CD, Crunch Pod, 2006
manufactura.sistinas.com
Karloz.M presents his fourth album after the conclusion of the trilogy of his first three albums. Essentially, he continues what he started earlier, without making any drastic changes to his style. But, at the same time, Manufactura is well-known for ignoring genre borders, creating his music at the intersection of different styles. Though this album begins with what may be classified as power electronics, most of it consists of a potpourri of rhythm’n’noise and dark electro. These styles form the underlying base for Manufactura’s music and are present throughout the album. “We’re Set Silently On Fire” may not bring something particularly new, but the music has been created with some special passion and perseverance, and Manufactura is careful not take any false steps at any second of the album.
Track by track Karloz.M generates tension and on “Live By The Knife, Die By The Knife”, it would seem that he takes all the negative to extremes and doesn’t plan to slow down until the album’s end. This first track sets the pitch of the album, Karloz.M speaking about present-day harsh realities and what awaits us if nothing is changed, with Manufactura painting another Apocalypse. In other tracs the album’s content is expanded as a single humen is put in the center of events, watching around in despair, with every track being a sort of vector or different worldview perspective.
Nevertheless, “There’s No Destination” provides a little respite in the form of an EBM track but feelings of despair, doom and anguish pervade the whole track. “Intelligent Design” brings a touch of IDM, in preparation for another noisy, straight-beat attack. There are some flaws, however, with the ‘endzeit electro’-styled “Death Of The Other” being the candidate for the most boring track, closely followed by “I Am The Enemy”. Next to last is another club track, made in Combichrist-like fashion, with the pretentions and insolent title of “The Whore That Loved Me”. It’s hard to understand the necessity of this track on the album, maybe it’s there with the purpose to expand a broached theme of sex, love and death…?
If only Karloz.M was more hard-edged, maybe this album could be slightly shorter, without referred above weak places. Also I would like to mention, that despite the total negativeness of this album, everyone, who listened to it, and maybe Karloz.M himself, may rid themselves of gained negative. That’s just because “We’re Set Silently On Fire” can have a cathartic effect, soaking up negativeness like a sponge, when one needs to be tuned on positive, maybe to start changing something in life, to take important decisions or just to have fun and enjoy the life, essentially to Live and not to just exist!
[6/10]
— Igor