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Artist: Manufactura Album: In The Company Of Wolves Year: 2007 Label: Crunch Pod Genre: Power Noise Website: manufactura.sistinas.com, myspace.com/manufactura
Rating: 6.5/10
Tracklist:
1. Name of the Offender (feat. Terrorfakt) 2. Hollywood Babylon 3. Cut By Loving hands (MNFCTR vs. Broken Fabiola) 4. Sex & Suicide (MNFCTR vs. Combichrist) 5. Canto Gypsy (MNFCTR vs. Displacer) 6. Die For Me (MNFCTR vs. Converter) 7. The Betrayal (MNFCTR vs. C/A/T) 8. God Damn The Sun (MNFCTR vs. The Operative) 9. Control.Domination.Response (MNFCTR vs. Caustic) 10. A Killer (MNFCTR vs. Erk Aicraig) 11. A Woman Scorned (MNFCTR vs. Victo Ecret) 12. Deep Waters (MNFCTR vs. I:Scintilla vs. Destroid) 13. You’re Fucking Worthless (Full Contact mix)
It’s been a while since I’ve heard some Manufactura. The last Manufactura album that I was into was ‘Precognitive Dissonance‘, which is pretty old now (2003?). It had quite a raw level of production but definitely showcased some interesting & extremely dark ideas and had much potential. I didn’t like what I heard from ‘We’re Silently Set On Fire’ although to be fair I only heard it once or twice. The latest offering, ‘In The Company Of Wolves’ seems like an interesting enough record; it looks mainly to be a collection of remixes by and collaborations with some big name artists. For the record, I have not heard the original versions of any of these (save for Deep Waters), so I can’t compare/contrast them to the originals in that way.
Well, the album starts off pretty poorly. The opening track with Terrorfakt is seven minutes long and the first four comprise the slow, minimal and frankly dull introduction to the record. It’s mainly some very quiet noise and more or less random and sporadically placed samples jumping out every few minutes. When the song finally kicks in you can barely tell that it is supposed to be a different part of the song. The beat is extremely weak which is a huge disappointment considering these are two of the biggest (and most brutal?) names in US power noise. There is absolutely no punishing/driving low end to the beat and it comes off feeling overly lengthy and empty, almost like they forgot to add in the other half of the track. Track 2, “Hollywood Babylon” picks up the pace a bit; it’s got a nice, albeit simplistic, noisy beat and some of the vocals which turned me off from the last Manufactura album. The vocals are done better this time around, however I would still rather not hear them. But to their credit they sound cleaner, fuller and are not run through a ton of unnecessary distortion. This track is more on the EBM side, with a focus on some goofy synth which sounds more at home in a carnival than on a power noise disc. Next up is a song with Broken Fabiola, who if I’m not mistaken is also Karloz M. This one follows suit in that it is more towards EBM, although it is quite a bit more interesting that the previous track. It really doesn’t sound like Manufactura, and I’m sure this was the intention. It’s got some clean vocals which are surprisingly different (and well executed!), and they fit the tune perfectly. Definitely something different for Manufactura, but it works quite nicely. The track builds and flows consistently throughout it’s duration, and there are plenty of sounds being added and subtracted to keep the listener interested. I’ve never heard Broken Fabiola material, but I think I want to after hearing this. Next we have a remix by Combichrist. It’s got the generic Combichrist driving bassline and some decent EBM style drums, however EVERYTHING on this track is run through distortion which causes every sound to bleed together and lose the dynamics that make them distinguishable as a different sound. It’s got a pretty good rhythmic line, however there are no synths or clean (read: undistorted) sounds to draw the listeners ear and quickly it all run together and becomes soporific. The track has some of the overly distorted vocals which I mentioned earlier…in my opinion they do not fit the track at all and sound almost counterproductive. The fact that the track is 7 minutes of basically the same beat doesn’t help too much either. The synth finally kicks in at around 4 minutes, but by then it’s a lost cause. The track would’ve worked better had it been condensed to about four minutes. I had high hopes for the next track, which is a mix
with Displacer. I’m glad to see he enlisted an ambient-noise-idm artist.
The track is on the ambient side which is both its strength and its
weakness. There are many good elements here, from the thick strong pads
to the variety of futuristic noises to the creepy Spanish samples.
However the song drops the ball when it comes to the beat. Sort of. I
think an IDM style broken beat would’ve been perfect here, however there
are just a few basic drum hits. It does force the listener to focus on
the other elements, but I’m still a bit disappointed. Overall it’s a
good track and a good alternative on a predominantly power noise album.
I wish it had been longer. Now we’re about at the halfway point. Track 7 is a C/A/T mix. It is clearly more towards the new C/A/T EBM style. To summarize, ‘The Betrayal remix’ is a ton of weak arpeggiated software-synths with some excellent driving rhythmic beats. The vocals are distorted and work nicely with the accompanying elements, but unfortunately there are about twice as many samples as there are vocals, which quickly gets to be annoying. The synths sound like a rip off of a ton of better known EBM tracks, but if you can do your best to ignore that, you’ve got a fairly decent and driving song here. Up next we’ve got ‘God Damn The Sun’. The CD says “Sawns Tribute”, but I assume they mean Swans Tribute. I’ve never heard the original if it is indeed a Swans track, but it sure sounds like something they would do. Very old school depressing industrial/goth. I’m always leery when bands try to sound like/cover Swans or Coil or one of those extremely unique and influential bands, but this track is actually amazing and does justice to that style. If you’re a fan of the style then I think that you will find much enjoyment here. It’s very unexpected coming from Manufactura and that is most definitely a positive thing. It’s really good to hear a power noise artist doing something this removed from their ‘typical‘ sound. On to ‘Control.Domination.Response’ remix with Caustic. I can’t say that I’m a fan of Caustic’s own music, but this mix isn’t too bad. It’s kind of repetitive, but it’s got a good driving beat and pretty solid production. This track is a good example of why Manufactura sounds better when the whole mix is not run through a ton of distortion. I suspect that with only a 4:15 running time, this track will make at least a few club appearances. Well getting towards the end, we’ve got what was the most anticipated track for me personally…the collab/remix with Erk Aicraig from Hocico/Rabia Sorda. The question I’m sure you have is: Does Erk sing? And the answer is: oh you bet he does. However, ’A Killer’ is no Hocico. Musically, it is more or less just an uninspired, weak distorted beat combined with a pad that doesn’t quite sit well overtop of it. There are some Erk vocals, but they are weaker than on the typical Hocico track. The vocals don’t last very long and then the track is reduced to simply the aforementioned music. The track builds like a carpenter builds a house, though at a mind-numbingly slowly pace. However it fails reach any distinguishable zenith and simply cannot sustain my interest. The sounds used are just not exciting to my ears and I am able to ascertain no sense of emotion or place of being from this track. Other than the vocals, I can’t say there is too much to enjoy. Next up we have the longest track on the album, at nearly 8 minutes, a remix by Victo Ecret. Once again we have a track leaning more towards the ambient side of the spectrum. This track, unlike the one with Displacer, employs something of an IDM-influenced beat. This track takes the dark, dirty and raw sound that Manufactura is known for and builds it into a quasi-haunting atmospheric experience. This track reminds me a bit of sleeping in a haunted house. Once again, it is a very nice supplement to the power noise side of the album…then go figure, at about 5 minutes the atmosphere is ruined and the track is flung full force into abrasive power electronics with no regards for the listener’s hearing. This part is twice as loud as the previous section and less than half as appealing. Oh well, it had a good run. Track 12 is the most startling collaboration, with I:Scintilla and Destroid who are the furthest from the Manufactura sound of all the collaborators. Being that the source song is Dark Waters, which is one of my favorite Manufactura songs, I was very excited to hear this. And let me say…I was not let down. The vocals are done beautifully by the vocalist from I:Scintilla. The music is more or less exactly the same as the original, but with a bit cleaner production and the addition of almost soothing pads and subtle piano. Unfortunately the track lacks the extremely melancholy and depressing atmosphere of the original, but it’s still a fucking great mix and probably the high point of the entire album. And to close the album is the new track ‘You’re Fucking Worthless’. This track is more akin to older Manufactura material. It’s got the raw, harsh and super distorted production that Manufactura is known for as well as the dynamic song structure which turned me onto him originally. By all means this is a pretty standard Manufactura track and as such it is damn solid. For some reason it’s way louder than the previous track, but whatever. A great way to close out the album.
Overall, “In The Company Of Wolves” is like most remix albums: hit or miss. There are some great tracks, some not great tracks, and many that are somewhere in the middle. If you enjoyed the last Manufactura album or anything on the Crunch Pod label then I think you will definitely enjoy this. If you’re new to Manufactura then this might not be the best place to start, but it’s not the worst either. Production wise it’s a step up from the last album, but it still contains a good chunk of the rawness that has been in the Manufactura sound since the beginning. Fans of Manufactura should definitely check this release out, and any fan of rhythmic noise will be able to find at least a couple of pieces to enjoy.
-[.d4n b4rr3tt.] january 2008
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