mankind review from the ubn:

Recently handed over to Mojo/Universal Records from Medea Records, Factory 81 has proven themselves very quickly with "Mankind". Their national release on Medea Records is quite the accomplishment for the Detroit based foursome. Selling quickly out of stores with the help of radio and internet, "Mankind" is steadily permeating throughout the underground of hardcore music lovers. With songs like "3 O'Clock Love Letter" "Peace Officer" and "Nanu", Factory 81 managed to stay on the CMJ charts for quite some time and stayed in the Top 100 Bracket for the year. In times when Detroit was mostly known for Kiss and Ted Nugent, it was labeled as a rock city. Now with the outbreak of Kid Rock Esham, Natas, ICP, and Eminem, Detroit is gaining a name for itself in the rap community, but Factory 81's release of Mankind is destined to put the rock back into the Motor City. Singer, Nate Wallace doubles his vocals for blood curdling screams on the entire album, but never loses sight of his singing roots. With influences in Tori Amos and Bjork, Wallace brings soothing vocals to the plate, while the rest of the band hits a homerun with their sound. There only two problems in this CD though. Many of the songs use the same feel of building up a song, then hitting a brick wall and building back up again to the finale, and the other is that when Wallace makes his attempts at crooning over mellower parts, he goes noticably flat with his overlayed vocal harmonizations. A few more hours in the studio would have perfected that, but the album is still highly recommended by |the HARDCORE HAVEN|. If you don't have it in a Best Buy, Harmony House or indie store near you, tell them to ORDER it. This CD is a must have for any deftones/Tool/Rage fan.

-matt

www.theubn.com