Manufacturer's Pride – Sound of God's Absence

Releasedate: 27-04-2009; Label: Firebox
By: Elvira Visser

Another band hailing from Jyväskylä, Finland is Manufacturer’s Pride. Their history dates to 2006, in 2007 they had released their debut album “Faustian Evangelion”. Now they presenting their new album full of atmospheric death metal and if you do not have enough after listening you can watch their DVD, which was recorded during a gig in Lutakko in their hometown Jyväskylä. They also teamed up with Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun) which can be heard on this album.

On the intro we can hear some water and wind….and a steamboat, or that is at least what I make of it before the music starts. Manufacturer’s Pride combines melodic metal with darkness, a bit trash like and maybe even dark ambient from time to time. What I like on this album is that Mikko Ahlfors can do the growls but also the grunts, but knowing to vary between these giving the tracks an extra layer. “Maggot Infested” is the first track after the intro and the clean vocals part is quite catchy and melodic. The band provided us with an elegant metal album full of diversity.

“Adeptus Satanicus” is one of my favourites on this album, the contrast between the clean vocals and grunts is best notice on this track. The keyboards (synths) are very noticeable on this track and build a good backbone for their dark music, creating the right atmosphere. “Murder Mandate” is released in Finland as a single and the band has made a video for the track “Dahlia”. “Absence” reminds me of a radio conversation with astronauts up in the air, the music behind the conversation is very moody and creates actually a quite interesting piece. Their last track in near 8 minutes, but it does not bore me. It has a very nice bassline. The album is very promising and if you see the DVD you can see they can deliver that what you hear on CD live on stage as well, and maybe even better. Nicely dressed up all in black suits, giving away a nice performance.

Line Up:
Mikko Ahlfors – Vocals
Teemu Liekkala – Guitar
Ristomatti Rinne – Bass
Ville Sivonen – Drums
Janne Niskanen – Synth
Antti Lampinen – Synth & Programming

Tracklist: 01 Intro 02 Maggot Infested 03 Mind And Machine 04 Murder Mandate 05 On The Eve Of Tempest 06 Adeptus Satanicus 07 Waste In Flesh 08 Dahlia 09 Absence 10 Stillborn Messiah 11 My Becoming 12 Departure

Links:
Manufacturer’s Pride MySpace
Manufacturer’s Pride Official