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KMFDM By: Meredith Vacek (Lawrencerock.com Editor) |
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In spite of the
near-death (or just plain dead) state of industrial music today, and
avoiding the softening effects of joining Metropolis Records, this new
KMFDM will bring new life to any languishing industrial fan. "Attak"
is coming at a time when I can't even think of any major NEW releases
recently. Discounting stuff like VNV Nation and Apoptygma, of course,
because that's not what industrial is about in my little world. Compromising
nothing and hitting hard, KMFDM is far from over, unlike their scene.
This is their first album on Metropolis, marking the official death
of any surviving piece of Waxtrax. KMFDM owned a share of the original
Waxtrax, and joined TVT when TVT bought out Waxtrax. I think I heard
that their last album still carried the Waxtrax logo. Well, the proverbial
ghost has officially been given up. Don't worry though, KMFDM has NOT
joined the unfortunate trend of other older indus bands to either go
synth-pop industrial (EBM) or commit suicide. "Attak" is quality
metal-industrial: making use of both female and male vocals including
their old sound, not forgetting to update with new technology, louder,
noisier and never faltering. For anyone keeping up with them lately,
it is much better than "Adios" or MDFMK. The sound is definitely
in no new direction, but instead is the result of a natural progression
on KMFDM's part towards metal-indus perfection in the same vein as the
past. Membership changes are the main reason for any differences one
can detect. Well, that and new technology. I hear they use Pro-Tools.
I also hear that local rock band Ghosty used Pro-Tools as well on their
first release. Go figure. The point I was originally trying to get at
here is that En Esch, whose "artistic direction has taken him down
other avenues," is no longer in the band. (So says the press release.)
Still in the band, or now in the band as the case demands, are long-time
member Sascha Konietzko, William Rieflin of Ministry and Revolting Cocks,
Raymond Watts of Pig, Tim Skold, Lucia Cifarelli, and Dorona Alberti. Due to the effects
of ex-Manson member Tim Skold, some of the songs sound a little too
Manson-esque for comfort, which is probably the only major flaw in the
album. Track two, "Skurk" seems to be most affected by this
disease. Otherwise everything seems in order. The best tracks in my
mind are one and seven, "Attak/Reload" and "Superhero".
"Attak/Reload," which kicks off the album with a bang, is
a great preparatory for what lays in store on Attak. It has a startling
beginning, great synth effects, and solidly rocks hard. "Superhero"
I'm dubbing "most palatable track to the uninitiated." It
has great female vocals, doesn't really exhibit the metal element, and
makes for a rather fast-paced dance-clubby number, but in a good way.
I get into it. The style of the German lyrics in track eight, "Sturm
und Drang" makes it at points Rammstein-esque. The song starts
out with a great beat, and is pure KMFDM fun. Also great fun is "Risen."
All you old-schoolers out there, this is the track for you. Old-style
KMFDM so much so that it actually dips into lyrics from past songs.
The last song I want to mention, though let me emphasize that they are
all outstanding representatives of what industrial could be today, is
"Preach/Pervert." Raymond Watts helped write this song, and
it certainly shows. Pig was once described to me as "like KMFDM,
but more vulgar." That explains what goes on in "Preach/Pervert"
pretty well. It starts off slowly, and then works itself into growling,
blasphemous, angry frenzy. Speaking of Pig,
the press release states "In support of the new album, KMFDM will
hit the road with a vengeance, taking their legendary show across North
America and the world," and I was told that they are taking Pig
with them. This will be a spectacle to see. I would like to
note that nothing off of the recent EP/single (which is it?) Boots appears
on Attak. Boots was a four song.... something... some call it an EP,
others a single, that really got me salivating for the album. Boots
was the first official KMFDM release on Metropolis, and boy did it sure
fail to DISappoint. The first song is their cover of "These Boots
Were Made for Walking," and the second two are remixes. The fourth
song, "Back in the U.S.S.A." can be considered the B-side,
and has merits of its own. Back to "Boots" though. Their cover
is superb, and the single mix is under three minutes. It sends chills
down one's spine to hear that familiar descending bass line, and then
hear KMFDM's music and vocals punch through your old conceptions of
the song. It was this song that assuaged my fears that joining Metropolis
Records would soften, or perhaps I should say EBM-ize, the band. If you like KMFDM, metal-industrial, any industrial, even crap-rock, I can almost guarantee that you will like Attak. Buy the album or KMFDM will kill you. Plain and simple. copyright 2002 Meredith Vacek
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