Demanufacture
Encyclopedia
Demanufacture is the second studio album (not including the previous EP
Fear Is the Mindkiller
) by the Los Angeles industrial metal
band Fear Factory
. This is the band's first album with their classic line-up adding new bassist Christian Olde Wolbers
. Many regard it as the band's best album and a heavy metal classic. The album was certified Gold in Australia by ARIA
and Silver
in the UK by the BPI
.
about a man's struggles against a machine-controlled government, with each song a chapter in his life. The band stated the album took its inspiration from the movie, The Terminator
.
This album was originally mixed by its producer Colin Richardson
, who had performed both duties on the band's debut album. However, differences between the band and producer emerged over the mix, with Richardson wishing not to stray too far from Soul of a New Machine
. In the 2005 re-release liner notes, Monte Conner
notes Richardson's focus on the guitars at the expense of the electronics, and suggests that this is the reason for the rejection of Richardson's mix. The final mix for the album was subsequently performed by Greg Reely
, Rhys Fulber
and the band. The Richardson mixes of "Zero Signal" and "Body Hammer" were later released on the Hatefiles
compilation.
The album was recorded at Bearsville Studios in rural New York. Also in residence at the studio was Bon Jovi
, recording their album These Days. Fear Factory were in the studio next door and one of Bon Jovi's engineers asked them to turn the sound down, as it was bleeding into Bon Jovi's recording sessions.
After the release of the album, some critics and observers suggested that drummer Raymond Herrera
had in fact used a drum machine
, due to the often blistering speed and machine-like precision of the drumming, most notably on the bass drums. He records, however, with a click track
to keep time. He is also known to use triggers on his drum sets for the purpose of keeping the sound of his drums, particularly bass drums, consistent regardless of how hard they are struck. This is a common strategy used by metal drummers when playing at such speeds, as relatively few drummers are able to achieve such rapid and consistent notes without the use of triggers.
Though the album was written largely before Christian Olde Wolbers
had joined, and though Dino Cazares
played bass on several tracks, Olde Wolbers later stated in an interview in 2004 that he made a small contribution to the writing of the title track and "Pisschrist." Reynor Diego was heavily involved during the recording sessions as well. Along with Rhys Fulber, Diego collaborated and contributed samples, loops, and electronic textures throughout the album. The music for "A Therapy For Pain" was originally written as the opening for "Echoes of Innocence" from the then unreleased Concrete demo. The outro passage was inspired by John Carpenter, Hidjokaidan, and Aphex Twin. The use of organ in "Dog Day Sunrise" came from a in-joke between Diego and Bell about the Doors. During post production work with Richardson, Bell performed and added the organ parts to the track.
The video for the song "Replica" is unlockable in the video game Test Drive 5
. Several songs from this album were used without lyrics for the game Carmageddon
. These were Demanufacture, Zero Signal (which had the piano ending omitted) and Body Hammer. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Mortal Kombat
and can be heard in part during the fight scene between Scorpion
and Johnny Cage
. In reference to this, the band regularly featured a vocal sample of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
's character of Shang Tsung
in the movie saying "Fatality" during live performances of the song thereafter. "Demanufacture" was used in the opening video of GameShark
2 released by Mad Catz
in 2004, along with numerous other Fear Factory songs.
The opening riff of the title track was voted 19th in Total Guitar
's list of "The Heaviest Riffs of all Time". The opening sample for "Pisschrist" and "Zero Signal" are both taken from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". The bands then-unreleased first album "Concrete" also had a track named "Piss Christ", but the two bear no similarities other than the title. The song "Replica" has been covered by Dutch symphonic gothic metal band Epica
on their album The Divine Conspiracy
, Divine Heresy
& Roadrunner United
live.
The original digipaks had slightly different artwork, most noticeably a different barcode on the front cover, and different colouring within the words "Fear Factory". The digipak was re-released in 2003 with all bonus tracks mentioned above, but with the new Roadrunner Records logo on the front and back and different lettering on the spine. This version is not limited, but has since been replaced by the remastered edition detailed below. In all, four different digipak versions of the album are available.
Tracks 1 to 4 were featured on The Best of Fear Factory
.
Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes Demanufacture at number 7, just after Napalm Death
's From Enslavement to Obliteration
and before Dream Theater
's Images and Words
, in his classification of the best metal albums of all times.
edition, with new bonus tracks and the remastered Remanufacture - Cloning Technology
as the second disc.
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Fear Is the Mindkiller
Fear Is the Mindkiller
-Band members:* Burton C. Bell − Vocals* Dino Cazares − Guitar* Raymond Herrera − Drums-Production/continued credits:* Rhys Fulber − Digital adaptation* Brian Gardner − Mastering* Bernie Grundman − Mastering* Karl Kotas − Art direction, computer graphics...
) by the Los Angeles industrial metal
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
band Fear Factory
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
. This is the band's first album with their classic line-up adding new bassist Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers , is the guitarist of the metal band Arkaea. He is the former bassist and guitarist of the industrial metal band Fear Factory, and is now in Beowülf.-Biography:...
. Many regard it as the band's best album and a heavy metal classic. The album was certified Gold in Australia by ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
and Silver
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in the UK by the BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
.
Album information
Demanufacture is purported to be a concept albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
about a man's struggles against a machine-controlled government, with each song a chapter in his life. The band stated the album took its inspiration from the movie, The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
.
This album was originally mixed by its producer Colin Richardson
Colin Richardson
Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums, and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres such as:*Anathema*As I Lay Dying*Behemoth*Bullet for My Valentine...
, who had performed both duties on the band's debut album. However, differences between the band and producer emerged over the mix, with Richardson wishing not to stray too far from Soul of a New Machine
Soul of a New Machine
Soul of a New Machine is the debut studio album by the Los Angeles, California metal band Fear Factory. It was released on August 25, 1992...
. In the 2005 re-release liner notes, Monte Conner
Monte Conner
Monte Conner is a producer and A&R person for Roadrunner Records. He has worked with numerous bands including, Slipknot, Trivium and King Diamond.- Discography :#Trivium - The Crusade#Stone Sour - Come WhatMay#Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip...
notes Richardson's focus on the guitars at the expense of the electronics, and suggests that this is the reason for the rejection of Richardson's mix. The final mix for the album was subsequently performed by Greg Reely
Greg Reely
Greg Reely is a Canadian record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with acts such as Sarah Mclachlan, Frontline Assembly, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Coldplay, The Tea Party, Spirit of the West and others.-Credits:...
, Rhys Fulber
Rhys Fulber
Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He was a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium along with Bill Leeb, and now records on his own under the name Conjure One.- Biography :...
and the band. The Richardson mixes of "Zero Signal" and "Body Hammer" were later released on the Hatefiles
Hatefiles
-Credits:*John Aguto - Mixing*Duane Baron - Engineer*John Bechdel - Keyboards, Programming*Burton C. Bell - vocals*Dino Cazares - Guitar, Mixing*Monte Conner - Compilation, Song Notes*Fear Factory - Producer...
compilation.
The album was recorded at Bearsville Studios in rural New York. Also in residence at the studio was Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
, recording their album These Days. Fear Factory were in the studio next door and one of Bon Jovi's engineers asked them to turn the sound down, as it was bleeding into Bon Jovi's recording sessions.
After the release of the album, some critics and observers suggested that drummer Raymond Herrera
Raymond Herrera
Raymond Herrera is the drummer for industrial metal band Arkaea. He is a former member of the industrial metal band Fear Factory and Mexican death metal band Brujeria.-Biography:Herrera has been an avid gamer all his life...
had in fact used a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, due to the often blistering speed and machine-like precision of the drumming, most notably on the bass drums. He records, however, with a click track
Click track
A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where marks were made on the film itself to indicate exact timings for musicians to accompany the film...
to keep time. He is also known to use triggers on his drum sets for the purpose of keeping the sound of his drums, particularly bass drums, consistent regardless of how hard they are struck. This is a common strategy used by metal drummers when playing at such speeds, as relatively few drummers are able to achieve such rapid and consistent notes without the use of triggers.
Though the album was written largely before Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers , is the guitarist of the metal band Arkaea. He is the former bassist and guitarist of the industrial metal band Fear Factory, and is now in Beowülf.-Biography:...
had joined, and though Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares, born in El Centro, California, is a Mexican-American musician and the guitarist for Los Angeles-based industrial metal group Fear Factory. He also plays in the metal bands Divine Heresy and Asesino.-Biography:...
played bass on several tracks, Olde Wolbers later stated in an interview in 2004 that he made a small contribution to the writing of the title track and "Pisschrist." Reynor Diego was heavily involved during the recording sessions as well. Along with Rhys Fulber, Diego collaborated and contributed samples, loops, and electronic textures throughout the album. The music for "A Therapy For Pain" was originally written as the opening for "Echoes of Innocence" from the then unreleased Concrete demo. The outro passage was inspired by John Carpenter, Hidjokaidan, and Aphex Twin. The use of organ in "Dog Day Sunrise" came from a in-joke between Diego and Bell about the Doors. During post production work with Richardson, Bell performed and added the organ parts to the track.
The video for the song "Replica" is unlockable in the video game Test Drive 5
Test Drive 5
Test Drive 5 is a cross-platform racing game, released on the PlayStation and PC in 1998. It is the fifth entry in the Test Drive series of video games.-Tracks:There are 18 tracks in the game, with 17 real-world tracks, plus one fictional circuit....
. Several songs from this album were used without lyrics for the game Carmageddon
Carmageddon
Carmageddon is the first of a series of graphically violent vehicular combat video games produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi...
. These were Demanufacture, Zero Signal (which had the piano ending omitted) and Body Hammer. The song "Zero Signal" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (film)
Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action and adventure film directed by Paul Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series...
and can be heard in part during the fight scene between Scorpion
Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)
Scorpion is a recurring player and boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He has been a playable character in all the games, with the exception of the original version of Mortal Kombat 3.-In video games:...
and Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage, whose real name is John Carlton, is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. Cage is portrayed as a film actor who enters the game's tournament, and provides the comic relief of the franchise....
. In reference to this, the band regularly featured a vocal sample of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
is a Japanese-American actor.In addition to his extensive film work, he has appeared on television in Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Encounter at Farpoint" , Thunder in Paradise , Nash Bridges , Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding , and Heroes . He also provided the voice of Sin Tzu for the video game...
's character of Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung is a boss and player character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. A powerful and deadly sorcerer and a primary antagonist in the Mortal Kombat series, Shang Tsung is a shapeshifter who absorbs the souls of those he slays in order to maintain his youth and power...
in the movie saying "Fatality" during live performances of the song thereafter. "Demanufacture" was used in the opening video of GameShark
GameShark
GameShark is the brand name of a line of video game cheat cartridges and other products for a variety of console video game systems and Windows based computers. Currently, the brand name is owned by Mad Catz, who actively markets GameShark products for the PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and Sega game...
2 released by Mad Catz
Mad Catz
Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. is a peripherals manufacturer for various video game consoles headquartered in San Diego, California. It produces a wide range of accessories including control pads, memory cards, connection cables, headphones and other human interface devices.- History :The company was...
in 2004, along with numerous other Fear Factory songs.
The opening riff of the title track was voted 19th in Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Total Guitar is a monthly magazine based in the United Kingdom. The magazine is the best selling guitar magazine in Europe.The magazine is owned by Future Publishing, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to mountain bikes and knitting magazines.Total Guitar regularly...
's list of "The Heaviest Riffs of all Time". The opening sample for "Pisschrist" and "Zero Signal" are both taken from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". The bands then-unreleased first album "Concrete" also had a track named "Piss Christ", but the two bear no similarities other than the title. The song "Replica" has been covered by Dutch symphonic gothic metal band Epica
Epica (band)
Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen subsequent to his departure from After Forever. They are known for their symphonic sound and the use of female vocals and male growls performed by Simone Simons and Mark Jansen, respectively. All six members write...
on their album The Divine Conspiracy
The Divine Conspiracy
The Divine Conspiracy is the third full-length studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica as well as their first concept album. It was released on September 7, 2007 through Nuclear Blast in Europe...
, Divine Heresy
Divine Heresy
Divine Heresy is an American metal band formed by founder of Fear Factory, guitarist Dino Cazares and Devolved, drummer John Sankey. Although the band's origins trace back to 2002, Divine Heresy was officially formed in 2006...
& Roadrunner United
Roadrunner United
Roadrunner United was a project organized by the heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled The All-Star Sessions...
live.
The original digipaks had slightly different artwork, most noticeably a different barcode on the front cover, and different colouring within the words "Fear Factory". The digipak was re-released in 2003 with all bonus tracks mentioned above, but with the new Roadrunner Records logo on the front and back and different lettering on the spine. This version is not limited, but has since been replaced by the remastered edition detailed below. In all, four different digipak versions of the album are available.
Tracks 1 to 4 were featured on The Best of Fear Factory
The Best of Fear Factory
-Credits:*Burton C. Bell − vocals*Dino Cazares − guitar, bass on tracks 1-3, audio mixing*Christian Olde Wolbers − bass on tracks 4-12*Raymond Herrera − drums*Monte Conner − compilation*Joseph Cultice − photography...
.
Reception
- Kerrang!Kerrang!Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
(p. 61) - "[T]his is a landmark of '90s metal that defied categorisation and remains a touchstone of the genre." - Kerrang!Kerrang!Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
(p. 51) - "[With] sonorous, soaring vocal hooks. The melding of power and melody proved a statement of absolute power." - Metal HammerMetal HammerMetal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
(p. 60) - "So far ahead of its time that bands are still failing to rip it off convincingly today, Fear Factory's ultra-precise extreme metal attack and pioneering harsh-to-clean vocal approach dragged metal into the future."
Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes Demanufacture at number 7, just after Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
's From Enslavement to Obliteration
From Enslavement to Obliteration
From Enslavement to Obliteration is the second album by grindcore band Napalm Death, released in 1988.-Background:From Enslavement to Obliteration is the only Napalm Death album to feature Lee Dorrian as the sole vocalist, where he offers the low, grunting vocals and from time to time in songs, he...
and before Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
's Images and Words
Images and Words
Images and Words is currently ranked #2 on Digital Dream Door's list of the top 100 progressive metal albums of all time. Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes the album at number 8, just after Fear Factory's Demanufacture and before Sepultura's Roots, in his classification of the best metal albums...
, in his classification of the best metal albums of all times.
Tracks
Credits
- All Music Written by Dino Cazares & Raymond Herrera except "Demanufacture" and "Pisschrist" Written by Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera & Christian Olde Wolbers, "Self Bias Resistor", Written by Dino Cazares, Raymond Herrera & Burton C. Bell and "Dog Day Sunrise", Written by Head Of David.
- All Lyrics Written by Burton C. Bell except "New Breed", Written by Burton C. Bell & Dino Cazares and "Dog Day Sunrise", Written by Head of DavidHead of DavidHead of David was a noise rock/stoner band of the late 1980s that featured vocalist Stephen R. Burroughs and ex-Napalm Death member Justin Broadrick ....
.
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| World | June 13, 1995 | CD | Roadrunner Records |
| World except Australia & Parts of Canada | Nov 7, 1995 | CD | Roadrunner Records |
| World | 2003 | CD | Roadrunner Records |
| World | June 7, 2005 | CD | Roadrunner Records |
2005 Remastered Edition
The album was remastered and re-released on June 7, 2005 in a digipakDigipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
edition, with new bonus tracks and the remastered Remanufacture - Cloning Technology
Remanufacture - Cloning Technology
The tracks "Genetic Blueprint" and "21st Century Jesus" featured on Infogrames Test Drive 5 which was released on PC and PlayStation in 1998. Additionally, the song "Remanufacture " was featured on the 2005 PSP video game Infected and is the theme song for the 2000 PC game Messiah...
as the second disc.
CD# 1 bonus tracks
Chart performance
Album| Chart | Peak | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
26 | |
| Dutch Album Charts MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
53 |