KMFDM

[Day of Light]

http://i.imgur.com/pG1YTuY.png

 

Skip this if you don't like random walls of text.

 

KMFDM was originally a performance art project founded by Sascha Konietzko and Udo Sturm in 1984, who needed a name for their exhibition at the Grand Palais in France. Having ambitions that go beyond making random noises on synthesizers, playing vacuum cleaners, fire eating, yelling profanities throwing things at the audience, KMFDM made their musical debut in 1984 with the independently released Opium, which , I assume, is post-modern art.

 

KMFDM have made several albums in the eighties, but their peak happened in the nineties when the band moved to America and began using guitars according to their intended purpose (it's a little more complicated than that, in reality). The release of Angst in 1993 solidified their sound as an Industrial Metal band, while the release of Nihil in 1995 launched them into almost-mainstream popularity. Their aggressive follow-up in 1996, Xtort, would be their best-selling record. They did some other shit that can be read on Wikipedia.

 

Having sold around two million records worldwide, KMFDM are quite possibly the poster child of political, industrial metal. KMFDM have like 19 studio albums and probably three times as many other releases. KMFDM has spawned over a dozen associated acts and has had more members than can be counted on fingers and toes. Popular former members include En Esch, Raymond Watts and Tim Skold.

 

A few years ago, I was an angry loner kid in high school and fell in love with KMFDM because it provided an outlet for my aggression which I had previously been turning inward. It allowed me to hold on for just a bit longer as my high school senioritis was in full swing. Enough to graduate without completely losing interest. KMFDM features catchy beats, repeated heavy metal riffs, lots of synths and both female and male voices, which was an important crutch for me. Most importantly they were still making money and still actively touring. Having been raised to believe I'd missed my chance at experiencing live music I could connect with, this was a pretty cool discovery.

 

Some Songs:

 

Listen, if you're just getting into KMFDM then I ardently suggest pretending all of their albums pre-Angst don't exist. I think they're shit. Here's a few personal favorites to start.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxWC5M8C6VI

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwhOTNQcQq4

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYq90TEdxIE

[Lucas]

I won't even attempt to categorize the different electronic music that I love, or apply names to it, but I'll toss out some KMFDM related things here ..

 

( By the way DOL, does the name KMFDM really come from "Kill Mother******* Depeche Mode" ?? ... Way back in 1993-94, I was dating a girl who loved all this stuff, but refused to listen to KMFDM because she loved Depeche Mode so much )

 

Anyways ... going all the way back to Tangerine Dream and Giorgio Moroder, and onto to some of my favorite stuff - the trance of the 90s like Astral Projection and Solar Stone ( oh damn, there's that category thing happening ) .. even now with great music from Mega Drive and Perturbator - I love the feel of this style ..

 

I never really got heavily into KMFDM thou, mainly because I prefer instrumentals .. When vocals are added, it sort of takes away the meditative and surreal quality ..

 

Dol, what instrumental stuff ya got ??

 

I am always up for hearing something new

[Lucas]

This is great

 

[Day of Light]

KMFDM have used many cute little monikers but they're all backronyms. The original meaning is Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit, which can be translated as meaning "no pity for the majority". From what I understand, it's not a grammatically correct structure in German, but it directly translates to this into the English.

 

However there's many funny things it can stand for which were made up by fans and ascended to "semi-official" status by being referenced in their songs. Kill Mother f***ing Depeche Mode is one thing (it's a joke, as the bands are friendly). Another one is Karl Marx Found Dead Masturbating. Kind Manipulators Find Dollars Massively. Kill Me For Drug Money. It goes on.

 

I'm listening to the music you linked and it's great. I don't actually listen to a lot of electronic/industrial as KMFDM took care of those auditory needs when I wanted them. Most of KMFDM's stuff has vocals in it, but they did a full soundtrack for one of the Spiderman games sans vocals that you might find interesting. It's not going to be better than the album you linked, and I can't find a full album, but here's one track.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv8mCyF2_h8

[djflex]

Huge fan

 

I like alot of industrial stuff

[ytserush]

I won't even attempt to categorize the different electronic music that I love, or apply names to it, but I'll toss out some KMFDM related things here ..

 

( By the way DOL, does the name KMFDM really come from "Kill Mother******* Depeche Mode" ?? ...

 

That was one of the reasons I got into them. Who doesn't love a name like that?

[Lucas]

The new one from Perturbator

 

Full CD out in May !

 

[Lucas]

Complete and total 80s inspired cheese

 

I love this

 

[Lucas]

Great stuff

 

[x1yyz]

I listened to a lot of KMFDM in the 80s and 90s. The last time I saw them was in 2002. They are okay, but were never one of my favourite industrial bands mostly because the music was a little too simplistic and kinda the same. (I listened to industrial almost exclusively for many years during the 90s; I could fill an entire forum talking about the genre :) )

[Day of Light]

I listened to a lot of KMFDM in the 80s and 90s. The last time I saw them was in 2002. They are okay, but were never one of my favourite industrial bands mostly because the music was a little too simplistic and kinda the same. (I listened to industrial almost exclusively for many years during the 90s; I could fill an entire forum talking about the genre :) )

 

KMFDM really does blend into an indistinguishable melting-pot, eh? I've never seen them live but I've listened to a few bootlegs and they always sound a little crappy. How was your concert experience?

[x1yyz]

I listened to a lot of KMFDM in the 80s and 90s. The last time I saw them was in 2002. They are okay, but were never one of my favourite industrial bands mostly because the music was a little too simplistic and kinda the same. (I listened to industrial almost exclusively for many years during the 90s; I could fill an entire forum talking about the genre :) )

 

KMFDM really does blend into an indistinguishable melting-pot, eh? I've never seen them live but I've listened to a few bootlegs and they always sound a little crappy. How was your concert experience?

 

Granted, it's been many years since I last saw them, but I honestly don't remember :D There was probably a lot of Sascha stomping around onstage.

 

I've seen way too many of what I call "laptop bands"; bands who either come onstage with most of their music prerecorded or else triggered from a laptop. They may or may not have an engaging frontman, and when they're bad they are so boring. KMFDM certainly was not one of the worst offenders, so I suppose that's good.