Fear Factory
Demanufacture

Among the Industrial Metal groups, it is almost impossible to try to identify a common thread, as within the genre, there are groups leaning towards electronic sounds and others leaning towards harder sounds, typical of Heavy Metal.

Fear Factory are undoubtedly the greatest exponents of the latter, and this 'Demanufacture' is certainly their best album. The beginning is shocking: “Demanufacture” starts with a brief intro that abruptly introduces us to a melody that is as powerful as it is raw, soon followed by Burton Bell's voice, which at first seems almost robotic but then explodes into a hard, devastating growl that leaves no room to breathe. The song continues at the same pace, and the subsequent “Self Bias Resistor” inherits its deadly drive: this time, there's no intro, an even more energetic riff, if possible, and a relatively melodic chorus. “Zero Signal” almost seems to reassure us, with that almost catchy chorus and Bell's melodic voice, but “Replica” is, in fact, a return to the massive sounds of the first two tracks.

After the impetuous “New Breed,” we move to “Dog Day Sunrise,” which greatly diverges from the previous songs, with a flowing riff and a sustainable rhythm. From now on, the songs become more reflective, with a cadenced intro and a less sustained speed. “Body Hammer” is a violent track, but not brutal, and features the first, and only, “catchy” chorus of the entire album. “Flashpoint” starts slow but explodes with vehemence at the end, reminding us that, first and foremost, Fear Factory is a Heavy Metal band. The intro to “Hunter Killer” is really long, but the wait is rewarded with a beautiful, fast, robust track with a rocky chorus. The penultimate track is quite calm, while in “A Therapy For A Pain,” the FF try to overdo it, presenting sounds (especially at the end) very NineInchNails-ish (era “The Downward Spiral”).

This record is among the best in the genre, and represents the peak of the band's inspiration (only “Archetype” comes close to these levels), as well as a connecting album between Heavy and Industrial Metal.