Fear Factory ‎– Demanufacture

Industrial started in the 80s and Ministry's "Psalm 69" had already been out for years, so it's not like they were doing anything new. What was unique was mixing singing and death metal vocals, their expert crafsmanship and tightness of playing and their sound. IMHO it's those things combined with some cool branding (come on Fear Factory is the coolest metal name ever) led to their "breakthrough" status. If I had a complaint about this album is that it can be a bit too whiny otherwise they handily tackle social and personal issues.

I mean, what can you say about this album, other than how influential and ahead of its time it was / is. Think about it. This is 1995 folks, who was out there pushing the industrial / heavy metal scene quite like this? You get everything a metal fan could ask for on this album. Starts with their now patented industrial sound, Herraras hammering double bass, and piercing snare. Burton's harmonic, melodic, and then bloody screams. This is one of the best heavy metal bands of the 90's, and also one of the most underrated, in my opinion. If you dont have this album, you probably should get it. Its already a classic.

Judging by number of owners of Demanufacture listed on 'Ogs, one assume that its their most memorable album. And one indeed would be right, since not before and not after this album they were able to create something as cohesive as Demanufacture.
FF present vision of technological future in their music- and its not the brightest one. You can almost picture T-1000 rising somewhere out of the shadows of huge factories and dark buildings.
Vocals are generally ranging from death growls (which are somewhat one-dimensional, unfortunately) to clean singing which is done rather well. The only weak track, in my opinion, is semi-ambient album closer "A Therapy For Pain" which goes on for too long. Other than that, you'll be hard-pressed to find better fusion of industrial and death metal.