Sister Machine Gun and Van Christie of Die Warzau. Remixes of Alien Faktor material were contributed by Joseph Bishara of Drown, Seibold of Hate Dept. and Matt Green of Spahn Ranch, while Alien Faktor itself remixed Caustic, Purr Machine, Pain Station, Collide, Swamp Terrorists, Leather Strip and Psychic TV, the latter featuring Genesis P-Orridge. The band also covered Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” for the Re-Constriction Records compilation “Nod’s Tacklebox o’ Fun.”
Decibel Records closed at the end of the 1990s, and Alien Faktor went on hiatus. The project also recorded a cover of MGMT’s “Time to Pretend.” Muschitz, now based in Madison, Wisconsin, began writing new material in late 2025, reuniting with Hunsberger for what became “Stockholm Syndrome,” the band’s first full-length album since 1997’s “Arterial Spray… and Cattle Mutilations.” The album’s lead single, “Hanging by a Threat,” arrived October 27, with the full album set for January 15.
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