| Artist |
| Manufactura |
| Title |
| Psychogenic Furgue + A Damaged Symphony For Depraved Dementia N.2 |
| Format/Cat |
| 2CD CRUNCH056 |
| Label |
| Cruch Pod Media |
| Style |
| Industrial |
| Date of review |
| 26th April 2009 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 8/10 |
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Blimey, just try remembering the title of this! Manufactura's latest release is an impressively monumental work, not only for the amount of music that is contained here (the second disc contains remixes of Karloz M's earlier works & is an equally multi-faceted affair) but particularly the scope of the music which puts most modern electronic artists to shame. Far from being the one-dimensional industrial/noise album I was expecting Karloz explores a contrasting variety of musical styles & moods (even in the space of one track in the case of the opening 'Aroused Conviction') with the unrelenting powernoise of 'Rape upon Rape Upon Rape' being further contrasted by the minimalistic dancefloor-friendly stylings of 'Defile The Chastity Of your Flesh' & 'Some Where Made For Fucking' & even more so by the slower-moving pieces which are a varied bunch themselves, ranging from the serene 'Elysian Fire Unfolds The Lost' which is further embellished by some not exactly trained vocals through to 'The Precession Concludes' where the appropriately mournful & processional (I'm sure the title is a typo!) mood is later spoilt only by some rather disjointed rhythms that sound as if they were tacked on as an afterthought, leaving the melodic ending, which reminded me of Tangerine Dream, to bring matters back on track. As the album progresses tracks like 'The Failure Of The Heart' & 'Treacherous Passage Beyond The Ritual Door' see the disjointed rhythms playing an ever-greater role. On these occasions, though, they sound far more sympathetic & this, along with the offbeat effects, makes for an overall feeling that seems to be describing the squalour & decay of the modern world, a feeling that is only slightly offset by the outright spookiness of 'Beneath my Hands Death is Love', where the backing sequence is reminiscent of a dark nursery rhyme (the voice samples also sound as if they were recorded first hand & are all the more chilling for it!) or the exotic mood that graces 'Dream Killers Vow To Bathe In Morpehus Blood' (don't exactly trip off the tongue, these titles, do they?) thanks to the combination of ethnic flute & choir samples that add to the majestic mood that is later created by the slow-moving rhythms & echoed voices. Of all the tracks on the album this is perhaps the one that comes closest to demonstrating the full innovative range of the Manufactura sound which is by turns, sinister, emotive, scary, hard-hitting & even strangely beautiful. All of these adjectives & more apply to this album, one that, even once I thought I'd got my head around what it was likely to do, it was still capable of springing surprises. Albums like this are often easier to admire than actually love although the more emotional parts here might make this the exception although, it does, however, provide a challenging listen for those with enough patience to give it the time & attention such works require.
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