In Spite
Artist: Manufraqture
http://www.youngside.doityourselfstorebuilder.com/home.html
Label: Young Side Records
Tracks: 16 Tracks/61 min
 
Hailing from South Chicago, this quartet of TranQ - Vocals / Programming; JaQ - Bass / Guitars; Qannon ­ Drums; and Chad ­ Guitars, assaults us with their second album, In Spite, released in 2007 (am I a bit slow at my reviews).  Manufraqtures’ myspace site credits their influences as - Argyle Park, 16volt, kLaNk, Circle of Dust, Chatterbox, Angeldust, Celldweller, Acumen Nation, Starflyer 59, Criss Angel, Project 86, Crossbreed, Dope, Mushroomhead, In Flames, As I Lay Dying, Demon Hunter, Jerk, and Bullet For My Valentine.  With those sort of an influences you can expect something from this quartet that will leap out at you, . . . then slap you in the head and possibly drag you around the floor for some of, if not the whole 60+ minutes the album entertains you for. 
 
When I first got this disc I was expecting nothing but industrial metal bliss, or mayhem as some hear it.  What I found instead was a melting pot of all the influences mentioned above. “Ready To Face” sounds very Argyle Park and early Circle of Dust. “MasQuerade Ball” sounds Klank/Circle of Dust/Chatterbox like, with a more grinding guitar/drum rhythms. Then you hit “Nightmare” and “In Your Eyes”, which are more atmospheric like SF59.
 
Make no mistake; this is an industrial metal album but with lots of added flavor.  The vocalist, TranQ, can sing.  Really.  He sort of reminds me of Klayton (Celdweller) a bit, in that they both have clean vocals. The stand out track to me is Cellophane.  I first heard this track on a Heavens Metal sampler, and fell in love with it immediately.  The vocals are delivered over a driving rhythm saying: 

Something’s not right, I know you feel it too
The blind leads the blind, 
I'm on the verge of a breakdown
I'm on the edge of a breakthrough
 
Can you feel it?
Can can you feel it?
Can you feel it too? 

This track captures best the questioning, the friction (FriQtion), that is Manufraqture. They are believers, who question everything.  In an interview when asked why the Q at the end of their names TranQ said that, ‘The "Q" is a subliminal reminder to all those who know its meaning, which is "QUESTION"’.  Question everything is TranQs’ motto.  His one desire is that we question everything, as he does, not taking his belief, or anything else at face value.  This is both the virtue and vice of every because sometimes this sort of questioning can lead to doubts. Regardless, Manufraqture will both challenge and re-assure your faith at the same time.
 
The doubt and hope of those lyrics above are preceded by the identification and belief of: 

I, feel the pain rush to my every limb
I, feel the nails touch down and pierce the skin
I, see the cross I bear until the end
I, see the crimson stains that cover sin 

This may not the best-produced album.  Neither does it flow very well. But it does have several highlights besides the mentioned track Cellophane, FriQtion, I’ll Bleed for you and MasQuerade Ball are also standouts.  It is heavy, melodic, and catchy.  In Spite includes two live tracks at the end of the disc.  One, Family Chant, could easily have been left off sounding like it was recorded on a camcorder.  The other, DarQ Angel fairs no better.  But they are great for the die-hard fan, or as Manufraqture calls them, “family”.  In an interview TraQ describes the music of Manufracture like, “you're strapped to a chair, in one of those rooms in the movie, Hostel. You're trapped in a "game" like the movie Saw. You squirm in pain over and over again, until you realize you've held the key within the whole time. The game is to find that key and escape. It sounds like LOVE fighting to survive in this torture chamber we erroneously call LIFE.”  To some Manufraqture will be torture, and others a pleasure, just like life.
 
Rob Boynton