| © 1999 Manifest Vision/Serpent and the Pig | comments: webmaster@manifestvision.com |
| design: venti4 | sixmiddlefloor |
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Manifest Vision cannot be defined in simple terms. It is music, but it is also our way of talking to the world in a way that penetrates the mechanical indifference of everyday life and the people who are content to wallow in it. We are about beauty. We are about simplicity. We are about freedom of feeling and uninhibited emotional expression. We like industrial music and we love all that is beautiful. -Zane |
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| The story begins in 1989 when members Zane Jacobson and Joe Moak formed The Fetish, a semi-gothic-dance project that eventually assimilated guitarist William Eikleberry. The Fetish releases include The Fetish (1991), Strong (1992), and Sounds From The Glass (compilation 1992) and spanned the dial with a sound ranging from Erasuresque pop tracks to Skinny Puppy inspired death dirges. In 1992 amore promising career/school-oriented lifestyle beckoned members though, and the band disintegrated. In late 1996, Jacobson and Moak reformed to record select tracks as Manifest Vision. By mid-1998, the independent release Carbon Method was completed. The album is a collection encompassing over 2 years of work, including guest playing by guitarists Gregory MacDonald, Christian Platt, and William Eikleberry. The end result is a product which defies classification. To call it industrial would pigeonhole it with the robotic and heartless sounds of bands like Front 242 and KMFDM. To call it pop or alternative would downplay the electronic artistry and aggression that aren't found on the radio. | ||||||||||||
| Instrumentation and Methods:
The music is primarily electronic, but heavily augmented by guitar, both
heavy and
clean. Jacobson builds the heaviest
of pounding industrial breakbeats and synth sequences, a combination of
live drumming, pattern sequencing, and samples. In an age of PC-based
software sequencers, they still use the 8-track Korg M1 sequencer in sync
with the 16-track Roland XP-50 sequencer. "I like hardware sequencers,"
says Jacobson, "they don't screw up or crash. Development in the
studio with Cakewalk is great, but for now, with live performances, the
hardware rules." Moak defines the word thick with his heavy guitar work. The
aggressive sound of tracks like 'Room9' and
'Last Dream of the Fucked'
is rooted in his bone-crushing guitar artistry. Moak says the heart of
the guitar sound lives in his minimalistic effects rack. "I keep
it simple and precise. Too many footswitches can be cumbersome, so I just
use a few of the sickest effects and push the performance envelope." "I throw down the mean beats and handle the simple guitar parts," says Jacobson, "I get off on playing guitar because it's like I'm some sort of cock-swingin' rock star dancing around on stage, but really I can only play power chords and anything beyond that must be handled by Joe. We're experimenting now with DJing and dynamic sampling. I'm interested in the live, dynamic performance potential of electronic instruments. I want to get away from the rigidity of pre-defined sequences. Oh yeah- I really dig singing too, but it's hard to be a cool singer behind the keyboard. Automation is necessary. Realtime live/ automation integration is key." |
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| techno |
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industrio-pop
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electronic
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| breakbeat |
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hardcore
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