Hamburg’s KMFDM were formed in 1984 by Sascha Konietzko as a performance art project in Paris (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as “no pity for the majority”). Their brand of electro-rock is propulsive, leather-glove-pumping-the-air, jackhammer pounding, high energy. You will likely have heard their track ‘Juke Joint Jezebel’ in Bad Boys and Mortal Kombat and both Rammstein and Korn have opened for them on tour.
They have taken numerous hiatuses over their 40 years but are now back with a staggering 23rd studio album Let Go. At this point in many bands careers they undertake vanity projects like performing with a full orchestra or collaborating with ingénues and pop idols; not so KMFDM who are still channelling bolts of lightning to power their music. The opening title track says it all: “walk the walk, talk the talk, what you see is what you get, ready to rock. No fuss no frills, balls to the wall. Bring the house down and fuck it all”.
Expansive production by Konietzko allows both gloss and grit to shine, and he has the preternatural ability to mix the beats and synth runs he creates with the KO power chords and blazing riffs from Andee Blacksugar on guitar, battering drums from Andy Selway on Drums, the power of rapper MC Ocelot and Lucia Cifarelli on vocals, who can mix serpentine mystery in with a full-throated roar, showing she’s more than a match for the wall of sound behind her.
KMFDM are like diamanté brass knuckles or ‘I Feel Love’ performed by The Cult. They take a stand against violence and oppression, remain accessible to their fans online, and at their shows, and the sheer industrial power of their music quickens the pulse and brings with it an uplifting electro-positivity.
The band have been given Joyzine readers the chance to hear the full album ahead of its release so push all your furniture to the sides of the room, crank the volume up and let go.
KMFDM socials: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | KMFDM Twitter | Lucia Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music
Metropolis Records: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Review by Paul F Cook
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